Fin Aid - Bonus?

essarge · Mar 14, 2003

HMMMMM......Moral question. Do you keep it or do you send it back. I myself would contact my financial aid advisor and ask if there was a mistake made or if it really was mine. If there was a mistake done...no harm done...you give it back. If it is yours, pick up the nearest sale paper and have fun (or put it aside for future school expenses!).

Robin61970 · Mar 14, 2003

I also would contact Fin Aid and ask about it....if they made a mistake and catch it you would be expected to pay it back.

Also, anyone know about Uncle Sam's extra fund for nursing students? (grants, etc?)

I don't know anything about this.....

CountrifiedRN · Mar 14, 2003

Well it could go either way, maybe they made a mistake in telling you that you were ineligible. My guess is that they don't often give away money by accident. I'll bet it's really yours! Good luck, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Hidi74 · Mar 14, 2003

OOOOOH I want one!!

Angella Walker · Mar 14, 2003

Wern't you sent an award letter stating what aid was being offered. Let me tell you the FEDS don't make mistakes. If they sent you a check, there was no mistake.

LauraF, RN, ASN, CNA, LPN, RN · Mar 14, 2003

At our school we have census day. They use that day to direct monies to the different accounts. Anything unused gets turned into a check and mailed out to students. They consider travel expenses, supplies and such. More then likely since you filled out your FAFSA, there was money left over for your school and you got the award. This has happened to me a couple of times.

vettech · Mar 14, 2003

Originally posted by RN2BLPN4NOW
At our school we have census day. They use that day to direct monies to the different accounts. Anything unused gets turned into a check and mailed out to students. They consider travel expenses, supplies and such. More then likely since you filled out your FAFSA, there was money left over for your school and you got the award. This has happened to me a couple of times.

Not sure if I completely follow you. You're saying that when I applied, based on Fin Aid's budget, I basically didn't make the cut. But now that the census day has passed, they found they had extra and changed the minimum critera for grants?

emily_mom · Mar 14, 2003

Did you call the school yet?

Ya know, I'd keep it. But then I'm kind of like that. :devil:

vettech · Mar 14, 2003

Originally posted by emily_mom
Did you call the school yet?

Ya know, I'd keep it. But then I'm kind of like that.

Nope, its Spring Break. I'll be back in class on Tues and will go by Fin Aid afterward. If its mine, umm, any Houston-area nurses who wanna go for a drink? I'll buy!

colleen10 · Mar 14, 2003

I have had this happen to me when I accidentally requested more loan than was necessary. Whatever money was left over after the school has been paid was put into a check addressed to me and could be used for books, school supplies etc. I cashed the check and put it into savings and then a little while later I used it as a down payment for a car, which I don't feel guilty about because I used the car to get around for internships and work and I still have that car and its 10 years old. Make no doubt though, I am paying it back as part of my Student Loan.

Is it possible that you requested a loan for more than is needed by the school for tuition and fees?

Or, is it possible that you did indeed get some sort of State or Federal grant or even a Scholarship after all?

My understanding of State and Federal Grants and Loans is that a certain amount of money is set aside for all students and then based on need and how many apply the money is divided among those students. So, if some students put in for aid and drop out and don't use it, the amount delegated to each student can go up because there are less students requiring money.

Could this have possibly happened to you?

About the Nursing Loans and grants, I live in PA and have been investigating these options for nursing school within my state and have found that there are programs for nurses, not necessarily nursing students. All of the programs I have found so far are "Loan Forgiveness" and "Grants" to those that allready have passed their RN licensing exam and are working in PA full-time. So, it will be helpful after you graduate if you are a person who will be taking out a lot of loans, but right now while you are a student it won't help because you have to get through your nursing program and then get your license and start practicing.

There are also some other stipulations like the school you went to has to be on a pre-approved nursing school list and you have to be working full time for a whole year, etc. etc.

I would be interested though, if anyone has heard of a loan given to students to keep them in PA? It works this way, you are in school, you get a loan (I think $3,000.00), if you stay in Pennsylvania for 3 years and work after you graduate you don't have to pay it back.

If anyone has heard of this let me know.

Col

Cynthiann · Mar 14, 2003

I got a check for $40 last week, probably same reason you got a check too. I just wished mine was $1500 too. But I did have $1700 a few days before that that was left from my grant.