<p>Since COA take in to account transportation, can some of the financial aid money be used for gas if students are commuting? Same for meal plans for commuters - I assume it can be used for that as well? Thanks!</p>
<p>You can use it for whatever you want IF it is financial aid not earmarked for tuition. Usually, school merit money must be used through the school, so if not for tuition, then for books from the bookstore, or room and board. Some other money, like Stafford loans or Pell grants, will be paid to the student after any school costs are paid. 529 money can only be withdrawn without penalty for the COA items (but I don’t think transportation). You just have to know the source and the restrictions.</p>
<p>University grant, Pell grant, stafford loans - subsidized & unsubsidized. So the tuition and other school fees are paid right off the bat? Is there an order as to which money pool it comes from first? All combined monies combined will pay for tuition, all fees and enough for books and transportation.</p>
<p>The COA for living on campus usually differs from the COA for student living at home. There may be different allocations for transportation etc., so your university grant maybe accordingly adjusted.</p>
<p>The money PELL, loans, University grant all gets funneled through the university first, and they take all billed costs out and apply them to the outstanding amounts on your college account. The bursar’s office will strip all they can out of there. What’s left, you can get, and the rules as to when that is, and how they get the funds to you, differs from school to school. Some even make you wait until after the drop date. So you had better have some seed money for start up, like for transportation, supplies, books, etc. Some schools will provide book vouchers. You have to talk to the bursar’s office directly to find out how a specific school handles funds after direct billing is done.</p>
<p>It depends on how your school works. Both my UG and grad gave the same FA package whether you lived on campus or off. Therefore, whatever grant/loan money was left after paying tuition was refunded to the student to cover additional non-billed costs </p>