Hi, My daughter completed 2 years at an out of state college where she was working towards a fine arts degree. She has pivoted and moved back in state, taking what would have been her junior year fall semester off. She is transferring to an in state VA school this spring. My questions are about federal students loans and grant money. I have received the financial aid notification letter for the spring semester, although I believe it’s just an estimate.
She is technically entering the school as an “almost junior” due to some of her credits not transferring. However, the estimated loan amount is $5500. There is also a college grant of $6400. I’m wondering if the grant would be per semester or for the whole year. I’m also wondering if the student loan amount for one semester would also be half of the $7500 that’s normally allowed to be borrowed for junior year. Any thoughts?
I would of course contact the college but it is closed until 12/1 for Thanksgiving break and I’m trying to figure out a budget for an apartment that we need to see ASAP. I’m just trying to plan for the worst case scenario and wondered if anyone had any thoughts.
Edited, thanks to @thumper: If the loan amount is listed as $5,500 it’s for a year - which leads me to believe that the grant is an annual amount, as well. She is currently classified by the school as a freshman (not all credits evaluated yet?), so she can only borrow half the $5,500 until she becomes a sophomore or a junior (based on the school’s determination). As soon as she reaches junior level, she can request the additional $2,000 that she is able to borrow annually as a junior. If she ends up only being classified as a sophomore, she’ll be eligible for half of $6,500 while classified that way. It’s not about being in her third year of school, but rather it’s determined on credits. Even if it’s second semester, she can still receive the entire $1,000 or $2,000 at that time as long as her aid for second semester doesn’t exceed her need for second semester. She just needs to talk to the financial aid office once she is granted junior standing.
She will need to reach out to the financial aid office to increase her loan as her standing changes. They most likely won’t proactively tell her.
When my D transferred, the process of evaluating and posting credits took time. She wasn’t borrowing loans, so that wasn’t an issue for her … but she had to be a sophomore to get a parking pass & they were gone by the time she got her credits posted. At least with loans, it can be increased as credits are posted.
She accidentally checked freshman on her FAFSA by mistake (maybe confusing the “first year student” terminology) & was automatically awarded a freshman loan. OR
She only had enough credits posted in her academic record to be considered a freshman at the time her aid was initially awarded. Most schools will not go back & update the loan amount when credits are added (although they may do it later during a review process in the summer). But as soon as your D has enough credits posted to increase her class standing, she just needs to contact the financial aid office to let them know that she wants her loans increased.