Use of scholarships and private loans?

Paying for College
1

I’m back home for the summer, and something worrying crept up on me.

For the last few months here at home, I’ve been waiting to go back to college, and both me and my dad have been occasionally checking my UofM account for any updates on my financial aid. We both found it strange that we’ve made it into early/mid July, and still haven’t heard or seen anything about it. I was laying in bed one day, and it hit me that maybe I should investigate this further, and so I asked my dad if he was sure mom did my FAFSA before the deadline, since she usually does.

In short, from what I’ve been told and understand, we checked, and my mom did do it, but it turns out that my financial aid disbursement wasn’t going through to the University of Memphis because there was a mitch-match on the information in my FAFSA account, and my UofM account, and it turned out, that my mom entered in my birthdate and SSN wrong, being off by one number on both.

After this, I was told that I would have to go into my account and correct it, and I did, and then they told me that they would let me know if that solves the issue in a few days. I love my mom and dad, but after this, I really do think I need to begin handling my financial business on my own. That way, I can make sure everything is done correctly, and if anything goes wrong, it’s my fault.

But now I’m paranoid that I will not get my financial aid. I mean, my mom did get it submitted before the deadline, and the mistake made really is a small and honest mistake, but I know how strict and unforgiving people can be when it comes to money and deadlines. Although I didn’t entirely enjoy college life, nor did I always get along with others, I really did have a life, there, and I don’t want to give that up because of a little mistake on something that I should have taken care of myself in the first place.

So, I’m not even going to ask whether or not if there is a good chance I will still get my money or not. I’m going to investigate alternatives to financial aid. I’m going to see if I can find some sort of scholarships or private loans I can take, but I don’t know much about them.

Can someone explain to me the possible options and risks with private loans, as well as some scholarship options?

2

Well, it is not a small mistake because submitting it under the wrong numbers is sort of like not submitting it at all, since no one sees it or can process it.

You will still get any federal aid if it is aid that doesn’t run out. That means any Pell grant and loans. And as long as they can process it on time, you should get it on time. Also, if you need extra loans, your parent can apply for the Parent Plus loan. The only things that run out are work/study, perkins loan, seog.

Were you getting any other aid aside from federal aid? If so you will have to ask the school.

3

What aid did you get last year?

@brownparent is right…by submitting it with wrong info, it was like not submitting it at all. I’m not sure how that happened because when filing for the next year, don’t people use the same PIN and then the old basic info gets populated??

Private loans is not the way to go. Your parents would have to co-sign those loans, and in the end it would be too much debt.

Instead, you may need to ask the school if you can take a leave of absence for a year. During that year, just work and save some money.

What was your EFC? How much do your parents pay each year towards your college costs?

4

Well, by small mistake, what I meant to say was an easy one, but still a pretty big and important one to mess up.

I know last semester I got the:

Federal Pell Grant ($2,865.00 per semester/$5,730.00 per academic year)
Federal SEOG ($250.00 per semester/$500.00 per year)
Federal Subsidized Loan ($2,250.00 per semester/$4,500 per year)
Federal Unsubsidized Lan ($1,000 per semester/$2,00 per year)
TN Student Assistance Grant ($1,000 per semester/$2,000 per year)
TN HOPE scholarship ($2,000 per semester/ $4,000 per year)
TN HOPE Aspire Award ($750 per semester/$1,500 per year)

5

Well, you will still get Pell and the loans, but probably not the SEOG this late in the game.

You need to find out what happened to your HOPE awards and that TN awards.

Your parents are low income. They wouldn’t likely agree to or qualify to cosign private loans.

Have you been working and saving this summer?

6

I can’t get a job that easily. I have tried to apply for jobs, but no one will hire me. Every time I try to apply for a job, they all want me to apply online and submit my resume there, and I never get a call back. Even if I did get a job, I would have to depend on my mom or dad to take me to work, and we live out in the country, so that’s not always dependable.

I have met with someone in a group for low-income students called TRiO, and I was told that they could provide some funding, and if they don’t have any left over, then they will help me get into something called an “UTMOST Internship” or a “Green Internship”, to help pay for expenses.

I could take a year off, but I really don’t want to. I am willing to take up any other option other than staying at home. I may not have always enjoyed it, but I did have a life, back in college. I’m kind of nobody and out in the middle of nowhere, at home.

7

Oh yeah mom2 has a good point, when your mom signed into the FAFSA, all your info should have been there from the previous year. It just should have needed new financial numbers, not new SSN or bdate.

So when was FAFSA due for your school and when did you finally file it properly. Did you send your aid office an email to let them know a mistake was made on ssn and it has now been filed?

8

I’m not sure when it was due. When I googled “financial aid deadline”, I got a result telling me it was June 30th. I can’t remember when we first started working on this, but I finally got the information sorted out today, and I’m about to send an email to the school notifying them of it, IF that’s what I should do.

9

OK so here is the timeline according to the website:

Your attention to this timeline will help to ensure your aid is processed prior to your first day of class.

January - Continuing and new students need to complete the FAFSA online for the 2015-2016 academic year (includes Fall 2015, Spring 2016 and Summer 2016).

February and March - Watch for your 2015-2016 Student Aid Report (results of your FAFSA filing). Pay attention to any document request e-mail notices received from the Financial Aid Office. SUBMIT REQUIRED DOCUMENTS IN A TIMELY FASHION.

April - View your Financial Aid Award for Fall 2015 on myMemphis under the Account$ tab. If necessary, change award years by choosing the Award Information by Year option. The Student Requirements section will indicate if you are missing any financial aid documents for a particular award year.

NOTE: The deadline to submit ALL required documents for the Fall term is MAY 01!

May - Review your award information available on myMemphis. You can elect to 'Accept,' 'Accept Partial,' or 'Decline' any awards offered to you.

June - Check to be sure you have done everything you are supposed to do for the Fall 2015 semester. Have you submitted all missing documents?

July - It's TOO LATE NOW! You will NOT BE AWARDED UNTIL AFTER FALL 2015 registration in mid-September. You will need to cover your own fees at this time and then be reimbursed by your financial aid later assuming you meet the eligibility criteria to receive aid.
10

Well, that’s just great, but I’m not taking that as the final call just yet.

I’m really hoping that I can still get at least $6,000 dollars. It’s not nearly as much, but I will do whatever it takes to make it work. I will have better luck finding a job, in Memphis, and I also can just stick to eating one meal a day, as well.

11

It is a matter of timing now too, but you will get

Federal Pell Grant ($2,865.00 per semester/$5,730.00 per academic year)
Federal Subsidized Loan ($2,250.00 per semester/$4,500 per year)
Federal Unsubsidized Lan ($1,000 per semester/$2,00 per year)

I don’t know about the others, what the deadline was for state funds, if funds run out etc.

12

Have you put a call into the financial aid office yet? You need to ASAP.