<p>I was just wondering becuase according to my Financial Aid statement, the office has divided the funds such that it mees the total budget. The budget, however, also contains things like: Books, Personal Expenses, Travel. I was just wondering, what if I don't acutally need that much? What if I spend less than what the school indicated. Do I get money back?</p>
<p>Thanks for any imput! I am just a little confused</p>
<p>Are you on full scholarship for your entire cost of attendance? Usually what happens is that funds are put into your university account per semester and allocated first to tuition, then to room, then to board. Usually,the rest you can get to spend and allocate as you wish. If you don't spend it all, you can use towards the next year. In fact if it is sitting in your accounts somewhere when you fill out the forms for aid next year, it will show up as such and your next year's aid will take that into account.</p>
<p>thanks for that! My financial aid actually covers all of tuition and part of the other expenses, my parents have to pay for parts of it though. I was just wondering how things worked</p>
<p>Tealover, what is your actual COA budget & the financial aid award particulars? If you post those, we can tell you what you can expect to happen.</p>
<p>I don't know what you mean by COA, but as far as my financial aid package goes: </p>
<p>Tuition: 37640
Room: 9790
Books: 1000
Personal: 1800
Travel: 1300</p>
<p>and total parent and student contribution is 8120...rest is in aid/grant</p>
<p>Your COA, according to what you stated, is $51,530. Your "real" cost is $47,430 (plus fees, if your school charges them). Subtract your grants & any loans you will be taking from this figure. That leaves the amount you will have to actually pay to the school. You will find that you probably aren't paying the $8120 figure. That is because the school expects that you will be spending somewhere in the ballpark of the other $4100 in the budget on books, expenses, and travel. If you are frugal and do not spend that much extra ... then you are smart! My D's school has a similar COA budget ... wonder if it's the same school?! ... and she doesn't plan on spending that much extra. The good news is, she still gets the same grants even if she keeps extra spending down.</p>
<p>Tuition: 37640
Room: 9790
Books: 1000
Personal: 1800
Travel: 1300</p>
<p>You need to add these together for the Cost of Attendance (COA): 51530</p>
<p>Parent and Student contribution: 8120</p>
<p>The difference is the Aid/Grants: 43410</p>
<p>Your Parent and Student Contribution is more than the total of the combined estimates for Books, Personal, and Travel (4100). This means the school is expecting you to pay 4020 toward the combined total for Tuition and Room. </p>
<p>So, nope, you aren't going to get to keep any of the financial aid money for yourself. You do have some control over the 4100 that the school is estimating you will need for Books, Personal, and Travel. If you are very, very careful, you might not end up spending quite that much on those items. Then again, you may end up spending a lot more if you aren't careful enough!</p>
<p>If you don't spend all of that $4100, it will defray your parent/student contribution.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse...what does "defray your parent/student contribution" mean?</p>
<p>thanks! I am sure I will have to spend at least up to half of the 4100, but good to know that my parent/student contribution can be less than what is stated.</p>
<p>oh and kelsmom, I dont' have any loans, everything is in grants and where is your D going? :)</p>