Financial Aid Question - Help!

[marianne202]

Ok, I filled out my FAFSA and it said I would qualify for $1,000 in aid, then I did my special circumstances form since I lost my job 1/1/09. EC approved all this and it is being reviewed by the admissions manager to find out what if anything I will qualify for. Problem is EC is only offering 1 class I need in July and each term they only have 1 or 2 classes I need. I only need 5 courses & my Capstone to finish my BSHS and I understand I need to take at least 6 credits a term.

Now the problem. When I did my FAFSA I also had it sent to ECU (East Carolina Univ) because they are local and their distance education tuition is only $149 cr/hr vs. EC's $300 cr/hr and my EC advisor has approved all my classes I need with them, so I thought I would see who has the best course offerings the quickest and who gives me the better financial aid package. Well today I get my letter from ECU with my award, prior to special circumstances form being filled out and they can give me $2500 in grants and $5200 in loans each term, but they say I have to be full time - 12 credit hours per term!

I thought it was a standard that you only needed 6 hours per term is that not the case? I can swing 6 hrs a term, but I don't know that I can 12! I'm taking one EC class now and it has been a ton of reading and writing each week. It is all I can do to keep up. I can't do that times four! I would be working 24/7 reading and writing. This is my first time around this financial aid thing and I'm looking for any and all help from those that have been around this road before. Please help me! I've tried for two weeks to get my "assigned" financial aid counselor to email me or call me back about the special circumstances form and finally today I got someone who said Oh it's online, just not through the financial aid areas on my account! So now it will take about 3 weeks to get an updated award letter from ECU but she said to go and register now for classes as they are filling up. If I miss out on being able to take free classes because of this I will scream! I know some of you have done this before and are pros. Please help me sort this out. Thanks in advance!

[cookderosa]

Ok, I filled out my FAFSA and it said I would qualify for $1,000 in aid, then I did my special circumstances form since I lost my job 1/1/09. EC approved all this and it is being reviewed by the admissions manager to find out what if anything I will qualify for. Problem is EC is only offering 1 class I need in July and each term they only have 1 or 2 classes I need. I only need 5 courses & my Capstone to finish my BSHS and I understand I need to take at least 6 credits a term.

Now the problem. When I did my FAFSA I also had it sent to ECU (East Carolina Univ) because they are local and their distance education tuition is only $149 cr/hr vs. EC's $300 cr/hr and my EC advisor has approved all my classes I need with them, so I thought I would see who has the best course offerings the quickest and who gives me the better financial aid package. Well today I get my letter from ECU with my award, prior to special circumstances form being filled out and they can give me $2500 in grants and $5200 in loans each term, but they say I have to be full time - 12 credit hours per term!

I thought it was a standard that you only needed 6 hours per term is that not the case? I can swing 6 hrs a term, but I don't know that I can 12! I'm taking one EC class now and it has been a ton of reading and writing each week. It is all I can do to keep up. I can't do that times four! I would be working 24/7 reading and writing. This is my first time around this financial aid thing and I'm looking for any and all help from those that have been around this road before. Please help me! I've tried for two weeks to get my "assigned" financial aid counselor to email me or call me back about the special circumstances form and finally today I got someone who said Oh it's online, just not through the financial aid areas on my account! So now it will take about 3 weeks to get an updated award letter from ECU but she said to go and register now for classes as they are filling up. If I miss out on being able to take free classes because of this I will scream! I know some of you have done this before and are pros. Please help me sort this out. Thanks in advance!

>>

Let's look at a few things.


Situation 1: Without financial aid, you need to come up with about $4500, and will take 1-2 courses per term.

Situation 2: WITH financial aid, your award will be divided into the terms- so if you are at your local school with a fall/spring schedule, that means you have to do 12 credits twice to get that award- so, you are going to be running full speed for 9 months and accumulating debt. At $150 per credit, you are looking at spending (150 x 24) $3600 minimum plus books for 8 classes (estimate another $1000 minimum. Since $2500 is a grant, you still have a balance of $1100 which means taking out a student loan ($5500). This option means spending $1000 more than situation 1, but none is out of pocket.

WITH financial aid at EC, you are going to do the same thing as situation 2 because you need one year, but the difference is that you have to take (and pass) classes that won't count in order to get $1000. Now- at EC, I don't know how many terms per year they have- I think it's 4 like TESC (??) so that means a total of 8 classes (24 cr. x 300 = $7200) to claim $1000. In this situation, you are spending $6200 out of pocket and $1700 more than in situation 1.

The problem with financial aid, is that if you drop out or fail, you still owe the money. Even grant money must be returned if you drop out/fail. Considering the amount of work necessary in either situation, only you can judge if that is a good investment.
I'd strongly consider having a garage sale, putting things on ebay, take a part time job waiting tables, and try to pay cash- even if it means slowing down for one semester until you find work. The last thing you need when you are unemployed is debt. If you take 1 class this semester and look for work, chances are good that by the semester's end you will employed, and it won't seem so daunting to come up with $ tuition.