<p>Any incoming Freshman receive financial aid packages from USF for Fall 2012 yet? If so, how did you get it (USFConnect email, or snail mail) and about how did the package look? Like, did it seem like they gave enough grants/scholarships relative to what they expect you to pay out of pocket?</p>
<p>Thanks to all for sharing.</p>
<p>I got an email answer from USF saying that fianancial aid notifications will be sent in April. It looks like last year they were received late March / first thing in April. So, if we’re notified (conservatively) on April 1st, then we have only 30 days until we have to decide on the enrollment deposit on May 1st? Funny how schools put so much emphasis on applications and give lots of time to complete them and even offer early submissions, but when it comes to financial aid - one the most important, if not the most important factors in college - they allow you less time than a crdit card billing cycle.</p>
<p>Hey CCers - I got an email from USF yesterday to check my USFConnect for my proposed Financial Aid awards, so if you’ve been admitted and are waiting on that, then check yo email, yo.</p>
<p>I was selected for verification and one of the things it’s asking me for are my Final HS transcripts. I graduated in 2006 and hand walked my transcripts in to the USF Admissions Office before the RD deadline. -.- Yeesh.</p>
<p>In case anyone wants to know for FA comparison:</p>
<p>My proposed FA package from USF included $9,500 in sub/unsub loans, $6,796 in Cal Grant A, and $4,900 from USF as a tuition grant. No scholarships sice I didn’t qualify based on my GPA and SATs. My FAFSA efc is about 5900. So after the number crunching:</p>
<p>Total owed to USF $38,884 (Tuition and fees, not my COA, just what I would owe to the school because I am an independent student and will live off campus/feed myself)</p>
<p>$38,884 / 2 (Fall & Spring semester) = $19,442/semester</p>
<p>$19,442 - 4,750 sub/unsub loans for Fall (I WILL still have to pay these back however) = $14,692
$14,692 - 1,942 Cal Grant for Fall = $12,750 out of pocket for Fall</p>
<p>$19,442 - 4,750 sub/unsub loans for Fall (I WILL still have to pay these back however) = $14,692
$14,692 - 4,854 Cal Grant for Spring = $9,838
$9,838 - 4,900 University tuition grant = $4,938 out of pocket for Spring</p>
<p>My AGI for a houshold of 2 was just above $30k for 2011. I own no real property and have no savings. So obviously USF didn’t give good aid - to me anyways. I don’t want to make it too complicated for those making comparisons (as most won’t have the 9-11 GI Bill to use), but after my 9-11 GI Bill factors into that I will end up with Fall fully covered and having to pay about $5,000 out of pocket for Spring. BUT, if I didn’t have the 9-11 Bill (like many here), then I would need to find a way to pay about $17,000 out of pocket for the entire year - each year unless more aid was offered in subsequent years.</p>
<p>So about a full year’s worth of tuition in loans ($9,500-Freshman, $10,500-Soph, $11,500-Jr, $11,500-sr = $43,000) plus $5,000 out of pocket per year (about $20,000 total)(Work study, employment, sell drugs?, etc) is what will get me in the door to USF.</p>
<p>Since I cannot afford that, then I wish the best of luck to any waitlisted applicants to gain my admittance spot.</p>
<p>So how did other FA proposed packages fare? Did anyone end up receiving all the need based aid that they (gasp) actually needed? No one needs to post figures like I did (that was more for the parents and future applicants to reference later), but was it better or worse?</p>
<p>@turtlerocks
so does that mean you’re not going to USF anymore?
I’m surprised USF offered you so little in tuition grants. I also got USF’s email yesterday about my FAFSA awards being available online at USFConnect. The university gave me more
grant money than I expected, which surprised me because my Expected Family Contribution score is really high. </p>
<p>Here’s mine in comparison:
EFC score: 14288</p>
<p>Financial Aid Award for the 2012-13 school year:
Fed Subsidized Loan - $3500
Fed Unsubsidized Loan - $2000
Tuition Grant from USF -$24600
Campus Job Opportunity - $4200
Total: $34300 </p>
<p>With estimated cost of attendance being $56634,
I’d have to pay roughly $24,324.00 or $12169 per semester.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I did not qualify for federal grants/cal grants
because my family’s income is a little over $100k. However, only my
mom is working & dad is unemployed (checked box for dislocated worker in FAFSA form). My older sister and I will be attending college upcoming school year (also my younger sister (HS junior) will be in college my sophomore year)…so my family’s income is not really enough to pay tuition for all 3 of us. </p>
<p>I also have a question for the campus job option…is that an estimate of my salary if I get an on-campus job? $4200 is WAAYY to low for a yearly salary.</p>
<p>mukk, thanks for sharing for comparison’s sake! Here’s a couple points:</p>
<p>
It looks like you may have received more grant aid than me because they are already factoring in the fact that I will be able to utilize my 9-11 Bill, eventhough our EFCs are considerably different. For example, if they were anticipating that I was not going to use that educational benefit, then they MAY have offered the eqivalent amount ($17,500) in additional grant, which would have given me $22,400 in total grant offerings. I think that would have been about right also considering that I have a household of only 2 (my wife and I) and only I would be in college during this time (she’s already graduated - thank goodness). Eventhough your family income is higher, you also have more heads in the household AND more going to college during the same period.</p>
<p>
Is this YOUR estimated COA, or the one posted on the FA link from USF? This may not be YOUR COA since they may have factored in preset costs for transportation, food, etc. IF you plan to live off campus, not use their meal plans, or things like that, then your COA will dramatically decrease (afterall, it is still considered an estimate at this point). I know that USF says it’s required for all Freshmen to live on campus, but I’m sure there are waivers if say you already live in SF. Not sure if any of this pertains to you, but still good to note.</p>
<p>
Yes, that should purely be an estimate. I have spoken to USF FA Office on exactly what the job offer-type of FA is (since it was a form of FA provided to me when I did USF’s net price calculator, or NPC) and they explained it to me that it is an OPTION and that if offered to any student, he or she would still need to APPLY for jobs just like any other canidate. However, the plus side to this would be your attractiveness to companies because as a classified ‘Student Worker’ - working to meet a part of school FA - the company can hire and pay you a far less amount than an applicant that is not a Student Worker. In essence, scoring cheap labor, but for less solid hours as you will also be in school full-time. So you’re right in thinking that amount is WAYYY to low for a (school) year salary. This sounded like the off-campus jobs though, and I’m sure an email or call to the USF FA officewould specify if these characteristics are associated with on-campus positions as well. I’ll go off on a limb and say they do since students do still need to apply for on-campus jobs as well (they have a website for that and no one student is ever guaranteed an on-campus position).</p>
<p>
I never fully decided on USF, or any one school, because I’m always weary of the FA. I did recently find out I was accepted to American University in DC and they offer a separate FA program to undergraduate veterans that USF does not: The Yellow Ribbon Program. The program is designed to help expensive schools cover the difference in the tuition and fees and what the 9-11 Bill already covers. For example, IF USF offered it, then after I used up my 9-11 Bill benefits for the year, then a Yellow Ribbon portion from USF would kick in, say $5,000 extra contribution grant that USF puts up and the VA would match that contribution for a total of an extra $10,000 for me. That would cover my out of pocket $5,000 for Spring semester and may help in decreasing the loan amounts too. AU DOES offer this (although you must apply for it - I already did - I think you HAVE to apply just to fully determine your eligibility and if you financially need it) so once I see their FA package, if YRP is part of it, then USF will drop way to the bottom of the list and AU will go back up. It would be take $9,500 in loans and pay $5,000 up front for USF, or take out a couple thousand in loans from AU. AU would obviously be the better deal, but we’ll see when their packet comes in the mail. In USF’s defense, their veteran community is trying to get the Yellow Ribbon Program added to the school, but it’s sad that USF was the only school I applied to that DIDN’T offer it.</p>
<p>If your household income was about $50,000, how much do you think the financial aid package would include? Also, the financial aid package does NOT include the USF merit scholarships, correct? I’m aiming for the $20,000 university merit scholarship and enough aid so that my family will only have to pay less than $5,000 a year.</p>
<p>ambitious, it’s hard to tell what may be offered by any university when a household income is $50,000. The EFC determined by the school itself (and should be closely correlated to the FAFSA EFC) is the main contributing factor. And those EFC numbers are determined by various other factors to include business ownership, investments, real property (cars and houses/real estate), how many people are included in that household, and how many from the household will be in college during the same year. For example, if two families with the same amount of members have the same income, but one has a lot of real property and only one child in college at the time, but the other has no real property and 2 or more children in college at the same time, then their EFCs may differ dramatically. This may be because it is expected for the family to liquidate some of their real property to pay for college expenses. The family with real property to liquidate can do this, but the family that does not has a higher NEED for funds to help them. I wish it were as easy as telling you a fixed amount from a matrix table based on income or something, but it’s not. Other non-tangible factors related to receiving need-based aid is whether or not the school reeeaaaaalllly wants you to decide with them. This may be shown to the student in the form of higher grants to make the Cost of Attendance lower for them and influence their decision making process.</p>
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</p>
<p>The FA package that you see from USF WILL include your scholarship as part of covering your need - or in other words - part of closing the gap in Cost of Attendance (COA) and your EFC. For example, if USF’s COA is $50,000 and you have a $20,000 scholarship, then that 20k is applied to the 50k COA and USF will view your NEED as the difference of 30k and your EFC. If your EFC is $5,000, then your need is $25k. This MAY be filled with a combination of Federal Loans (these will certainly be used first because it’s considered money you will have to pay back and not free money that USF will need to put up for you), university grants, and work study option with the caveat that USF is not a “meet-need” school, so they do not HAVE to close the gap to just $5,000 less. They can stop anywhere they feel is adequate for the family to pay.</p>
<p>So in my example above, the FA package may look something like:</p>
<p>Financial Aid Award for the 2012-13 school year:
Scholarship A - $20,000
Fed Subsidized Loan - $3,500
Fed Unsubsidized Loan - $2,000
Cal Grant A - $2,000
Tuition Grant from USF -$10,000
Campus Job Opportunity - $5,000
Total: $42,500
With estimated cost of attendance being $50,000</p>
<p>This will leave the school with the determination that you will need to pay the $7,500 difference (50,000-42,500=7,500) via family contribution or outside scholarships/grants. The $7,500 is greater than the FAFSA determined EFC of $5,000.</p>
<p>Does this somewhat help?</p>
<p>That was really helpful. Thank you!</p>
<p>Bump -</p>
<p>Last evening I officially decided I will not attend USF. Solely based on financial reasons. I guess it just wasn’t in the cards for me. I’ll be headed to CC - trying to knock some classes out this Summer already. I’m mostly relieved to just know where I’ll be at for the next couple years.</p>
<p>Hi all, </p>
<p>I’ve been accepted into USF as a transfer student. My mom only makes about 20-25k a year and the only job I have is work study which I am current doing at my college at the moment. How much financial aid do you guys think I would get? I’m still considering going or not and my major is pre-med with a strong determination of becoming a physician. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I think you will likely get fin aid-not sure I come qualifications for Pell and Cal grants I bet u can google. USF said that EFC as well as gpa are factors in tuition grants. Fin aid advised she has see. Tuition grants even with family EFC at $25k but said EFC at 30 grant won’t happen. My daughter was early decision which is binding ( 1st yr they have early decision) -she received $13k merit and now since out EFC likely 30 i doubt we will get a tuition grant only loans which is a bummer -so the higher the gpa and lower family income (EFC) higher chance for tuition grant good luck</p>
<p>I am having trouble viewing my financial aid package. I was admitted and when I logon to USF connect and student self service there is no financial aid tab, is there a step I am missing or is it simply not there?</p>
<p>@qpurtz The site says that financial awards will not be available till the last week of March. I found this by exploring the “Self service” page on USFConnect.</p>
<p>How do you get your USFconnect login information? I’ve been admitted. I have the information to get to the application status site but same logon doesn’t seem to work for USFconnect.</p>