Student Loan Confusion... Help?

[ziggysgal,RN]

Ok... I'm gearing up for the Fall semester and still waiting on my Financial Aid award letter. Best case scenario, I have qualified for 1200/semester Pell grant... and any student loan qualification is unknown at this time. I have contacted the financial aid office and can only get the standard 'in processing, wait for the letter' response.

Looking ahead, because I am out of county for my CC, my tuition and fees for the Fall LVN classes is going to run me about 1625. (Obviously, the Pell award doesn't even cover that, let alone touch the 1k in books, 500 in uniforms and supplies, or any other costs.) I have no option to reduce the number of hours I am taking because it is a set program.

My CC offers tuition/fees/etc on payment plan, but only after any grants/scholarships are applied... leaving me with a payment plan on approximately 425... no such offer for bookstore purchases. (When aid is more than tuition, balance is offered up as a credit in the book store... if not used, sent to the student around class day 30 in a check)... So, I'm ok for the balance of tuition and fees, but I have the books and uniforms and supplies to think about.

I decided to apply for student loans as a back up funding source. I'm not crazy about needing them, but sometimes you have to do stuff you don't really want to in order to accomplish something you really want.

I found out that my CC only makes student loan funds available at the 30 class day mark. The website clearly states their policy as such... that student loan funds are not available for initial tuition and book costs but can be applied to a payment plan. (first payment due at the 30 class day mark)

So I thought maybe I could get a payment plan for tuition and use the pell funds for books, etc... bite the bullet and buy all my books at the college bookstore.. (ugh) Nope. Tuition comes out first, no exceptions.

So... if I don't have grant/scholarship award money to pay for books... and loan funds aren't available until day 30 (and only available if enrolled full time...)... my only course is to pay out of pocket... except, that's like almost 2000 out of pocket before school begins... and it's not like I can wait 30 days to get my uniforms, texts, and supplies...

So... my question for anyone brave enough to read all of this (sorry) is ...

Is this common? Or is my CC just illogical with policy? How are student loans supposed to help pay for education if they're not available until it's too late?

Anyone who can offer insight or make sense of this ... you have my appreciation... heck, if you can even just reassure me that this is not a common practice I'll be happy... (my next step might just be at a different college... ugh)

[lilag02]

Yep, that's how mine does it too. I understand your frustration, and have asked the FA people at my CC that very same question numerous times. I've always had to use funds better left untouched (i.e. savings, credit card) and replenish them when my loan money comes through. I wish that I had better news for you, but at least you're not alone.

[ms_miyagi]

I don't know where you two go to school, but every school I have ever attended using Financial aid, Stafford Sub and Unsub, as well as Pell Grants, you Fill out your FAFSA by mid April for the upcoming school year, go thru loan counselling and your tuition is paid, then after the census is processed and certified, usually around the 12th class day, any remaining funds are refunded to the student. I have never heard of having to wait until the 30th class day to apply for financial aid, and the only reason I can think would be this way is if the School doesn't receive federal financial aid.

Best of luck to you both; I sincerely hope this works out for your both.

[ziggysgal,RN]

I don't know where you two go to school, but every school I have ever attended using Financial aid, Stafford Sub and Unsub, as well as Pell Grants, you Fill out your FAFSA by mid April for the upcoming school year, go thru loan counselling and your tuition is paid, then after the census is processed and certified, usually around the 12th class day, any remaining funds are refunded to the student. I have never heard of having to wait until the 30th class day to apply for financial aid, and the only reason I can think would be this way is if the School doesn't receive federal financial aid.

Best of luck to you both; I sincerely hope this works out for your both.

most of my friends employed by higher education institutions reported similar policies to what you describe... after all the school knows it will get the money... but federal requirements view this as an optional courtesy and not a requirement of the federal program.

Sorry if it was confusing, but my school has the same application timelines that you've described, only the single difference that loan funds are not available until the 30th day of the semester... approximately 2 weeks or so after the census reporting date (12th class day)...

it is a CC, perhaps that is one reason?

it's all good, got it covered... just don't see the logic in needing to attend for 30 days before having access to funds intended to provide for attendance.. lol...

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

My CC releases funds into the student's account at the college one week before classes start. Grants, loans and scholarships are all applied into the account at that time. The student then utilizes those funds to pay tuition (first) and can go to the bookstore and get funds from their account credited for book purchases. The rest is refunded about six to eight weeks into the semester directly to the student by direct deposit into a bank account they have supplied the school with. So obviously that isn't going to help with stestoscope or uniforms etc so much, but at least the initial bang of the books gets taken care of. This is a two year RN program.

[ms_miyagi]

most of my friends employed by higher education institutions reported similar policies to what you describe... after all the school knows it will get the money... but federal requirements view this as an optional courtesy and not a requirement of the federal program.

Sorry if it was confusing, but my school has the same application timelines that you've described, only the single difference that loan funds are not available until the 30th day of the semester... approximately 2 weeks or so after the census reporting date (12th class day)...

it is a CC, perhaps that is one reason?

it's all good, got it covered... just don't see the logic in needing to attend for 30 days before having access to funds intended to provide for attendance.. lol...

The school's I have attend and currently attend only do the 30 day wait for 1st time Financial Aid users, for the first semester only. After that, it is as I have described.

[sch1109]

I'll be staring a nursing program in a few weeks and I was given a pamphlet stating Federal Regulations require a 30 day delay for new students. I hear from other students it actually only takes about three weeks and that this only applies to the first semester. It really stinks because the first semester is so expensive. Do you know anyone else in your program that you could maybe borrow books from and make copies until you get your funds? I've also read that you can sometimes rent textbooks through the school library or you can always buy old editions of textbooks at a small fraction of the cost just to get you by. I once bought the previous edition of a Chemistry textbook for $4 on Amazon. With the exception of a few pictures, it was almost identical to the newer textbook which was almost $200 at the bookstore.