<p>Hello.</p>
<p>I contacted my community college financial aid officer two months ago, in person. I drove an hour to meet with her. At the meeting, she informed me that I was eligible to apply for up to $4000 in subsidized loans, in addition to my pell grant, for the summer session. I questioned her as to whether or not I could use the full $4,000 for just the summer session. She said, and I do remember the verbatim quote, "Yes, but you can only use 4 grand for the whole year. If you choose to use it all in the summer that's it for the year."</p>
<p>Fast forward to today. I applied for this loan 2 months ago. The financial aid office just now gets around to finalizing it about a month into the summer semester (it's still not completed yet; unbelievable) and the amount is $1,979 in subsidized loans. I called financial aid today about the discrepancy. They said that whoever told me that I could get 4K in subsidized loans this summer was wrong, and the federal allotted maximum, in addition to my pell grant, was 1979 in subsidized loans for the summer. </p>
<p>My life has been **drastically **altered by this error. I guess I have to go sell blood plasma just to pay my rent thanks to this woman. What actions can I take here? What would you do in this situation? I'm so angry right now that I don't even think I'm capable of thinking rationally.</p>
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<p>Did you get this officially IN WRITING from the financial aid office? If not…well…it was not the official word. Whenever you get information from anyone and it’s important…get it in WRITING…not just verbally.</p>
<p>Is it possible for you to take out an unsubsidized loan for the remaining amount? Go ask…and get the answer in writing.</p>
<p>Thank you for your reply. I did not get it in writing. I agree with your sentiment in theory, but come on, let’s be practical. You’re talking to a financial aid officer in her office- who’s sole employment function in life is to understand financial aid. Who on earth would say to her “OK, thank you for that information. Can you write it all down for me and sign it, perhaps with a notary?”</p>
<p>Thanks again for your reply, I agree with your sentiment in general, but not here.</p>
<p>I understand that you are worried about this financial aid situation…but I very firmly believe that EVERYTHING official regarding financial aid is able to be put into writing.</p>
<p>And yes…you could have asked for that. When DD was an incoming freshman, she received a need based grant. We wondered what would happen to that amount when her brother was no longer in college. The finaid officer “told us” that the aid would continue for four years if she maintained a GPA over 3.0. This had NEVER been given to us in writing. We asked for a written statement of this criteria and they gave it to us within 24 hours. </p>
<p>Financial aid is business. Anything business related should be able to be put into writing.</p>
<p>I’m sorry for our issue now…but I would urge you to talk to financial aid and see if you can take out an unsubsidized loan for the summer to make up the balance. If they say YES…get it in writing.</p>
<p>Just FYI…NO financial aid awards are given in spoken form officially. They are all given in WRITING.</p>
<p>Hmm … in my experience, HOW you ask the question is a big part of the answer you receive. For example, if you ask how much loan you “could” get for the summer, you would receive an answer based on your year in school. If you ask how much you “will” get for the summer, your eligibility must be determined based on year in school, EFC, COA, aggregate limits, amount used for the year to date, other aid, and number of credits you are taking. </p>
<p>The aid officer said you are eligible to apply for up to … that sounds like a general answer, not a specific answer.</p>
<p>I am also wondering about the $4000. You say that you were told that if you use it all in the summer, that’s it for the year. Well … that means that your summer session is a header. It also means that you did not have any loan debt for the year at the start of the term. There is no subsidized limit of $4000/year. Depending on your year in school, it would be $3500, $4500, or $5500.</p>
<p>Are you sure you were completely clear on what you were being told?</p>
<p>the federal allotted maximum, in addition to my pell grant, was 1979 in subsidized loans for the summer.</p>
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<p>I am guessing that your summer COA is your scheduled Pell grant (that is, the scheduled award for the term based on taking 12+ credits) + the $1979 sub loan. If you have a 0 EFC, that’s $2675+1979=4654. That sounds about right for a summer COA at a community college. If that’s the case, the school is not allowed by federal regulations to award aid in excess of the COA. It also would explain why the aid officer might have said you could get $4000 in sub loan - if he/she didn’t realize you were eligible for the Pell grant.</p>
<p>How many credits are you taking that it’s costing more than $4.6K for summer sessions at a CC?! Just wondering as my D is taking 9 credits this summer, 6 from her university and 3 from a CC, and her costs are under $3K.</p>
<p>Actually, the student’s Pell grant might be less … I just figured it would be around the max to get the COA to around $4000.</p>
<p>I was wondering why this student needed more loan money for the summer…and if he takes more for the summer, what will he/she do in the fall and spring terms if the summer is the header for the loans at his school? He could very well find himself without loan resources in the spring…</p>
<p>Even if you got it in writing from a college counselor and yet this is all Federal Aid – what on earth could a signed letter from a local college employee help when these federal loans are all formulas set by the Federal government?</p>
<p>Even if she got the info wrong, what on earth would you do next? Take her to small claims court? Sue the college in small claims court? A college worker was potentially unclear or wrong. It happens a lot. However, all of this information about Federal Loans is not secret - it is public information. So the good news is that the next round you can be far more informed and powerful in recognizing when something is going wrong with the advise you are given.</p>
<p>(If you are going to be as angry as to think there are “actions to be taken here” or legal ramifications - there is also a possibility that <em>you</em> framed your question incorrectly or that you misinterpreted what you heard.)</p>
<p>In other words, while the college official was probably mistaken, the only thing to do is continue to educate yourself on how FA really works and to generate enough cash or loans to get through your current and future classes. </p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>I think summer is the tail end of the 2009-2010 year not the beginning of the 2010-2011 one.</p>
<p>Some community colleges don’t offer loans for summer semester.
But Im wondering how was your aid for fall-spring terms?
How much allowance did you have left?</p>
<p>I am sorry that this happened. It is terribly frustrating, to say the least when things like this occur. You need to sit down at the financial aid office and go over the whole thing again. Don’t be confrontative, as that will not win you any points. Just go over your personal account and see what can be done.</p>
<p>None of us can really help you in terms of what happened here since it is a “s/he said vs I understood” situation. This can happen a lot in life in all kinds of financial transactions. We had a problem just last week with that issue. In the end, it doesn’t matter who said what, if it was a mistake. Places cannot magically make money appear when you are not entitled to it. You need to understand clearly what the rules are, read the papers yourself and make sure you understand exactly what your government entitlements are. </p>
<p>My son, who is earning a nice salary this summer just found out he is being underpaid by 50 cents an hour. Not a huge amount, granted, but he was also underpaid by the same amount last year, because there was a mistake on what year of college he has completed. I discovered it inadvertantly, and his pay will be corrected in the next paycheck for what he has worked this year and going forward, but he lost out for what he missed last year. A lesson learned, I hope. All of us need to know exactly what the details are when it comes to financial issues, because mistakes ultimately end up on your head. Even if the mistake is not yours.</p>
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<p>Emerald…this varies by school. For some schools summer is the end…for others it is the beginning of the following school year. </p>
<p>This OP indicates that the stafford used in the summer would “use up” funds for the fall implying that this school has the summer as the header for the year…not the tail.</p>