Your FAFSA for the next school year will be available for filing on October 1. So will the Profile. Get them done ASAP after October 1.
One of my kids is taking Direct Loans now…and she did not take the full amount offered to her. You could talk to financial aid, and ask for the first semester only. They should be able to make this adjustment to the amount.
If you need the money second semester, you still will be able to take it at a later date.
You may have to purchase health insurance through the school if you do not have adequate health insurance. You will need a few thousand dollars for that.
What about transportation costs? You are responsible for getting yourself to and from school. Will you have to fly, how will you get to and from the airport
You will need sheets, pillow, blankets and other sundry items for your room
You will have to do laundry
there are a lot of little things that add up
Remember, you do not get any work study money until you apply for a job, interview, land the job and work the hours. Schools give out more work study awards than they actually have jobs because they know not everyone is going to work the workstudy job.
Sounds good we are making all of our kids take out loans (we pay the rest) to have skin in the game (unless they choose a full scholarship option)
This may be paid off depending upon how well they do, but they all have to know part of the cost is their own.
The amount offered to you based on need is $3,500. You can accept less.
Figure out what the school bills for tuition, fees and room and board. Then subtract all scholarships and grants awarded from that.
That is your remaining cost.
If the aid is more than the amount billed then you would get a refund.
The fact that you said you have a $3,500 loan in the package but have $2,300 leftover in aid, might mean that you have to come up with $1,200 a year if you don’t take the loan.
You will need money for travel, books, toiletries and incidentals. Will the school accept your current health insurance coverage, or will you have to buy theirs? How much is that and is it covered by financial aid?
Also remember that any scholarship or grant money that exceeds the cost of tuition, qualified fees and books, is taxable income to you.
Yes, try and work some this summer so you have some starting money for misc school expenses.
@mommdc , Really? I never knew the refund money was a taxable money! Thank you so much for the insight.
Qualified education expenses are only tuition, fees and books when determining if scholarships or grants are taxable.
If the scholarship or grant pays for room and board, and other expenses that are not QEE, then that amount is taxable.
So if the college charges $12,000 for room and board, you might have to report $12,000 or more as taxable income on your return.
It is not just any refund that you get from excess financial aid.
Might be, might not be. If the excess money is loan money, it is not taxable. If it is from a Pell grant, it might be. You have to identify the QEE and the source of the funds. One of my schools puts all the funds in the credit column and all the charges in the other column, and subtract one from the other and refund anything left. The other school applies certain grants and scholarships to each line item on the bill as certain funds can only be used for tuition, some only for the meal plan, etc. In the end the refund is a combination of grants and loans, so some taxable and some not.
Any need based aid that not used for qualified educational expenses will be taxable income to you. I don’t believe this includes loans…but you don’t have much in loans.
So…aid used for room, board and personal expenses would be taxable income for you.