[crescendoll]

Have you applied for the FAFSA? Most students are guaranteed a federal student loan. Your parents can apply for the federal PLUS parent loan. And if they are denied, you can get more unsubsidized loan. On July 1st, they have increase the unsubsidized limit by $2,000. If not, you can take out a private loan and have someone cosign. I know you mention that in your statement. But really, it's the cosigner who is taking the risk. The cosigner is saying, I believe this person will own up to the amount and if he/she doesn't, I will pay the amount. So it's really a matter of does the cosigner trust your family or not. My advice, if you haven't done so, file the FAFSA.

I've already applied for the FAFSA and received a good amount from it. I've only got $12k left to pay. I'll try out the PLUS loan (I didn't realize I could get more!) so thank you. ^^

[Sweetraindrops]

whatt somee wayy gett scholarrship.. likee whatt i gott do..

i workk bunchaa jobb... whatt iff i apply fulll timee sckool n gett $ for full time.. whatt i do then... quitt my jobbzz go full timee or what..

[chyea dann]

hi, i happen to be in a predicament with my financial aid.

i am now a junior in college, and for my freshman year, my financial aid was considered as an off-campus student.

off-campus is, for example, renting an apartment, etc.
this gave me additional grants that would not be given to commuter students.

since then, for my sophmore year, i have lived with my parents.

however, the university still offered the same financial aid as if i were considered an off-campus student.

recently, my financial award letters have not been updated for my upcoming junior year, so i decided to call my school's student financial office.

it was then brought to my attention that i was considered as a 'resident hall' student for this year, which no one but my own school selected me to be.

a 'resident hall' student is one living in a dormitory, and because juniors can not live in dorms, the financial service rep grew suspicious of me.

she then asked me, 'where are you living? you can not be living in a dorm this year.'

so i honestly replied, 'i am now living with my parents.'


this then created a domino effect of grants lost. nearly my entire financial aid has been wiped out because of my phone call.

now, my question is about the ethical aspect of this situation.

the fact that i was listed as an 'off-campus' student for my second year was my school's doing.
the fact that i was listed as a 'resident hall' student for this upcoming year was my school's doing.

had i not called out to enable them to be aware of this, would they have found out eventually?

what's frustrating is that my father is really angry at me, because he now has to find money to pay for my tuition.


is there anyway to reinstate my former financial package? any of it? i'm coming to you to see if you can help me in my situation.

thanks for reading.

[touche`]

I don't quite understand your question. Are you asking if there are scholarships to pay for loans during and after college? Scholarship are money to help you while you are attending school. Although there are some programs that may offer you loan forgiveness. However, you can receive scholarship during your academic year, which would require you to get less loans. But it won't necessarily pay your loans off.

Going to college is expensive. Although it may seem like you are graduating with loads of debt, you must realize that by obtain a degree, you will have a better chance at obtaining a better job. This may not be the case all the time; just being optimistic. Don't worry, you are not alone in this.

I don't know why but last year (freshmen year in college), my whole tuition was paid and I still have to take out 2500 loans. If I have left over scholarship, can't I use the scholarship to pay off the loans? Not possible?

[ChakHanSarah]

Question:

What is the maximum number of hours you can have until Financial Aid is cut off for u?

This may have been asked before, but i could not find the post, so sorry and thank you in advance.

[jenjenyaj]

Question:

What is the maximum number of hours you can have until Financial Aid is cut off for u?

This may have been asked before, but i could not find the post, so sorry and thank you in advance.

You may want to double check with your financial aid office. It is usually a little more than the required number of units for graduation. For example, if you are attending a semester school and in order to graduate you must have at least 120 units, your unit limit will be something around 150 or more. They give you some leeway, but each school is different, so double check with your financial aid office.

[vikkay]

I went through all 13 pages and didnt find my question.
So i applied for Fin Aid for Pasadena Community College, it shows on my registration
that Fin aid covered my classes but i have no idea where to see how much money will
be left over for me. Any help on this?

[Kanhlaya]

I was so stupid and let my financial Aid award letter sit for over 30 days and they declined my award. I know, very ignorant of me. Is there any way I can get back my award letter?

[still_dr3amin]

I am going to be a freshmen this fall. I am also receiving financial aid. However, I hear that if you work you can't make a certain amount of money or else your fafsa money will be reduced.

I will start work as a mentor towards the end of august. I will be getting paid $14/hr & with the hour I work I will make approx 1000 a month. The job last until May. That would make about 9,000. How will this affect my fafsa can somebody answer this for me?

[jenjenyaj]

whatt somee wayy gett scholarrship.. likee whatt i gott do..

i workk bunchaa jobb... whatt iff i apply fulll timee sckool n gett $ for full time.. whatt i do then... quitt my jobbzz go full timee or what..

You can search for different scholarships and apply. One website is Fastweb.com. If you apply as a full time student, you can get full time financial aid. It's up to you whether you want to quit your job or go school full time and have a job. It's a personal choice.

hi, i happen to be in a predicament with my financial aid.

i am now a junior in college, and for my freshman year, my financial aid was considered as an off-campus student.

off-campus is, for example, renting an apartment, etc.
this gave me additional grants that would not be given to commuter students.

since then, for my sophmore year, i have lived with my parents.

however, the university still offered the same financial aid as if i were considered an off-campus student.

recently, my financial award letters have not been updated for my upcoming junior year, so i decided to call my school's student financial office.

it was then brought to my attention that i was considered as a 'resident hall' student for this year, which no one but my own school selected me to be.

a 'resident hall' student is one living in a dormitory, and because juniors can not live in dorms, the financial service rep grew suspicious of me.

she then asked me, 'where are you living? you can not be living in a dorm this year.'

so i honestly replied, 'i am now living with my parents.'


this then created a domino effect of grants lost. nearly my entire financial aid has been wiped out because of my phone call.

now, my question is about the ethical aspect of this situation.

the fact that i was listed as an 'off-campus' student for my second year was my school's doing.
the fact that i was listed as a 'resident hall' student for this upcoming year was my school's doing.

had i not called out to enable them to be aware of this, would they have found out eventually?

what's frustrating is that my father is really angry at me, because he now has to find money to pay for my tuition.


is there anyway to reinstate my former financial package? any of it? i'm coming to you to see if you can help me in my situation.

thanks for reading.

Your financial aid package (off-campus, on-campus, with parent) is usually determine by your answer on the FAFSA after you input your school code. Schools usually go off of what you have indicated on your FAFSA. Because you had honestly told them your current situation, there's no way of going back and fixing it. Unless you lease out an apartment and bring them proof of your lease with your name on the lease as one of the tenant, they will recalculate your aid. But since you live with your parents, your budget for the year will be less and the financial aid amount will be less. Ethically, they are in their right to change your aid to reflect your living situation. Financial aid office do get audit every random year. By law, whatever you disclose to the financial aid office, either verbally or written, they are bounded by law to go with that information. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

I don't know why but last year (freshmen year in college), my whole tuition was paid and I still have to take out 2500 loans. If I have left over scholarship, can't I use the scholarship to pay off the loans? Not possible?

Well, what you can do is have the scholarship money paid out to you this year, and see if you can use that money to pay off your loan from last. Your scholarship, if it is required to be paid to your school first and then you, will be paid out with your financial aid. You can use the refund, if there is one, and pay your loan. But there's no way to have it applied directly.

I went through all 13 pages and didnt find my question.
So i applied for Fin Aid for Pasadena Community College, it shows on my registration
that Fin aid covered my classes but i have no idea where to see how much money will
be left over for me. Any help on this?

Each schools website is operated differently. You may want to log in to the student information page and find a link regarding account (fee) inquiry or account (fee) statement. But for more help, you may want to call the school directly and ask for help.

I was so stupid and let my financial Aid award letter sit for over 30 days and they declined my award. I know, very ignorant of me. Is there any way I can get back my award letter?

Contact your financial aid office and let them know what has happened. Ask them if they can re-award you your financial aid. They may require you to write a statement to verify your request. So contact them immediate to ask what their office procedure is. More than likely, you aren't the only one to have your award letter expire.

I am going to be a freshmen this fall. I am also receiving financial aid. However, I hear that if you work you can't make a certain amount of money or else your fafsa money will be reduced.

I will start work as a mentor towards the end of august. I will be getting paid $14/hr & with the hour I work I will make approx 1000 a month. The job last until May. That would make about 9,000. How will this affect my fafsa can somebody answer this for me?

Techinically, your financial aid is based off of your income that is reported to the IRS. Because you will start at the end of August, you will be counting the months up until December 31st. A total of 4 months, equaling about $4000. That shouldn't make much of a dent in your financial aid, depending on your parents income because you are a dependent student. Your expected family contribute (EFC) is calculated through numerous factors. So if your family income remains about the same for this year, your financial aid should not have much of a change for next year.

[Sweetraindrops]

You can search for different scholarships and apply. One website is Fastweb.com. If you apply as a full time student, you can get full time financial aid. It's up to you whether you want to quit your job or go school full time and have a job. It's a personal choice.

caann i gett scholaur part time to..

[KISSY*]

Hi I have 2 questions:

1) Am I eligible for Cal Grant if I was originally an out-of-state student (freshman year) but just recently settled in California during this summer? I will be a sophomore this fall. I know it's only for California residents but in a year, I'd count as a resident too, right? Will I be eligible then? Also, what's the GPA requirement for Cal Grant?

2) I am applying for Federal Stafford Loan. My college gave me several lender choices and it seems that every bank gives students the same offer except Citibank. Their repayment benefits seem to be the best deal. I was wondering if there's any hidden agenda in there that I should be aware of? Or is this information out of date or am I just being too cautious?

This is from my school's Federal Stafford Loan Lender Comparison website regarding repayment benefits (http://www.usc.edu/a...rison_rev.pdf):

Other banks: 0.25% interest rate reduction at repayment if you make your payments automatically via ACH.

Citibank: 0.50% interest rate reduction when you enter repayment. 0.25% interest rate reduction when you enroll in auto-debit of payments and agree to receive your statements electronically. Citibank will pay the last six scheduled payments on behalf of the student when all payments are made on time.

Also, what's ACH?


Thanks in advance!

[babichunki]

once you register for classes, is that when you know how much financial aid you're getting right?
Because I didn't register for classes yet...

[kittipat]

okay so i applied for financial aid on time before it was suppose to be due for the fall quarter, however 2 months later they send me a notice saying that i have one document that needs to be fixed/re-done..

Does that mean that i got put down on the bottom of the list, because it was not fully completed until 2 months after the due date?

thanks!!

[beana*]

resolved
20 characters

[dragon555]

Hi, I have a question. What is the most financial aid, as in grants, that a student going to a public university can get. Lets say the student is going to live with his parents during the school year and the total gross income made last year was less than $20,000.

[jenjenyaj]

caann i gett scholaur part time to..

You will have to read the criteria for the scholarship.

Hi I have 2 questions:

1) Am I eligible for Cal Grant if I was originally an out-of-state student (freshman year) but just recently settled in California during this summer? I will be a sophomore this fall. I know it's only for California residents but in a year, I'd count as a resident too, right? Will I be eligible then? Also, what's the GPA requirement for Cal Grant?

2) I am applying for Federal Stafford Loan. My college gave me several lender choices and it seems that every bank gives students the same offer except Citibank. Their repayment benefits seem to be the best deal. I was wondering if there's any hidden agenda in there that I should be aware of? Or is this information out of date or am I just being too cautious?

This is from my school's Federal Stafford Loan Lender Comparison website regarding repayment benefits (http://www.usc.edu/a...rison_rev.pdf):

Other banks: 0.25% interest rate reduction at repayment if you make your payments automatically via ACH.

Citibank: 0.50% interest rate reduction when you enter repayment. 0.25% interest rate reduction when you enroll in auto-debit of payments and agree to receive your statements electronically. Citibank will pay the last six scheduled payments on behalf of the student when all payments are made on time.

Also, what's ACH?


Thanks in advance!

1) You are not eligible for Cal Grant. One of the criteria is that you have to graduate from a California high school. If you are an out-of-state student, you probably did not graduate in California. The GPA requirement varies depending on the Cal Grant type. Some ask for only a 2.0, but there are some that requires 3.0.

2) There's no catch. Your school probably choose those lenders from a LONG list of lenders because they offer the best benefits to students. And also because the school has better communication, should there be any problems. Schools usually update the website should there be any changes to the rates and/or lender.

ACH stands for the Automatic Clearing House. It is a network to connect banks to each other. It is through this network that direct deposits, electronic payments, certain transfers, and debit-card payments are processed.

once you register for classes, is that when you know how much financial aid you're getting right?
Because I didn't register for classes yet...

As long as you have an active matriculation, have applied for FAFSA, and have completed all the requirements from your financial aid office, you should get an award letter. You won't see any outstanding charges on your account until you have registered for class. And your financial aid will not be released until you have been enrolled in the courses.

okay so i applied for financial aid on time before it was suppose to be due for the fall quarter, however 2 months later they send me a notice saying that i have one document that needs to be fixed/re-done..

Does that mean that i got put down on the bottom of the list, because it was not fully completed until 2 months after the due date?

thanks!!

Unfortunately, that's usually the case because they process files/documents according to the date they've received it.

Hi, I have a question. What is the most financial aid, as in grants, that a student going to a public university can get. Lets say the student is going to live with his parents during the school year and the total gross income made last year was less than $20,000.

It varies. I can give you some projection numbers according to the amounts of various grants available in 2008-2009. These are the max amount per academic year and some of them do have criteria you have to meet:
Pell Grant: $4,731
ACG (Academic Competitive Grant): 1st Year: $750; 2nd Year: $1,300
SMART Grant (3rd & 4th Year, qualifying Math & Science Majors): $4,000
State & University Grant (Amount varies from schools and states): $2,000-$9,000 (of course, $9,000 is usually for private schools)

I hope this helps.

[JJ no Baka]

so i applied for 2 different kind of private loans. one is campusdoor and the other is well's fargo. i got denied to both of them. i'm not sure is it because of my cosigner? my dad has good credits, so i dont understand why i got denied. i want to redo my applications again with my mom as a cosigner, but her credit isn't as good as my dads. i need about $9000 for this upcoming school year[i got an award packet for my fafsa already] and i dont know what to do. can i apply again with no cosigners? how much different is it without a cosigner?

nevermind. i reapplied for another type of loan and got it.

[FooFooRuk]

i reapplied for financial aid ..
but i forgot to my school online survey thing, its part of the application i guess O_o like a website survey ..
and i didn't receive any awards but
it says i am meeting standards
but usually it'd tell me i've been rewarded this much amount and all
so i completed that like 4 days before school started
on august 11. and the deadline for renewal on the fafsa website is july 1st.
and so far my online survey hasn't been reviewed yet : (
do you think i will still receive financial aid?
a person emailed me and say it should take 3-4 weeks to be reviewed but i dunooooim worried.
even if its reviewed, will i still get it? thanks in advance
well alot of students already got their check cept me of course.

[awesomestuff]

hi, i have a question about cal grants
i do not qualify for the calgrant A but i do for B but on my schools official financial aid letter, it says estimated "$7000+" for calgrant
im wondering, why are they assuming i have calgrant A? what will happen when its finalized that i do not qualify for grant A?
i mean, i heard B was better so i rather get that anyways but when i get cal grant B, the total doesn't add up to my full tuition, including loans and work study. does that mean that i would have to take out more loans and or work study? i also hear that Pell grant amounts go up for those not receiving cal grant A, is that true?

is it possible that the $7000 is from cal grant B? if so, that covers more than my tuition, so would i get the remainder amount in a check or something?


im just worried about that stuff esp since the state hasnt passed the budget and the grants aren't even dispersed yet =.=

also, i was wondering if you guys can tell me more about calgrant B? like, what are the usual amounts and what it can be used for?

thanks so much for answering all these questions, they are seriously a big help! =D