<p>So that no one else finds themselves in our situation:</p>
<p>There is a separate Zell Miller Scholarship application. The HOPE application does not work for both. Even if you qualify for Zell Miller but don't submit the application, you will not receive the Zell Miller funds. We did the HOPE scholarship application at the first of the year when there was no Zell Miller. Never knew that we needed to complete another application. The Zell Miller scholarship credits did not show on Ds student account this week so as we were waiting for an answer as to why, I did a little research and discovered the application.</p>
<p>Hopefully, it will be processed and funds received prior to when our bill is due.</p>
<p>gamomof3.
We applied via FAFSA at the start of the year. We had no idea where D was going to school.
At orientation the fin aid office pointed out that if you completed the Hope application on GA411 it was good for all 4 years. We submitted when we returned home on June 24. The form automatically submitted for both ( actually I think 4 scholarships were selected when I clicked on Hope)</p>
<p>D checked her bursar account the other day and the Zell Miller is there. But, ouch! lll those fees… tough on families with very little notice.</p>
<p>Another friend and I were discussing all those fees too. I think they should spend a little time at orientation discussing all those fees and what the student is actually getting for them.</p>
<p>We did Hope via ga411 but since it was so early I never thought to go back in and check after they came up with Zell Miller. I guess this was a time where it didn’t pay to do your stuff early.</p>
<p>IMO all these fees are the result of bad management decisions, both at the university and in the General Assembly. The folks in the Gold Dome think it’s a good idea for schools to raise ‘fees’ rather than ‘tuition’ so the state isn’t on the hook for more HOPE scholarship $. It’s almost like they don’t understand who is actually paying fees and how much they now cost.</p>
<p>I was under the impression that schools could only use fees when they are appropriated for a specific purpose… now, they’re charging $450 per semester for some “institutional fee.” Naturally, there’s no accountability and nobody can explain what this fee even goes toward. </p>
<p>The worst part is there’s absolutely no advocate for students, even though the Student Gov’t Association claims to represent the best interests of the student body as a whole. If anything, the student reps. on SGA have directly (implementing their own fees) and indirectly (not protesting GGA proposals to increase fees) caused substantial fee increases for UGA students.</p>
<p>*Stepping off my soapbox now. Gibson has a good point about using GACollege411 rather than FAFSA. Some of my second and third-year friends are now very frustrated because they have to apply for HOPE through FAFSA every year… GACollege411 is much easier.</p>
<p>If you really want to make your head hurt, try researching the financial state of the Hope lottery. </p>
<p>The Board of Regents just a week ago released how much money each state school would receive. How schools are supposed to budget and make decisions on tuition/fees in a timely manner is beyond me. This is a common theme across the country. While GA used to support up to 75% the cost of running a college, it has now dropped to 49% at some of the state schools. That money has to come from somewhere. The state of Virginia is facing similar problems.</p>
<p>Not sure when the bubble will burst for public colleges. The combination of dwindling state support and the need to keep up with peer institutions in matters of resources for students, attractive campuses, state of the art technology, better dorms, etc. is a slippery slope.</p>
<p>I am so glad that we used GACollege411 to apply for Hope. The change to Zell Miller was handled automatically for us. I am crossing my fingers that we don’t get any more unexpected surprises over the next couple of years. </p>
<p>That’s an interesting fact about that they don’t need a specific purpose to impose a fee…just more ways of getting money from parents or making the students get more federal loan money.</p>
<p>OK–does “your Zell Miller Scholarship status is eligible” mean that everything is taken care of or is there still another application to fill out? Sorry to be so clueless.</p>
<p>I don’t understand where the money is going. The budget for my major department was cut ~10% this year after what were effectively ~7% cuts for the previous two years. It’s one of the more popular schools at UGA and it offers maybe 7 or 8 unique classes per year (not per semester!). Meanwhile, revenues from tuition and state funding just don’t seem to be building the sort of capital improvement you’re talking about. </p>
<p>Personnel costs arn’t the problem, either: Across UGA, most faculty and staff haven’t received even nominal raises in ~4 years. UGA has eliminated hundreds of vacant positions and layed off many support staff. So where’s the money going? I have no friggin’ idea but would love to find out.</p>
<p>Edit: On a somewhat brighter note, I guess we should be grateful that Georgia’s public higher-ed system isn’t in shambles like the UC system. </p>
<p>Sorry!! Didn’t mean to be so unclear in my last post. I was trying unsuccessfully to commiserate with the problems that GA’s, and many other states’, public colleges are facing in terms of public funding. The percentage decrease in state funding for GA’s colleges is huge. Many other states are facing similar circumstances. I believe that NC might be an exception (sorry i can’t easily locate the stats right now), but their taxes are higher.</p>
<p>Again i was trying to say that UGA and many other schools are expected to provide a modern college environment with decreased funding. Back in the 1980’s when i went to college, the current level of technology was not in existence. Computer labs were essentially word processing centers, there was no internet, and there was still a card catalog in the library. Now schools need wifi access, etc. It is quite expensive to retrofit old buildings to meet these new needs.</p>
<p>More and more schools are having to rely on massive fundraising efforts to bridge the gaps left in state funding. I seem to recall an article that UGA was trying to increase its fundraising efforts to match other universities of a similar size.</p>
<p>And again my reference to colleges having to “keep up” with their peers was a reference to many of the threads that can be found on cc on why students won’t consider going to a particular school. Prospective students do look at the condition of the dorms, the quality of the food services, the school transportation system, the quality of the research facilities, the quality of the rec center and so on. And by the way, i think UGA stacks up quite well. :)</p>
<p>I agree that I have a lot to be thankful for every time I read the California threads. Or remember back to my D’s college search when we visited some OOS state schools where parents were not shocked at all at the thought of paying close to $40,000 per year.</p>
<p>Again, i apologize if I confused the issue.</p>
<p>It depends on when you completed the HOPE scholarship application. If you did it prior to the creationg of the Zell Miller Application, then you will need to complete a separate Zell Miller scholarship application. Just because it says Zell Miller eligible does not mean your school has given you the Zell Miller money. The best way to determine what you need to do is go to log into your gacollege411 account. Then go to the section to apply for HOPE. You should see several different types of applications including HOPE and Zell Miller. If you click on Zell Miller and it says you already submitted then you are fine, if not you will need to complete that application. If you applied for HOPE recently like within the last 2 months you are probably good.</p>
<p>Or if your student account already shows the Zell Miller scholarship credit then you are fine. It should be listed separately from the HOPE scholarship credit</p>
<p>Thanks for being so specific. The GA411 doesn’t seem to stop you from applying to anything again. Our UGA account only says Zell Miller Scholarship payment (not two separate listings). Hopefully everything is in order for us too.
In terms of fees, I was expecting them, just not so many! I agree, it would have been nice to have everything spelled out from the beginning (instead of saying that the health services and the buses were free in orientation they should have said that there would be separate fees to cover both).
In spite of these fees, UGA still seems like a great deal.</p>
<p>Helpful…are you sure you applied via gacolleg411 instead of fafsa? On my Ds account when she tries to apply again for either, it says you have already applied. Saturday it only said she had applied for HOPE.</p>
<p>I wasn’t sure how it showed up on student account but as long as it equals tuition then great.</p>
<p>@ #10: No confusion – I’m just venting at how the state is handling tuition+fees, and where the money is going. Another topic for another day, I suppose. You’ve got it right: A grand total of 1k in fees + room+ board is still a good deal.</p>
<p>@gamomof3: As for ZMS, on OASIS>Financial Aid>Awards 2011-12 there should be a line for “Zell Scholarship” in the amount of $3641 per semester. </p>
<p>Hopefully the system works for everyone and there’s no (more) hassles trying to get the right scholarship amount.</p>
<p>For those who are interested, here are some links regarding the budget situation and reduced state funding for state flagship universities such as UGA, UNC Chapel Hill, and my alma mater UVA.</p>
<p>This is a snippet from a long article on UVA. </p>
<p>“Sure, UVA is ostensibly a public university, but the state’s contribution is a mere 6.9 percent of the University budget in Fiscal Year 2009-2010. That’s down from 8.1 percent the previous year, when both the state and UVA had more money to spread around. The rest comes mostly from revenue from the UVA Health System, tuition, and assorted grants.”</p>
<p>For all of the freshman parents. If you have survived orientation and your student has signed up for classes, then you are well on your way. Now you just need to make it through a hot move in day.</p>
<p>Any tips for move in day?
D found out her room assignment yesterday and she is on the first floor of Myers. She is very happy. The other girls in the same program as her are in the rooms close by. She was a little disappointed she didn’t get one of the " big rooms", but we both suspect they might be used as triples this year given the current freshmen housing probs. Can’t believe in 4 weeks she will be there!!</p>
<p>Congrats on Myers. My D was a little disappointed to not have gotten Myers last year. After it was too late to do anything about it, she found out her roommate had paid her housing deposit on the later side as opposed to early on. It is a little disappointing that there is not enough housing for all of the Honors program students that want it. But that is neither here nor there. The Myers quad area is a nice place to be. :)</p>
<p>UGA was offering upperclassmen a financial incentive to give up their housing slots, so space is tight. I see that Rutherford even has some quadruple rooms listed. I have no idea how that is possible. My D is fortunately in a double.</p>
<p>Odds are that it will be hot, so dress comfortably. At least you won’t be dealing with lots of stairs, etc. Did your D get her UGA ID made at Orientation? She will need that in order to check into the dorm. If you have a hand cart, they do come in handy. There are extras at the dorms, but if you have your own you won’t have to wait for one. It might be a good idea to find out when her roommate plans on getting there. There isn’t enough room for both families to move stuff in at the exact same time.</p>
<p>We accepted that it would be a long day and didn’t hurry through it. That made the day less stressful for all.</p>
<p>Last year there were several great threads on move in advice. Hopefully they will be resurrected again. </p>
<p>For move-in, make sure to bring a handcart. Myers orovides 5 carts for 500 students, so there’s usually a 15-30 minute wait for carts on move-in/move-out days. Most convenient parking is the corner lot at cedar and sanford… If you can’t get a spot there, there’s always plenty of parking in South deck (the one right next to myers). Last year, the check-in process moved pretty quick for me and most others I talked to… Probably won’t take more than 15 or 20 minutes max. </p>
<p>As for the actual move-in, keep in mind that the elevators in myers suck. They are absurdly slow, especially on busy days, so don’t be afraid to carry lighter loads up the stairs (esp. if you’re on the second or third floors). I had some bug problems last year… Took them about a week to get around to sprying. If you notice any problems, file a
Repair request with Housing as soon as possible.</p>
<p>We are doing early move in with the sorority rush crowd even though D is not doing that. I am hoping it won’t be nearly as bad. She is in Reed and I am hoping most of the people who are rushing will be in Russell or Creswell.</p>
<p>I would recommend planning on at least 1 trip to Target/Walmart. For instance, we waited and measured the exact height of the desk in order to get a drawer unit that would fit underneath. And that would also allow you to pick up unexpected items like bug spray. </p>
<p>Housing was relatively quick to fix a dresser drawer that wouldn’t open properly, but it didn’t stay fixed and D just lived with it.</p>
</p>
Another topic for another day, I suppose. You’ve got it right: A grand total of 1k in fees + room+ board is still a good deal.</p>
Now you just need to make it through a hot move in day.</p>