What if I don't use all the money in my financial aid package?

<p>too lazy to do a search, i recieved a rather hefty financial aid package for my freshman year at UCSC, and about half of it are loans and work study.</p>

<p>I have no idea what my i'll be paying my first year, but i made sacrifices to make it cheaper, like taking a dorm in a quad room instead of a double or a single. if i accept things like unsubsidized loans and work study, and never end up needing it, will i be forced to use it and pay it back? or will i have an option later on about my budget?</p>

<p>would i have to repay my perkins loans and subsidized loans with interest if i dont end up using them? or i just pay back immediatly?</p>

<p>You can decline to accept all the loans if you would like. Or you can take them and pay them back right away.</p>

<p>I suggest the latter if there is a possibility that you will need the loans for successive years. They might not award them again next year if they determine you didn’t need them.</p>

<p>If you accept the loans they will be disbursed to you automatically. As soon as the unsub loan is disbursed it will start accruing interest. Once all your direct costs at the school are paid any excess aid will be paid to you. You only get the WS funds if you actually get a WS job and work the hours to earn them. The subsidized loans do not incur any interest until you graduate or drop below half time plus grace period.</p>

<p>Remember that some of the money in the cost of attendance is for things like books and travel and incidental expenses that you won’t pay up front so make sure you get/hang onto enough cash from your loans to cover those costs. Figure out what your interest will be on your loans if you keep them for a semester. Most likely it will be low enough that it will be worth it for your peace of mind to take the loans and have the money in case you need it, but plan to pay as much as possible of it back at the end of the semester.</p>