Yeah, could you share? My oldest went to PS branch campus as commuter, and with some merit aid, fed & state grants, and taking out the fed loans she was still shy of the full tuition.
My son, who was top 2% of HS is at University of Alabama, because Penn State only gave him $5K.
I have one more to go, so wonder if we missed something w/ PS?
I think OP was going to attend a local branch for 2 years and then main for 2? I am a bit confused about the apartment, wasn’t OP going to commute to the local branch? The $5,000 refund probably stems from the student loan, and the grant I assume is a PHEAA grant.
I would not take out the loan if it’s not necessary, or take it and save it for the last two years at PSU main, which will cost more.
Penn State was over enrolled this year and gave students some money to go to other campuses. Maybe the $5k was that refund?
^^ That makes more sense. I was just confused because she had said in her OP that Penn State would cost her family $16k. That’s the cost of tuition plus fees at a branch campus, so I’d assumed she was starting at a branch to begin with here. They didn’t give $5,000 to all branch campus students, did they?
And it sounds like she may be at the Harrisburg campus, because they offer a biofuels research program: https://harrisburg.psu.edu/biofuels/biofuel-research.
If she’s planning to do the last two years at University Park, she needs to be prepared that the cost is closer to $34,000 a year, less whatever PHEAA or departmental grants she’s eligible for. Many majors can be completed at a branch, however, so I hope she has that as an option. She wrote in post #2:
That does NOT include room and board.
My bill is <$10k/year usually. Sometimes they give scholarships for no reason. And the Schreyer money helps, in my own case. Best to keep expectations low and then be pleasantly surprised, though.
Your tuition bill or your total bill, @bodangles? And is any of that need-based aid?
I think for the “1+ 3 offer” you had to have been accepted to the main campus and then were offered to go to a branch for one year with $10,000 discount, and then go to main for remaining 3 years.
here is an article with some information:
http://articles.philly.com/2016-05-27/news/73368449_1_campuses-admission-offers-main-campus
@bodangles, most students live off campus after 2 years anyway, right? Do you know how much rent runs near campus?
@LucieTheLakie Total bill / net cost, representing CoA minus four school scholarships, one outside scholarship, and the usual federal loans. The scholarships are from Schreyer, the engineering department, the Provost’s Fund, and Schreyer+engineering. I might be misinterpreting but it doesn’t look like any of them are solely need-based? Maybe some of the latter three have a need component.
@mommdc Most people do move off-campus thanks to the housing lottery, but I won’t be so I’m not sure. Sorry!
@bodangles, thanks, and good for you! You’re clearly an exceptional student if you were admitted to Schreyer as a freshman. I just don’t think the average student at PSU gets anything near that amount of merit aid; in fact, I think most get none. As with most universities, when it comes to merit dollars, the big money seems to go to the top students, and if you have the stats to get one scholarship, you’re more likely to get additional ones.
Yea no problem- my original tuition was 13k ish but instead of living on campus i lives on off campus apartments which is cheaper than on campus. The off campus is around 7k a year compared to on campus $10k + expensive meal plan. Also i’m at psu harrisburg doing 2+2 if that helps, so i think its cheaper than main campus here.
Sorry this was so long & confusing lol, still trying to wrap my head around it
Have your parents take less in parent PLUS loans, and don’t take the unsub loans, use your scholarships/grants first.
what do you mean? ^
Yes, those aren’t financial aid refunds, those are loans. If you don’t need the funds for this semester, pay them back to the FA office and you won’t be charged the origination fee or the interest. Plus loans are nice if there is no other way to afford school, but they are loans where the interest adds up fast.
If you are getting a refund then that’s excess loan money. The grant and scholarship reduce the tuition bill. Your parents could borrow less in parent plus loans.
yea i was thinking they could borrow less too when they told me at first, but i will tell them.
yes i am at harrisburg for 2 years then main because the pre med major is only offered at main so all bio/chem students in smaller campuses that want to do medicine are transferred there. Also my brother’s loan total from psu hazleton + psu main campus was around only $25k, & he wasn’t a super smart Schreyer’s student or anything he just became an RA and joined/lead as many clubs as possible and asked around about different grants/scholarships.
my total given from harrisburg this year is $8,859 in grants and scholarships and my tuition bill without housing is 9k cause each semester is $4,500.
Put in for RA but it can’t be counted on, it is usually very competitive, also living in an apartment now, are you going to want to live in a dorm as a RA? You might have weekend/holiday duty.
How far do you live from Harrisburg? If you commuted your first two years you could save money for the last two years.
i don’t commute i live in off campus housing cause my actual house is like 2 hours from harrisburg. & yea i know that the RA program is very competitive I was just stating how my brother cut down costs at his time in psu.