This is my 3rd child in college. My other 2 always received the max. subsidized stafford student loan. My son attends Pace and they only gave him $441 in stafford loan, when he should have received $7500. My EFC is under $10k and is less than last year.
Does anyone know why this would happen?
how much did they give him in need based aid. He would not get a subsidized loan if he had no financial need. He always has the option of taking the balance out as an unsub loan.
Is he also getting work study? He may be able to get more in subsidized loans if he reduces other aid.
The way it works is this:
Eligibility for subsidized loan: COA - EFC - all other aid except unsub loan = eligibility for sub loan (up to $3,500)
Eligibility for unsubsidized loan: COA - all aid including sub loan = eligibility for unsub loan (max of sub+unsub cannot exceed $5,500).
I am guessing this child must have received a really good financial aid package compared to your other kids?
The max subsidized loan is $3500. If he didn’t get that amount…then perhaps he didn’t have $3000 in unmet need?
The max Direct Loan for a freshman is $5500…not $7500 with a max of $3500 being subsidized IF the student qualifies for a subsidized loan. Your kiddo can likely get this loan as an unsubsidized loan if needed.
$7500 Direct Loan amount is the amount for college juniors and seniors. Is your Pace son a college junior or senior? If so…did he get subsidized loans his freshman and sophomore years?
How many kids do you have in college in fall 2018?
No. My daughter had an AMAZING package from UM. He received a $2,100 grant, a $24k scholarship and $421 in student loan money… No unsub.
He is a Senior. He received subsidized and unsub. loans previously. My EFC is 8995 (lower than last year). They want us to take out a PLUS loan of $38k
EFC is 8995…
They want us to take a PLUS loan of $38k without giving sub or unsub. loans
Do you have LESS kids in college for 2018-2019 than in previous years?
This sounds like a private university. Is it? And one that doesn’t guarantee to meet full need.
Your kiddo can take out a $7500 unsubsidized Direct Loan…anyone completing a FAFSA can do so. He should request this from the financial aid office ASAP.
Does this school use the Profile as well? If so, is there anything on there that might bump up your family contribution?
Wait - he is a senior in college? I am confused, then - I assumed he was an incoming freshman. That makes a difference. If he has already borrowed $23,000 in sub loans, he has maxed out. If he has already borrowed $31,000 in a mix of sub+unsub loans, he has maxed out. Some computerized aid systems will not award loans if the student is close to the max … to keep from going over. They then have someone go back & manually review/award loans just to the max allowed.
I am seeing COA for Pace @ $43,624 for 2018-2019. They are FAFSA-only, from what I can see on their website.
Using what you posted above, he has:
$2,100 grant
$24k scholarship
$421 in student loan money… No unsub. (Did you mean no sub??)
Here is the way it “should” work, if it is correct that your EFC is 8995:
43,624 COA -8,995 EFC -2,100 grant - $24,000 scholarship = $8,529 remaining Need.
I am guessing that because he was only offered $421 in loans, he is near the max for loans … that is $31,000 for an undergraduate. He can see how much he has borrowed to date by logging into nslds.ed.gov.
The other scenario is that undergraduate loans are prorated based on enrollment if the student is scheduled to graduate at the end of fall semester. In this case, they would be prorating his loans based on his current enrollment in the system (or possibly based on the remaining credits necessary to complete his degree).
How long has he been going to college? How much has he borrowed so far? How much was sub?
He is not maxed out on loans. I don’t understand how they give out the loans… like I said, my other 2 kids always got the max. loan.
he’s not maxed out on loans
no profile and there’s nothing that would bump us up.
Your senior college son CAN get a $7500 unsubsidized Loan…all he needs to do is ask.
Please…don’t compare the aid one kid gets to another kid’s.
Again I ask…how many siblings are going to be in college for 2018-2019. How many were in college for 2017-2018.
We had one kid who got a very small subsidized loan when both of our kids were in college at the same time. The other kid didn’t get a subsidized loan…at all. Both colleges had the same cost, and their EFCs were just about identical.
The only way to know is to ask the school’s financial aid office. That is the only way you will know the reason. If there was a mistake, the school can correct it.