<p>Can you use student loans for things like car payments and food if you're living in an apartment on campus?</p>
<p>What determines how much money you can take out for a student loan through the government?</p>
<p>What determines how much money you can take out for a student loan through a bank?</p>
<p>Do you get approved for more money if you get a loan from a bank with a cosigner?</p>
<p>Can I get a student loan from the government for my tuition and room and board and a seperate loan from a bank for student expenses like textbooks, car payments and food?</p>
<p>Student loans have to be certified by the college - that includes both federal and private loans. The school will certify loans up to the cost of attendance, less any other aid. Loans can be used for any of the typical educational expenses - tuition, fees, room, board, books, transportation, etc and it doesn’t matter if the student lives on or offf campus. Schools will not add the price of a car to their cost of attendance but often have a higher transportation allowance for students who live off campus or at home.</p>
<p>Federal Stafford loans maximums depend on class standing - for undergrads it’s $5500 for freshmen, $6500 for sophomores, and $7500 for junior/seniors. You will likely need a cosigner to qualify for a private loan.</p>
<p>As sk8rmom says, you can use student loans (or any other FA left over after direct school expenses) to pay for off campus accommodations, food, personal expenses, travel expenses etc.</p>
<p>The school determines your federal aid, including how much and what type of loans you may take (subsidized, unsubsidized etc). They base it on the cost of attendance for the school. The COA is an averaged number that includes allowances for tuition and fees, books, room and board, personal expenses, travel expenses etc. You cannot get FA, including loans, for over the COA of the school. The school can increase your COA if your school related expenses are higher than that allowed in the COA - for instance if you take more credit hours than the number in the COA is based on.</p>
<p>Yo can’t get FA, including student loans (private or federal), for over the approved COA as the $ amounts have to be certified by the school. Loans for things like cars would have to be non student loans. </p>
<p>In most cases a student would require a cosigner to take out a private loan (student or otherwise).</p>