<p>I was wondering if u can haggle with financial aid coms if u think your award was not large enough. Are Perkins and fed. sub loans considered need or tell me pls how is need awarded. tks</p>
<p>Sometimes schools will change their awards if they deem that you have more need than they realize and if the school has the resources to increase your aid.</p>
<p>There are many threads on how to ask financial aid officers to reassess one’s need. Check CC’s archives.</p>
<p>Everyone thinks their finaid awards are not large enough. The school will not likely change the award because of what you think. They will reconsider your award if you would like them to look more carefully at how they determined your need or if your circumstances have changed. Reality is that some schools will not reconsider aid at all.</p>
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<p>Federal subsidised loans are need based loans. Perkins (which have a lower interest rate) are for students with exceptional need. Finaid has some good info at the link below</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.finaid.com/loans/studentloan.phtml[/url]”>http://www.finaid.com/loans/studentloan.phtml</a></p>
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<p>This must be determined on a school by school basis. DD has a Perkins Loan and believe me, we do NOT have “exceptional need”. The Perkins was added to her finaid package when we asked if they could do anything else to help her. They added the Perkins and Work Study.</p>
<p>Thumper - that is interesting. I know Perkins is a campus based loan program but is federally funded - and everytime I have read anything about it the emphasis has been that it is for students with very low EFCs. So I was surprised to read that that is not necessarily the case.
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<p>Well…I will say…compared to the average family at my daughter’s college we probably DO have need. So maybe that is why they were able to award her the Perkins.</p>
<p>whalllllll this is great n really helps,tks. Heres our deal from Ohio St. honors in-state:</p>
<p>my efc was 2009</p>
<p>work study=2500
perkins =3000
fed. sub =3500
plus loan =5424</p>
<p>well pls,good-bad or norm,tks!</p>
<p>Our EFC was 13,000 and we did get offered some Perkins - but the cost of the school is $37,000/year so it’s all relative. </p>
<p>My husband seemed to think if they are offering “us” to use “their” $$$ at no interest for 4 years that it’s definitely a good loan to take…</p>
<p>mindboggllingdad, you should be eligible for a Pell grant with your EFC & the cost of attendance. The SAR from your FAFSA should tell you about Pell eligibility, I think. There is a table that the financial aid office uses to determine the Pell grant, and the amount you would get is a function of EFC, cost of attendance, and status (full, 3/4, 1/2 <1/2 time). Pell is a federal grant, and it doesn’t have to be paid back (unlike all those loans). I would definitely check into it, if I was you.</p>
<p>And, yes, those loans are all offered to you based on “need.” The difference between you EFC and the cost of attendance is your need. I am kind of surprised that you have Perkins & Stafford loans (subsidized), an EFC that low, and no SEOG or Pell. Is this a first degree? If not, that could be the issue. You should call the financial aid office.</p>
<p>Those figures are with the grants she recieved:</p>
<p>state of ohio grant=402.yr
pell grant=2260.yr
acad comp grant-1yr=750.</p>
<p>It looks like you received everything you are eligible to get. You have all available sources of grant money, maximum subsidized loans, and PLUS to fill the gap. That’s a lot of debt, but I don’t think there’s any way to change that … other than outside scholarships. Public schools and many private schools simply don’t have the funds to help bridge the gap between federal/state grants & remaining need. I wish I could tell you otherwise. As a suggestion … look into being a resident assistant in the dorms for sophomore year (and beyond). That will cut the costs for board.</p>