Summer Financial Aid

kelsmom
Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:51:57 +0000

I know it’s confusing to you, but here is what it says in a nutshell: You will be awarded $20,500 for the normal school year, which is fall and spring. You must carry at least 6 credits in a term to receive the loan for that term; the loan pays out 1/2 the annual award ($20,500) in each term.

From the email you posted, it appears your school is a summer trailer … summer is the end of the year, and you can use any unused annual eligibility in the summer (say you borrowed less than $10,250 each term of fall & winter, or you didn’t borrow in fall but borrowed in winter). You can double-check by asking: If I begin my schooling this summer, and if I did not borrow any money at any school in the fall of 2012 or the spring of 2013, can I borrow this summer and STILL borrow $20,500 for fall 2013/spring 2014?

One thing I need to caution you about is the fact that even though you may have $20,500 of unused annual eligibility for 2012-13 that is all available for summer 2013, you may not be able to borrow half. Summer Cost of Attendance is often quite a bit lower than fall/winter COA, and you can only borrow up to the COA for the term. For example, where I used to work, the summer COA varied depending on the length of the individual’s classes (about a $2000 difference, depending). Most schools will not have the summer 2013 COA established yet, but a good financial aid counselor can explain this using last year’s numbers.