Work study effectively is a hiring preference for on campus jobs. The student still has to work to earn the money, but will be preferred over non work study students because the employer will receive a subsidy for the work study student’s pay. The student is free to seek other jobs as well.
Look up federal direct loans to find interest rates and other information on them.
So the “loan” in the FA package is a Federal Direct Loan? This is in addition to the $5500 that freshmen are eligible for but is dispersed by the college?
They ask your parents’ jobs and employer (and education) in the Parent section of the Common App.
Yes, look at the terms of the Direct Loans. Some of us still cal them Staffords. The max a freshman can borrow as a student loan is $5500. Initially, it generally goes to your student account, for the college to use. A Parent Plus loan, same.
The college doesn’t disburse, so to say. It approves you for the DL. That’s the one and only.
Federal work study, as said, gets some $ back from the govt. Kids get a paycheck and many use that for the “personal” category. Some jobs are grunt, some are more interesting. Some kids can do dept research on their WS. My godson worked an admin job that led to his first post-grad employment. My kids both got into a program that pays for comm service (and it did factor in their later jobs.)
Okay, so that’s exactly what I mean when I say it seemed misleading to me. When I received our Pre-Read and it said our Net Price would be (for example) $31,000, I was dismayed to learn that the real price is $37,000. I had already factored in that $5500 and a job. I didn’t need the College to jot it down and call it a package. To ME, it was them being master of the obvious and they should just write, “Your cost will be $37,000. We suggest that a portion of that can be addressed with work study and a Federal Loan. Here is some info if you are interested.”
Kayak, not all colleges put the loans in the package. They may leave it to your discretion. So, our bottom line family contribution was $XX. We had the girls take the DL, which reduced the parent portion. And we then paid our delta in part with a PP loan.
The problem is when they package the loans as if they’re free money. Example: they show some magic math and say your contribution as, eg, 35k. But on inspection, they got to that number by throwing in a 10k PP loan. That would make your real bottom line 45k.
In this case, it helps to read the package offer closely, see exactly what the free money is, redo the math to see what you/your kid would take on in loans.
Read up on Parent Plus, also. It has some advantages, but you really need to know how you’ll pay it back. If things are tenuous or unpredictable, not a great idea.
Sorry, I see now this was an x-post.
In general, the bottom line net price should be list price minus grants and scholarships. Meaning that net price is the sum of expected parent contribution, expected student contribution (which is student loans plus work study), and unmet need. I.e.
net price = list price - grants - scholarships
net price = expected parent contribution + expected student contribution + unmet need
Regarding Work Study: you do not need to be Pell eligible to be awarded Work Study. There is a question on the FAFSA if the students wants to be considered for Work Study.
An estimated amount is calculated (student can earn $X at a work study job) but the student doesn’t get awarded that money. It’s up to them to earn it.
Schools vary how they handle work study jobs. Both my children had work study calculated into their award packages.
S’s school had work study jobs for every student who wanted them. He worked all four years.
D’s school didn’t have enough work study jobs to go around. Her first and second years, she couldn’t get a work study job, so she found an off-campus job. She found one first semester her third year (second semester she was doing study abroad) and also found one her last year of school.
One book that might give you insight into the college admission process (just a glimpse of a specific school, Wesleyan, book was written in 2002) is called The Gatekeepers. It’s interesting reading.
For some old but still relevant insight into how Admissions works, read The Gatekeepers.
But mostly just go on with your life and prep some backup apps.
If a student applies ED should they expect a financial aid letter in the acceptance even if they don’t qualify for anything? In other words, should there at least be a letter stating your EFC is $69K? We applied for financial aid because in order to be considered for merit money it is required and also why not and there was nothing other than the letter and a college pamphlet in the envelope…thoughts?
@rphmom - usually when applying ED for admission, if the applicant also applied for financial aid, if there is not a financial aid award included with the offer of admission, there is language that says financial aid information will be coming separately, or instructions on how to log in to a school portal to view that information.
If you heard nothing, then I would contact the school to inquire.
Even if your EFC is $69K, your letter could reference the process to apply for Stafford Loans and Parent Plus Loans.