You may also be interested in these 7 options to consider if you didn’t receive enough financial aid.
Published at Thu, 17 Aug 2017 16:52:37 +0000
Be sure you understand what each form of aid is and whether or not it has to be repaid. When you have any questions about an offer, you should talk to a financial aid adviser at the school. No matter how much help you are offered, it is always up to you to determine how much of a student loan you want to accept. The rule of thumb is that you should only borrow as much money as you absolutely must cover the school year. You can always inform your school that you would like to borrow less than what is provided.
1. Registration Status (full-time, half-time, less than half-time, etc.)
Find more details about what is included in cost of attendance.
The formula can be difficult to understand; just know that many factors are taken into consideration–not just earnings. If you have questions regarding your EFC, contact the financial aid office at your school.
The offers will include the types and amounts of financial aid you are eligible to receive from federal, state, private, and school resources. If you need help comparing the offers you received from different colleges, use the CFPB’s financial aid offer comparison tool.
Think of this as your school’s sticker price. Your COA is the estimated amount of money it will cost to attend a particular school. This figure is determined by your school and should be available on the school’s website. If your enrollment status is at least half-time, your COA quote includes
Bear in mind that your COA will probably be different at every school, since some colleges are more expensive than others.
Nora Onley is a Management and Program Analyst for Federal Student Aid.
3. Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
The information you provide on the FAFSA is used to calculate your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). The EFC isn’t necessarily the sum of money your family will need to pay for college, nor is it the amount of federal student aid you’ll get. It is a number used by your school to compute how much financial aid you’re entitled to at that school.
One of the questions we receive most often is: “Why didn’t I get more money for school? “ It’s especially frustrating when you’ve got no idea how a school decided in your aid offer. Hopefully, this information will shed some light on how colleges calculate your financial aid.
- Tuition and fees,
- room and board,
- books, supplies, living expenses, transportation, loan fees, and more.
Faculties determine financial aid offers based on three variables:
= Financial Need
Your enrollment status will affect the amount and types of help you qualify for. For instance, Direct Loans are available only to students enrolled at least half-time, and Federal Pell Grant amounts are partly determined by your enrollment status.
2.
It all starts when you submit your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form. Once we (Federal Student Aid) process your application (it takes around three days if you submitted it online), then we make your information available to all of the colleges you listed on it. Each school then uses your FAFSA information to determine how much aid you’re eligible to receive at that school. Each school has its own schedule for awarding financial aid. You must check with each school to discover if you can expect to receive an aid offer.
Once each school has determined your financial need, you will receive aid offers from the colleges you’ve been accepted to. Bear in mind that all of your aid offers will differ. Each school has a different ability to meet your financial need–it all depends on the funds available at each school.
Source: TPd Paying for College Feed
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