Hello, I’m currently enrolled at UMD as a freshman and since I’m a first-generation college-goer I’m handling my financials. After financial aid, my cost to go to UMD this year was around 7000, for which my parents got me a 6000 dollar private loan and the other 1000 is from a small scholarship I received. But recently, with the approaching payment due date, I’ve ran into a roadblock where I’ve procured a federal work study job but not having accounted for the FWS in my calculations I’m currently missing 1000 dollars from my first semester payment.
Basically:
- Fall semester payment due 8/20, 7/31 - FWS job procured.
- FWS award is 1000 per semester
- Thought the difference between cost/aid provided would be 7000, got that money
- Now, do not know what to do with last 1000 because UMD financial aid says they do not credit FWS to my account.
I mean how is this financial aid if I’m not provided even a credit for it?
It is financial aid because the federal government pays (or partially pays) for the salary you earn. Students who don’t have a financial need don’t get it.
You can set up a payment program with the FA office for anything you can’t cover right now, then use your work study salary to make the monthly payments. Is your difference $7000 per semester, or $3500 per semester? If $3500, can’t you use some of the private loan to pay the fall, and then earn the $1000 and pay the spring bill?
Does UMD handle its own monthly payment programs? Most schools outsource these to other vendors.
To the OP…any chance you are working this summer? Will you earn $1000? If so, use that for the fall payment, and then save your work study earnings for the following semester.
So…you have a $6000 private loan and the full Direct Loan amount of $5500? If you don’t yet have the full Direct Loan amount, you can take that. But I’m hoping you did that before you took out private loans.
Twoinanddone: I owe approximately 3500 dollars a semester, 7000 overall. I do not know if I could shift the 6000 loan to be 4000 for first semester and then 2000 for second semester.
thumper1: I have not been working this summer, I was attending an engineering camp at UMD which I will receive 500 dollars for but not till way after the payment due date.
UMD has it’s own payment plan conducted by it’s FinAid office called Terp Payment Plan. The deadline to sign up is in 5 days so I’m slightly anxious about whether or not to actually do it but for basically only 1000 dollars. And yes I already took out the full 5500 in Federal loans.
I would suggest that next summer you get a paying job. If you don’t, you will be facing the same issue again next August.
Can you borrow the first term money from anyone in your family?
If not, I think the payment plan is your best bet…if you are sure you can the monthly payments. I’m saying that because it sounds like you plan to save your WS earnings from semester one to pay the $1000 you will owe for semester two.
And if you don’t have a nickel to your name, how do,you plan to make the first monthly payment plan?
I don’t know how you set up the private loan, to be divided in half or a one time transaction.
Just go talk to the FA people and see what they can set up. At my daughter’s school, if you do nothing and owe some on your bill, they automatically put it on a payment plan. I think the bulk is due around Sept 15, and if you haven’t paid it all, then you have payments due on October 15 and Nov 15. There is a $30 charge. It’s fairly easy and if I were in your situation and your school has something like that, that’s what I’d do. Then make sure you work a lot early in the semester so you can pay!
Also, you might check to see if the $500 from the summer program is a credit to your account. Some funds, like your Stafford loans, haven’t been received or released yet to your account, but you can see a credit and the school won’t expect you to pay those amounts and get reimbursed. I just checked my daughter’s bill and there are two awards in that category, the Stafford loan and a state award that doesn’t pay until the drop/add date. The school is okay with waiting for those funds.
Whatever you do, don’t do nothing and hope they work it out for you. You could take another loan for 1,000 from Parent Plus but you are a bit late in the game to ask if they can process it, maybe. After this first year you will work it out, and you will get an extra 1,000 student loan as a sophmore, extra 2,000 jr and sr year…
Work-study is usually intended for incidental expenses you will need during the semester as you collect your paycheck. It can’t be used for first semester tuition because you haven’t worked and earned your paycheck your. If you save some it can be used for second semester, but really it is meant for bus fare, extra meal, some supplies for your schoolwork etc. You have to have some money in your pocket and this is one way to get it.
Thank you very much for all your help. I’ve emailed UMD’s financial aid office and will try to call them ASAP on Monday.
As a side note to all UMD prospects, the financial aid process at UMD has been a nightmare for me personally. I do not know if it was due to my own inexperience or stupidity but it just seems like the whole system is very self-dependent. I have not been assigned a financial advisor, everything is do-it-yourself. I mean I literally had to sum up: tuition, room/board, other expenses and then subtract financial aid with paper and pencil. I had to go to 2-3 different UMD websites to find my costs/fees. I don’t know if this is the norm but it seems wholly inefficient to me. There was no single place where I could see all on one screen costs - financial aid = difference.
You can look on your bill! But I agree those don’t come out in time. My daughter was just accepting her FA today and called me to ask “Isn’t there a place I can see how much more I need?” There really isn’t. And the tuition and fees for this year weren’t posted until late June (of course they went up) so it is very hard to plan.
When you get to school, go make friends at the FA office. I’ve found most of them to be very helpful but sometimes communications is a problem. One woman at my DD’s school really screwed up last year, but now she’s my friend and helps me through everything.
Most colleges give you an award letter with the breakdown of the COA and then the listing of grants and loans and EFC toward that. Too bad.