I swear I look for answers first. My son (2016) will be applying to mostly in state (Virginia) schools. We’ve done the financial aid calculators and they do not answer my question. The good news is that our EFC is the whole amount. 
We have saved and I bought snowflake prepaid tuition when he was small and he works. Is he still entitled to get the $5500 Guaranteed Student Loan in his name? Are all students who fill out the FAFSA form, even Tiffany Trump, entitled to the loan? Please note we are middle class but I save and not all is in a 401k.
If your family files the fafsa, then yes he will be eligible for the $5500 loan; it would just be an unsubdized loan
He has to file FASA to be eligible for merit aid at a couple of schools. Just wondering if the loan could be an option. Thanks.
Absolutely that is available to him as long as he is eligible to file a FAFSA (US citizen etc) If there is any unmet need COA - EFC - grants + scholarships, then some can be unsub too.
Yes. By completing a fafsa with your son, he is eligible for,the in subsidized Direct loan…in his name only…every year that you complete the fafsa.
Freshman year $5500
Sophomore year $6500
Junior year $7500
Senior year $7500
You are fortunate to be in VA where there are excellent instate options from which to choose!!
You won’t know if it is subsidized or unsubsidized until you file the fafsa and get an EFC.
The OP says they will be full pay at colleges. That being the case, it is highly unlikely they will get subsidized loans.
Just a typo or autocorrect error - thumper1 meant ‘unsubsidized’ but typed ‘in subsidized’ on Post #4.
Oops…yes. The amounts the OP can get in UNSUBSIDIZED loans are the amounts in post 4.
But there can also be ‘full pay’ families with EFCs of $45-50k, and if the COA is $60k, that student might still get a subsidized loan. There may not be any need based aid, but still a subsidized loan. You just never know until you apply.
Not wishing to keep going…but the OP said his EFC was the “whole amount”. That would not be a recipe for a subsidized loan.
But yes, for others…having a higher EFC doesn’t put you out of the running for subsidized loans IF you still have unmet need…at some schools.
"Not wishing to keep going…but the OP said his EFC was the “whole amount”. That would not be a recipe for a subsidized loan.
But yes, for others…having a higher EFC doesn’t put you out of the running for subsidized loans IF you still have unmet need…at some schools. "
Okay. I’m still confused. Is he eligible for an UNsubsidized loan of $5500 regardless of our assets? I’d like to have the option because we have an emergent medical bill for $30k for another child. Yes we have insurance. I never thought we’d be short of cash this close to college time. Because we have prepaid tuition we only have to come up with about $15k per year. I’d love to have the flexibility of taking the $5500 and paying it back from 401k when he graduates and I can dip into it due to age. The EFC might be lower at some state schools due to FAFSA only. It’s real estate that’s boosting EFC at one.
Yes, he is entitled to take the $5500/$6500/$7500 loans if he files the Stafford. It will either be subsidized or unsubsidized.
Even if it is originally deemed unsubbed, if you have some unusual medical bills, you should consider appealing the FA/EFC calculation. The FA officer can make adjustments to the EFC and then the loans might become subsidized.
“…if he files the Stafford”? Do you mean FAFSA?
Yes, I meant if he file FOR a Stafford loan. The OP was calling it a ‘Guaranteed Student loan’, and that is an older program.
Stafford is now an older name, too. It’s called the Direct Loan in documentation.