What are my loan options?

Paying for College
1

<p>I recently found out that I will only receive about $11k / $24k for my financial aid. How should I borrow the rest from? I am confused about Stafford, Direct Plus, and Perkins loans, does the government pay all the interest rates while I am in school? Is it too late for me to apply for these? This is for SJSU by the way.</p>

2

<p>

How much you need to borrow after financial aid?
Direct and Perkins loans should be in your financial aid already. I think you could try to get Direct Loans; see [Direct</a> Loans?Parent PLUS Information](<a href=“http://www.direct.ed.gov/parent.html]Direct”>http://www.direct.ed.gov/parent.html)</p>

3

<p>I still need about $12,671. I am currently looking over <a href=“https://studentloans.gov%5B/url%5D”>https://studentloans.gov</a> where I can request for a direct PLUS loan, but I cannot find anything about Stafford and Perkins loans on there. </p>

<p>Can anyone tell me what exactly my whole financial aid is saying?</p>

<p>I don’t understand the offered/accepted loans, does it mean that I am not eligible for those right now?</p>

<p><a href=“http://i39.■■■■■■■.com/50fgo.png[/url]”>http://i39.■■■■■■■.com/50fgo.png&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://i43.■■■■■■■.com/k1bc79.png[/url]”>http://i43.■■■■■■■.com/k1bc79.png&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Are the loans not already included in your financial aid package? They usually are.</p>

<p>Federal student loans are offered to you by the school as part of FA. If you are a freshman, you are eligible for $5500 in direct loans. Perkins loans are more difficult to get as they have very limited funding and schools usually have more eligible students than available funds. Plus loans are parent loans that parents have to apply for.</p>

<p>The only loans the govt pays the interest on are subsidized loans. Up to $3500 of the $5500 direct loans may be subsidized if there is unmet need as based on FAFSA. The interest on unsubsidized direct loans is the responsibility of the student from the day the loan is disbursed. Perkins loans are subsidized (if you can get them). Parent PLUS loans are not subsidized. </p>

<p>Payment of Interest on unsubsidized can be deferred until a student graduates or drops below half time but will accumulate and be added to the balance of the loan.</p>

5

<p>I’d recommend that you contact your financial aid advisor for details but I believe that you should not apply for a Perkins Loan, and if your parents are low income then aim towards a Pell Grant. Stay in a college within your State of Residence for the first two years of your college careers.</p>

6

<p>Pell grants are automatically included in an FA package if the student is eligible. So if the OP is eligible, they will already be in the FA they have been offered. You don’t apply for Perkins loans. They are offered by the school as part of a FA package. Perkins are actually one of the better student loans to have as they are subsidized while the student is in school (i.e. the govt pays the interest), have no origination fees, and the interest rate once they go into repayment is 5%. However they are very hard to get. If one is not already in the FA package, the OP is unlikely to get it this year (funds have probably been fully awarded - at my daughter’s school, they ran out of Perkins funds to award by about feb/march each year).</p>

7

<p>If your link is to what you were offered - it looks like they offered you loans. You need to accept them - through your school. They should have either sent you a form where you indicated you are taking them - or a link to their website where you do this. I know at the schools I am familiar with - you first indicate you are accepting the aid (either on line or through a form they send to you) - then you apply for the loans through the school’s student portal online.</p>

8

<p>What is the total COA for your school? Your aid information doesn’t show that. Did they give you enough to cover it? Also - the PLUS loan is for your parents to take. You can’t take that. And be aware the work study is on you to find. They will give you information on jobs that are available - but you have to set up the interviews and get one of them. You need to do this ASAP before all the good jobs (or all the jobs) are gone. This amount also isn’t guaranteed - and you don’t get it up front - so if really can usually only be used for living expenses and not for the upfront things you need to pay for - like tuition and room and board.</p>

9

<p>Yes, I believe I have received the maximum amount given by a Pell Grant. In the two links I provided, there is no mention of a Perkins loan, am I not eligible or should I ask my school?</p>

<p>Also, I am trying to apply for a Stafford loan right now, and I have to submit a Master Promissary Note, correct? I have filled everything out on the first page, but next to my school it says: The school you have selected requires an award prior to submitting a Mastery Promissary Note. Please contact your school financial aid office.</p>

<p>Are there any other subsidized loans other than Perkins and Stafford?</p>

<p>EDIT: I am not able to accept/decline my ‘awards’ currently. (School has not received my final transcript.)</p>

10

<p>I missed the OP’s second post. </p>

<p>You have been offered $24,378 in aid. Some aid, such as the grant aid, is accepted for you automatically by the school. The other aid, such as loans and work study, you have to actively accept if you want to have them. The school should have information about how to accept it. (my daughter’s school it was all online, my son’s was a paper form he had to fill out - check with your school). </p>

<p>The student loans would then require you to fill out online counseling and promissory notes. Your parents would have to apply for the PLUS loan.</p>

<p>The work study is not money you would receive up front. You would have to find and apply for a work study job at your school. You would then be paid for the hours you work at that job at whatever rate the job pays. So those funds would not be available for any expenses at the beginning of the semester.</p>

11

<p>I do not believe that I will be doing work study. The COA is listed here:</p>

<p>[Financial</a> Aid and Scholarship Office | Cost of Attendance | San Jose State University](<a href=“http://www.sjsu.edu/faso/Applying/Cost_of_Attendance/]Financial”>http://www.sjsu.edu/faso/Applying/Cost_of_Attendance/)</p>

<p>However, things such as Transportation, Miscellaneous/Personal, and Books and Supplies confuse me. I will not be driving anywhere, just staying on campus, and people have told me that I could buy the books needed for classes online for cheaper. Are these just estimates and not actually included in the overall COA?</p>

12

<p>You can ask your school about the Perkins. However, if it was not awarded to you, it is likely they will not offer it to you. In the years my daughter received perkins, it was offered before unsub loans were offered. In the years she did not, it was because they were out of Perkins funds before they got to her FAFSA. But it certainly does not hurt to ask.</p>

13

<p>They are estimates. They are included in the overall COA as the COA is what a school uses to determine financial aid eligibility. But they are indirect expenses that the school will not bill to you. My daughter never bought her books from the school except for a couple of books that were not available elsewhere. She always bought them used and online from sources such as Amazon, half.com, etc.</p>

<p>Don’t be too quick to turn down the WS. having a job on campus is convenient and they are often fairly flexible.</p>

14

<p>You have been offered $5000 in work study. You don’t have to earn it all if that is too much to work, but at least it is money you can earn for pizza, excursions off campus, special events, miscellaneous expenses that pop up inevitably, etc. You really should consider at least working a few hours a week, and some jobs are so easy they allow you to study when not busy. When living on campus, there are a lot of “down time” hours outside of class to fill with something.</p>

15

<p>Thank you for the quick responses. I will be sure to contact my financial aid office regarding how much I need left to attend, ask about Perkins and Stafford loans.</p>

<p>What exactly is a Direct LOAN Plus? What makes it different from other loans?</p>

16

<p>Direct Plus loans are for parents to borrow from the government and pay back, Stafford loans are for the student to borrow from the government and pay back.</p>

17

<p>Direct PLUS is a parent loan. One your parents must apply for it and they are responsible for repaying it.</p>

<p>The Stafford loan no longer exists. The direct student loan, that you have already been offered, is the same thing with just a different name (Staffords were through private lenders while direct is processed through the school. Staffords were phased out 2-3 years ago and all schools were required to switch to direct loans). Your school should have info and/or a link to access online counseling and MPN.</p>

18

<p>

I don’t think so, your school is meeting your need. Your COA is $24,223 and your financial aid offer is $24,378.
However, there are student loans of $7,761 in your financial aid offer, and $2,261 of the loans is Direct Loan PLUS. Finally, the school did not offer you the Perkins loans. You might want to ask the school about that.</p>

<p>See [Direct</a> Loans?Parent PLUS Information](<a href=“http://www.direct.ed.gov/parent.html]Direct”>http://www.direct.ed.gov/parent.html) and <a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans[/url]”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

19

<p>

I also think this is a very good financial aid package.</p>

20

<p>^ I highly disagree since over 12k of it is in loans and ws. That’s not a good FA package IMO. </p>

<p>5k in work study?! I’ve never seen it that high. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Do you plan on working at all? </p>

<p>Taking the R&B + tuition - all loans and grants that you can get in your name, you still have a balance of about $1300/semester just for direct costs (so not including books or incidentals). You will need to cover that with either savings, income, or a PLUS loan from your parents. Are any of these options?</p>