Originally Posted by Fox
Do you know if the check is send directly to the student?
No the check is sent to the school then to you because it's a loan that has to be certified by the school.......This loan stuff gets pretty tricky and you have to be careful with the loans sent directly to you...Here's what I mean....
A loan that's sent directly to you does not have to be certified by the school...all you have to do is show proof of enrollment by your acceptance letter or something of the like...Why I'm saying tricky is because your school a long with the feds determine exactly how much you're allowed to borrow each semester for tuition, living expenses etc...This is hard to explain but I'll give it a whirl...
For example....EVERY graduate student can get a FAFSA loan (the federal loan) for $9250.00 each semester, that's a given you know you're going to get the FAFSA loan.....Ok say that your school allows you to borrow $21,000 each semester for tuition AND living expenses,and other costs....Then say you're tuition is $6000 each semester....Even though your tuition is $6000, you can still borrow the $9250 if you want all of it (most do)...What the school does is then deduct the $9250 from the $21,000 they allow you to borrow for the semester....that leaves you with $11,750 you can borrow in a private loan (certified by the school)....In addition to the $11,750 you still have what's left over from your FAFSA loan...that would be an additional $3250.....total for that semester in "living loans" $15,000....that's just for one semester then you do it all over again....I just threw in there the tuition cost etc to use as an example, every school is going to be different and your financial aid dept. has their own breakdown.
The reason I said tricky is because you're not allowed to borrow over what the feds determine with your school the amount for each semester...If you get the FAFSA loan, and the loans certified by the school....THEN get the teri loans for the $30,000....they consider that loan part of money borrowed for tuition,living expenses etc...then they won't give you the FAFSA loan....Keep in mind the teri type loans are not certified by the school and the school can't find out about it unless you tell them....We had a student who told the financial aid director that she had a teri loan and it totally screwed up her FAFSA loans for the semester....she had to pay her tuition out of the loan she got to live on....All I'm saying is that if you get a private loan NOT certified by the school....DON'T TELL THEM!!!!!!....Also, the only loans you can get that are sent directly to you are the private loans that ARE NOT certified, otherwise they go through the school....
I have no idea why they give a crap how much money you borrow to live on...it's not like a grant or something you don't have to pay back....
Also another note...the teri loans are an annual loan for up to $30,000.....they then charge you an origination fee that's tacked onto the loan amount and you pay interest on that as well.....that's kind of a rip off if you ask me....But then again if you're not working and going to school you don't really care at the time....PNC charges no origination fees and you actually end up getting more per year than the $30,000 from the teri....The difference is PNC disburst money each semester and the teri you get at one time, but you can't get it again until the next year......I would use PNC then get a teri if you absolutely need it....
Sorry this is so long (and confusing) but I tried to explain it the best way I could....it took me forever to understand the financial aid aspect of it all....
Good Luck!
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Re: Alternative Loans - here's what I've found
