As a student receiving a large amount of financial aid, the Estimated Student Contribution is around 3k per year. How would I go about paying this amount? Do I have to pay it off year by year? Would Cornell allow me to take out student loans to pay off the total accumulation after my 4 years?
The way it works is, if the cost of attending Cornell is 60K (including tuition, room & board, books, travel, spending money), they would pay 57K and you would be left with contributing 3k. You could earn that money by summer jobs and on campus jobs. If you should decide not to work, then your parents would need to pay for your books, spending money and travel money (up to 3k). You can easily get an on campus job working 10-15 hours a week. You could earn 15 hrs X $10/hr X 30 weeks = $4500.
is there a “work study” component in your aid package? You will be additionally responsible for those funds as well.
I’m not sure if this is what you’re asking, but you do need to find a way to pay the $3000 each year…they won’t let you accumulate a deficit on your bursar account. It could be paid by work earnings or loans, but it must be paid, and the fall balance can’t run over into spring, even.
@Livelovelauf I believe what you are referring to is what Cornell considers the Summer Expected Earnings/Savings. For your freshman year it is set at $2,700. Each year thereafter the amount increases up to $3,600 for your senior year. This is an amount that could be reasonably earned by working in the summer, whether or not this is true in every case is questionable.
That cost is the base price of attendance, no one goes to Cornell for less than $2,700 a year. However, in the case you are unable to earn/save this amount of money you may request a loan to cover the amount. This link provides a little more information: http://finaid.cornell.edu/special-circumstances/changes-your-student-contribution The form to request the loan to cover the amount is not yet available for this SY but you can see the one from last year to have an idea of the process and information needed.
It would be best to explore your options now, rather than later. If you can get a better loan to finance that portion, that is also an option. I would imagine Cornell’s loan offer would be competitive. Any amount not covered by financial aid (ie. the ~$3,000 has to be paid by August 7th or interest begins to accumulate. More information on paying your bursar bill here: http://www.dfa.cornell.edu/treasurer/bursar/newslist.cfm?news_id=257494
Also, you can enter the installment plan and spread out your payment over a period of time up to 12 months. There is a small fee to enter, but it may be beneficial if you plan to work a job on campus to fund the cost.