<p>I have a been given a large amount of grants from my number 1 school- (about $40,000) and I was wondering if anyone knows how to determine how this money may be used. I have a grandfather who will pay for tuition, but nothing else. The school asked for a parent contribution of $1300, which my grandfather will pay. At this moment I have the tuition and housing are covered by the grant, but I won’t have money for books, a computer, travel or any other personal expenses. Is there a way to first take money out of the grants for use for the above items (the books etc.) and have my grandfather pay for the money I took, in the name of tuition.</p>
<p>Also, is it possible to ask the school (Middlebury College) to move money out of the grant section and into travel scholarships or book expenses, and therefore the aid for tuition will be lowered and my g-pa will pay the amount needed? The grant is simply titled Middlebury College Grant. They didn’t really specify what I could do with it, or spend it on what. Also, the fin aid letter offered $1750 in fed work-study, yet is that all a student can make in a year?</p>
<p>Yes, I know my condition seems complicated, and it is quite a strange predicament I’m in, yet I don’t know what to do. I’m dealing with a very stubborn grandfather who won’t pay for anything but tuition, yet the tuition is paid already. I know I’m really lucky for having the chance to go to an out-of-state school because of his generosity, but I can’t get to it without money for airfare. What can I do?</p>
<p>I’m going to answer your question in two parts. First…call the finaid office. However, you probably want to do this without giving your name as usually on the finaid forms (somewhere) there is a place for you to indicate other sources that will be paying for you to attend college. If you didn’t do this (indicating your grandfather was paying your tuition) this could be a problem. Anyway…when you call ask if your grants can be used for personal expenses like books, travel, etc. and if they say “yes” ask how you go about getting the money for those items. Back in the “dark ages” when I went to college, I had this happen to me. I had more aid than expenses (this was during a semester when I was living at home and student teaching…my tuition was paid from a separate grant). My university just gave me a check for the difference. But that may not be the case anymore.</p>
<p>Now the second part of my response…you say you will have no money for books, travel or personal expenses. Most universities EXPECT the student to contribute to their college educations to the tune of at least a couple thousand dollars a year. I would hope that you are planning to get a summer job (or two) so that you WILL have money for your expenses. I can tell you that your very lucky to have the generosity of your grandfather…but in my opinion, you should be paying for something. There have been a number of discussions on this forum about this…I know that I personally hold my college kiddo responsible for ALL of his own expenses while at school including books and personal expenses. He earns the money working in the summer. Also…are your parents contributing anything towards your education? Perhaps they would pay just for your airfare. OR your work study job would certainly cover your airfare. Summer work could cover your other expenses. RE: work study…that is the amount the university has in federal monies to pay you for work you do at your work-study job. That is the total they can pay you for your work study job. BUT there also may be other oncampus jobs that are NOT work study and therefore are not tied into federal funds.</p>
<p>I definitely will call the finaid office on monday and ask them how they distribute their grants, thumper. Also, I do plan on getting a summer job so I can pay for my expenses because I don’t want to burden my parents, who have enough trouble paying rent. thanks for the advice, thumper.</p>
<p>Wow. You’ve got what boils down to a full ride and you’re complaining? Stop trying to milk your grandfather out of more money and take out a personal loan for your incidental expenses. Travel, books, etc. aren’t going to be more than a few thousand a year, and if you’re not willing to work for that, you don’t deserve to attend college.</p>
<p>I personally would not mess with the great offer. We have a friend who appealed her 7,000 grant and the school decided her financial picture was different and as a result of the appeal took the money away and she now has nothing. She is going to her state school. You have an awesome offer, I would not chance loosing it. just my opinion</p>
<p>Usually what happens is the school will put together a bill and you pay it…so you have your bill of let’s say…$50,000…then they subtract the grant…that leaves $10,000 then your family contributes $1300…well that leaves $3000 left over. Most schools will either let you carry that over into your second year bill or will let you withdraw the money (which can help pay for personal expenses).
Of course, I say get a job!!</p>
<p>It seems the school is already doing their part. Why don’t you just talk to Grandpa, tell him your expenses and thank him in advance for any help he wants to give you.</p>
<p>students generally are expected to contribute $3,000 from their summer job for tuition-
My daughter lives at home during summer- although she certainly would prefer to be traveling or working in another area- but to save money she lives with us and saves $3,000 for school</p>
<p>During the school year- she works about 10 hours a week although it varies by week- on campus workstudy.
She pays for all of her personal expenses ( medical visits/glasses/clothing and other personal expenses) as well as her books/entertainment etc with her work study job.
Any student should be able to contribute $3,000 to $5,000 a year for their own education expenses.
However if the school is only asking for a parent contribution of $1,300- did you actually inform them that your grandfather is willing & able to contribute tuition?</p>
<p>couple more things
money recieved for room and board is taxable- so you might want to help your parents out since they are lowincome enough for you to recieve Pell grant.
Workstudy money is taxable but does not apply to income as it is considered part of your financial aid package
However- I know & I expect others will agree with me- that gaming the system by not stating that you have other resources to pay tuition- and accepting $40,000 in school and federal grants is - lets put it mildly- NOT NICE- it is fraud.
There are other students who have EFC comparable to yours but they don’t always have grandfathers who will pay tuition underthe table as it were.
You haven’t said anything about the contribution you will make by working to pay for your own personal and educational expenses.
You have a very generous relative who is willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for your education & you call him stubborn because he isn’t paying more?
You don’t want to know what I would call that line of reasoning…
BTW since I imagine Middlebury administration read these boards as do personnel from other colleges- you might want to think twice when you leave information that enables them to identify you so clearly- how many students do you think they offer such a huge grant to?</p>
<p>Can you just give your grandfather the tuition amounts and ask him to give you a check for those amounts, and you will give him your transcripts in return?</p>
<p>The other thing I want to mention is that whatever your grandfather gives you is factored into the aid the following year, and will impact your awards. You might want to explain the way financial aid works and so you can work out the best way to get the most money from the system and from him.</p>
<p>The problem, Emeraldkity, is that when the money is withdrawn and used, it becomes an income item for the subsequent year. The financial aid is adjusted accordingly.</p>
<p>oh poo
hmm
but what if grandfather put the money into an account ( in granpas name) and after gradution the money was used to pay off the loans?</p>
<p>i’m sorry, but i am personally ****ed off at some of the commenter’s responses. Many of you believe you have the prerogative to judge me without knowing anything about my family circumstances. If respondents such as Abc had so kindly taken the time to read my second post about taking a job to pay for my OWN expenses, they would not have posted their derogatory replies. Yet, I also do post my question because I worry that the money I will (and already do) make will not be able to go towards my college expenses, because often the money I make goes to helping my family pay for food and my family’s living expenses. I worry that my college expenses won’t be covered because I’ll be sending this money back to my parents.</p>
<p>skybaker: I read your second post, which indicated that you are taking a job, in which case you should do just fine meeting your books and travel expenses. I’m sorry that you have to support your parents, but that doesn’t excuse the original question, in which you asked how to defraud either your grandfather or your (very generous) school.</p>
<p>Skybaker,first of all congratulations on getting in at Middlebury! I assume the $40,000 you were awarded is in the form of school grant as well as a Pell Grant.Is this correct? I believe emeraldkity4 was bringing up a valid question about your grandfather’s contribution to your tuition.The total cost for Middlebury is $42,340.They suggest on their website adding another $1,000 for personal expenses and $750.00 for books,which is a rather low figure that I myself would double.Is your grandfather in the position to pay the $35,000+ for the tuition without adding in the room and board or were you referring to the $1,300 that was your parents EFC? If he can contribute several thousand dollars to your education,then I would suggest the following.First,call the schools finaid dept as thumper1 suggested and ask them if it would be okay for your grandfather to make out a check to be credited to your account as a gift to you. They will most likely say yes.Ask the person if you wind up with a credit after expenses are paid, if you can use the extra money for travel.Then figure out how much you need , have him make out the check and mail it.Good luck!</p>
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