Question about Financial Aid - Current Students, please help!

feedback411
Fri, 29 Mar 2013 20:30:16 +0000

So this is probably a dumb question but,

On the FA letter I received, there was a “Budget Category” and an “Amount” category detailing the costs of different things, such as tuition, heath service fee, orientation fee, room and board, etc.

Among the different budgets, there were:

Books & Supplies - $1,040
Travel - $1,172
Personal Expenses - $1,858

My financial aid award covered everything. The budget total came up to be $63,335 and they awarded me $60,935 for the year so all I’m paying is the required Summer Employment fee of $2,400.

My question is: Because Columbia’s granting me full aid for books, supplies, travel, and a whole bunch of other stuff, does that mean I won’t have to pay for any of them? No paying for college textbooks or what? And what the heck does “Personal Expenses” mean? Does that mean I’m receiving $1,858 to spend on my own stuff?

Sorry, I probably sound ridiculous (I mean, what college will actually PAY you before you even attend), but I’m just so confused right now haha. After seeing “travel” listed, my dad shouted in joy that all my plane tickets to NYC were going to be free. lol my family’s really new to this and we’ll appreciate some help!