<p>Hello,
I'm an incoming freshman who's starting in the fall. I wanted to know if UMD gives out financial aid money, like the pell grant, to students before the semester begins. I have the full Banneker/Key and I wanted to use my pell grant to buy my dorming things for August. Is this possible?</p>
<p>Assuming your banneker/key scholarship already fulfills all financial need, I wouldn’t expect any additional aid from UMD. I didn’t receive any financial aid last year because my merit scholarship had already met all need as calculated using my EFC.</p>
<p>@qweruiopuiop I spoke with a financial aid person and they explained that I could get additional aid if I qualified. I was eligible for the pell grant, and so that appears on my financial aid package. </p>
<p>AmbitionMission, congrats on your full Banneker/Key. My impression was that a full BK scholarship provided a full-ride (Room and board, tuition, fees, and some travel funds). I would be surprised if a Pell Grant (provided you still qualified after all of your college costs would be covered by the BK) will permit you to use the funds to buy dormitory furnishings – these funds that could be provided to some other student not qualifying to the BK to attend Maryland</p>
<p>The pell grant goes to the student, not to the university to give to other students. It is a ‘refundable’ grant, meaning the student can use the amount not needed for direct billed costs (tuition, fees, R&B) on other expenses.</p>
<p>OP, it’s unlikely you’ll get the reimbursement in August. Most schools have a method to give over-payments back to the students, either through direct deposit, a cut check, or a debit card system. At DD1’s school, we have to pick, but none of the choices gets the money back to you until all the accounts are cleared, which means the drop/add period has to end, all the other funds have to reach the bursar’s office, accounts settled.</p>
<p>You might ask if there is a short term loan available to front you these funds. Again, at my daughter’s school there is. They can also ‘charge’ items at the bookstore and those charges will be settled before any refund.</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification on how the Pell grants work. I thought the Federal Pell Grants were limited to students with financial need. How can someone with a Banneker/Key full ride scholarship – essentially no direct costs (tuition, fees, R&B) qualify?</p>
<p>@PeterW - don’t forget FAFSA app is submitted and is determined before B/K is decided (even though notifications possibly come out after)…</p>
<p>So, if a student plays the system, they can actually make money while getting a free collge education. Doesn’t seem right to me</p>
<p>Come tax time they have to account for all the money they received for school (1098T form provided by school). If they got a full scholarship and then spent their pell grant, you can bet uncle sam wants his money back. Now if they want to lie on their taxes, that’s a whole different ball game.</p>