<p>Hello, I was just got accepted to St. Augustine College (which is accredited) without applying at all, all I asked for a school tour. And I got accepted, no transcripts or anything, not even an interview. Well this is an open-admissions school so, probably that’s why I was randomly accepted. I liked how the school looked, and the program they offer for my field. One thing that got me confused is that the advisor went through fafsa and made some changes, I got an email from fafsa that from EFC is now from 40 dollars to 0. I don’t know what else she did. But she said that she need to get the taxes form from IRS and she needed my birth certificate and my social card for “finance assistance” At the same time, she said I didn’t need to worry about the money because Fafsa is going to cover everything. Is the school allowed to do any of these thing? Or should I believe this school is after something else?</p>
<p>Do not do anything until you call, I dont think it is appropriate for them to be asking for “personally identifiable information”. Check it out, too many scams out there.</p>
<p>I found a paper where it says I need to bring my social security and birth certificate, it says it’s for Financial Aid. But still I done my fafsa before and there was no problem when I went to Wright College.</p>
<p>You may want to ask this in the Financial Aid Forum. kelsmom is a financial aid officer, and should be able to explain to you the reasons for asking for your tax forms. What comes to mind first, is that St. Augustine may have a policy of verifying all FAFSAs. Some colleges do. In that case, the tax forms would be necessary.</p>
<p>Birth certificate and social security number may be requested as evidence that you are a citizen, and that the tax paperwork you have provided them with are indeed yours. It would be perfectly reasonable for you to ask why they need that information.</p>
<p>I would be concerned that the advisor changed your FAFSA without explaining what she was doing, and why, and that she has told you that FAFSA will cover everything. FAFSA doesn’t “cover” anything, it just is a form that you complete so that your eligibility for federal financial aid can be determined.</p>
<p>If your EFC is 0, you will qualify for a full Pell Grant ($5,550 per year), a federal loan ($5,500 for your freshman year, and a bit more after that), a Perkins loan if the school offers it, and federal work study if the school offers it. You also might qualify for state-based aid if your state offers that.</p>
<p>Which St. Augustine College is this? What is the estimated Cost of Attendance (COA) each year? What is the exact breakdown for the aid that this advisor has indicated you are eligible for?</p>
<p>I didn’t need to worry about the money because Fafsa is going to cover everything.</p>
<p>What?</p>
<p>First of all, FAFSA doesn’t give money. it’s a form to detemine federal aid. </p>
<p>Secondly, federal aid isn’t much money, so unless this school is VERY SUPER CHEAP (like less than $10k per year), federal aid won’t cover everything.</p>
<p>Which St. Augustine school is this? If this is the one in NC, then the cost is about $32k per year. And, according to Collegeboard, if you have a low income, you’ll still have to pay about $24k per year yourself (after aid is given).</p>
<p>This St. Augustine College in Chicago. It’s estimate 8,100 a year and they have Bachelor’s degree for Social work. My EFC was 40 dollars when I finished it, then when the advisor change the fafsa, my EFC went to 0. She didn’t really say why but I notice afterwards. But it got me confused because fafsa still gave $5,500 for pell grant.</p>
<p>An EFC of $40 is pretty low. Evidently that is low enough to get the maximum Pell if there was no change when the EFC dropped to $0.</p>
<p>How many credits would you be taking? The figure from the website is $365/credit hour. If you carry a normal load of 15 credit hours each semester for a full year, that is 30 credits, for a total of $10950 for tuition and fees. You will need to allow another $1000 or so for books, which would bring the total cost for a year (not including commuting costs or your living costs) to $11950.</p>
<p>How many credits is that estimate of $8100 for? It looks to me like you would not be carrying a full load, which might reduce your Pell and the amount of student loan you are eligible for.</p>
<p>Per Semester Credit Hour - $365.00 x 30 credits = $10,950 (15 credits per semester)</p>
<p>It looks like the estimate you were given only covers 12 credits per semester. That’s not enough to graduate on time. </p>
<p>books may be an additional $1000.</p>
<p>Does the school charge any fees? </p>
<p>will you be commuting from home? If not, how will you pay for room, board, etc?</p>