This may be a little late since the summer semester is over but I need an answer…
So I am 26, with a wife and child, I am signed up for 12 credit hours in college, and planned it for the summer(past), fall and winter semesters as well. Between my wife and I we roughly made $8500 last year(2014) (I collect disability, since I was severely injured while on deployment, but that doesn’t count as income on taxes).
After receiving my tax return for 2014, I immediately did my FAFSA for college. It said I rate ~$15,000+. I go to my financial aid today and talk to them about how much I’ll be getting back this semester(past, I did this at the beginning of the summer semester) and they tell me ~$2,700.
They couldn’t give me a straight answer on why it wasn’t more but “that’s just how it is” and it seemed like smoke and mirrors to me. Last time I checked 15,000/3 does not equal 2700. I am collecting 100% VA scholarship benefits, so classes and books are paid for and my school is a Non-Proffit. For the summer semester I collected ~$2700, and my return for the fall semester is roughly the same…
Can someone explain to me why I am not receiving $5,000/semester?
You only “get back” any amount that is in excess of your cost to attend the school.
Are you saying you have $15,000 a year too much financial aid?
Or did you just assume you were getting $15,000 extra in financial aid?
I was hoping to receive the $15,000 back in financial aid…
My “cost” to the school is my tuition which is paid for by the VA…
What I don’t understand is if I were to attend college and I paid out of pocket(assuming I could) then there would be no need to even do FASFA correct?
Did you actually receive $15,000 in financial aid??
What is the $15,000 in aid you received? Is it a $5730 Pell grant plus a $9500 Dorect Loan?
What $15,000 in aid did you receive?
I did not receive $15,000 at all… When I did my FASFA after receiving my tax return from 2014 it said my benefits, Pell grant I believe, would be $15,000 for the year(3 semesters I will be attending) but yet I am only receiving ~$2700 a semester.
Pell grant is limited to $5730 total for the year max, not $15000.
Madison85 That would answer my question…
Where did this $15,000 come from when I completed my FASFA?
Sounds like what @thumper1 already said - the $9500 direct loan plus the $5500 Pell grant. Did you complete the MPN?
Madison85, ok so the total amount is split between a loan and pell grant? I do not wish to take any loans… And if this the case then why was the financial aid office giving me the run around?
We are only guessing.
I would have no idea why you and the financial aid office people are having trouble communicating.
Have you spoken to a supervisor or visited the office in person?
Are you saying that fafsa generated a SAR, (student aid report) and that is what it said you are eligible for? Did you print that? I suppose you can go back into your FAFSA account and see what aid it listed so you can say what the 15k was. No one can know what it is but you, since you are the only one who saw it. If you print it and show the aid office perhaps they can explain if you don’t understand it.
FAFSA is just a form you fill out. It means you are then eligible for certain aid. You are only guaranteed a Pell if eligible and all students can get their student loan (9,500 would be the freshman loan amount for independent students.) Nothing else is guaranteed. Per academic year:
Max Pell = 5,770
Student loan = 9,500 freshman, 10,500 sophomore, 12.500 each year after until the cap is reached
I don’t see that the school is giving you any ‘run around’. You are the one with the smoke and mirrors telling them 15k but not saying what that is from. They, like us, just don’t know what you are talking about. You don’t ‘rate’ anything. You are eligible for certain things. Other federal aid, state aid or institutional aid may be available and would be shown on the financial aid letter your college sends you.
Also, be aware that the school year is for Sept through May/June for 2 semesters or 3 trimesters. Summer may belong to the prior year or the following year, depending on the school. If your school uses summer 2015 as part of the for the 2015-16 year, you may not have any ‘money back’ for winter/spring because you used it up in summer. But if the summer belonged to the prior year you should be okay for this year, but watch out for coming years.
Madison85 and BrownParent, the school saw my SAR when I brought it in, I talked to the supervisor of the financial aid office and she literally said, and I quote, “I’m not really sure how this works but here’s the chart and here’s what your code says on your SAR so that is what you will receive” then she proceeds to pull a binder out with said chart(s) that has thousands of numbers on them and points to the amount that lines up with my code…
I will pull my SAR today/go on the website when I have a chance so I can give y’all the relevant information…
This is my Jr year in college and I just had no idea how any of this worked until I started questioning it. Before I was glad I was receiving extra money but if the amount is incorrect then I want to know why.
OK, take a look and then maybe we can help clear it up. I hate to just make guesses, but if the 15k was your EFC or something, then that is not a real number, it is just what you are eligible for, doesn’t mean anyone has it to give where you are attending now.
You cannot be awarded financial aid greater than the cost of attendance. And, unfortunately, the official cost of attendance is rarely what the actual cost of attendance is. The money that you receive from the VA for education is subtracted from your estimated need. If there is need remaining, you should get Pell to cover the unmet need.
Find what the official cost of attendance is for your school and circumstances. Subtract the educational money that is awarded by the VA. The amount remaining is your unmet need. Your financial aid from the school cannot exceed your unmet need. In many cases, students who receive merit money have their financial aid reduced.
Check in your student portal for your financial aid award. It should list Cost of Attendance, any grants like Pell, VA tuition benefit. Maybe the remaining (cost) need was $15,000, but if you chose not to take the loans there might have been only Pell in excess of the tuition already covered by VA benefit.
If your tuition is covered I assume you were hoping for a refund to help with housing costs. That’s why you received the Pell because it can be applied to housing costs.
If you have the remaining $9k+ to pay for housing then ok, but on $8,500 income and whatever the disability payment is, that might be hard to do.
Part of your loans are probably subsidized because you have unmet need. You could just take that amount if it would help you pay for housing costs together with Pell.
The subsidized loan won’t accrue interest while in school and 6 mos after you graduate.
Did you qualify for a state grant as well?
Also was your EFC zero? With just $8500 in income I would have expected it to be. Did you file a 1040EZ or 1040A tax return?
When did you file your taxes and FAFSA? Especially with a low EFC you need to file it as soon as possible in January. You can even do FAFSA with estimated income and then update later when taxes are done.
You might get extra grants or Perkins loan if you file early.
And you get a housing allowance if the VA benefits you are using is the post 9/11 GI Bill.
Thank you for your service to this country. I’m very sorry to hear that you were injured during deployment.
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I am collecting 100% VA scholarship benefits,
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This is likely the issue. Once you get your Pell Grant, and the VA benefits, there isnt much left that is “uncovered.”
VA is likely paying for:
tuition
housing supplement? how much is that?
books
fees
So how much is VA paying for?
When you add up:
VA benefits
Pell Grant
disability payments (which I know doens’t count on FAFSA, but it does exist to live on)
income from wife and/or you
how much is all of that?
It looks to me like everything is covered by your awards (VA, etc) and you receive your Pell grant as a ‘refund of overpayment’. Pell is split between the 2 semesters or 3 quarters of the main school year usually. If you received that for the summer, it may have been counted as part of the 2014-15 school year, so you still have $5775 for the 2015-16 school year and will get half for each semester (but then nothing next summer). It also may be that you received 1/2 of the Pell for the 2015-16 school year for being full time in the summer, and now you’ve received/will receive the other half, $2887, for the fall but then will have nothing for the spring. You need to know which year the school considers the summer term part of.
You could also have other grants from the school, federal or state governments, like SEOG. You won’t have loans if you didn’t fill out the loan agreements or accept the loans online. Check your financial aid awards online or go to your FA office.