Scholarship Beffudlement

[Guest annebronte12]

Hello all!

 

I'm new here, but I've been quietly watching for a good long while now, enjoying receiving all of your wisdom as my parents and I prepare for my departure to state school this fall.:001_smile: As we've worked through financial aid awarding and fafsa woes, we've come across a rather interesting predicament.

 

My state school has awarded us a scholarship which will pay for tuition and fees after grants and scholarships. Now they are requiring me to live in the dorms for at least the semester possibly the year, which leaves us with $10,000 of room and board cost. Because of my "gap-filling" scholarship, it looks like no matter how high my SATs are or how well I qualified for institutional grants, money can't go into filling my room and board because any additional scholarships I receive will go into helping with tuition and fees and that new amount will be deducted from the "gap-filling" scholarship. The more scholarships I receive, the less the gap-filling scholarship will contribute, leaving me footing the $10,000 of room and board somehow on my own. I was wondering if anyone else has encountered this problem. I love my chosen school--I could not be more grateful for this opportunity, but this problem is causing my parents and I not a little frustration.

 

Thank you all!

 

-Abronte12

 

P.S. As a philosophy major, and homeschool grad, I can promise I did my spelling homework. Befuddlement is the correct spelling. Oops! :)

Edited May 15, 2012 by annebronte12

[Gwen in VA]

I have no words of wisdom.

 

The college can require scholarship recipients to live on campus in order to receive the scholarship. Colleges do this if they look at the scholarship as a means to have desirable "interesting" kids on campus.

 

One of our local state schools has a wonderful full-ride leadership program, but it requires living on campus. I know several local homeschoolers who have refused the scholarship because they did not want to live on campus.

 

Congratulations on the scholarship! And congratulations that the college thinks so highly of you that it wants you on campus!

[Teachin'Mine]

I would talk with them about the financial hardship this will cause and see if they have any way to help reduce the costs. That must be very frustrating.

[Brenda in MA]

The school can basically have whatever policy it wants regarding scholarships and living on campus. And yes, some schools do reduce their scholarship/grants if you win outside awards. You can approach the school to discuss this, but they may not bend on those rules.

 

If you only have to live on campus for one semester or one year, then you'll only have to foot that $10,000 bill once. If you filled out the FAFSA, you will be eligible for the $5500 stafford loan for freshman. If you work full-time in the summer and part-time during school, and if your parents can contribute a few thousand that first year, you should be able to cover it.

 

Still -- having the college experience, including living on campus, for $10,000 per year is really a bargain in today's world. Best wishes, and I hope you can find a solution that works for you!

 

Brenda

[creekland]

Chances are some of the award(s) you received was either state and/or federal money. In either case, you can't get money that will drop you down into your EFC. The Federal Gov't prohibits it outright and many states do as well. Your EFC is the bottom line if you want any public aid.

 

Some schools choose to use purely institutional aid (no pell grants, no subsidized loans, no federal work study) to attract students they really want. This is generally in the form of merit aid. They can go down into the EFC.

 

For everyone else, if you get outside scholarship $$ to try to cover your EFC, it won't work that way before public aid is cut. Schools are at their discretion as to order of the cuts, but public goes first.

 

You can't even have Grandma (or anyone other than parents/student) send money to the school to cover your EFC money. They need to send it to you (or your folks), then you send it to the school.

 

You can try talking to the school to see if they have options - esp if it's just merit aid and not public $$.

[Guest annebronte12]

Thank you all for your sympathy and help! I'm glad someone else has been through this. I scored well enough on the SAT to get merit, but our income level allowed us a lot of state need money, part of the reason I'm hesitant to push very hard on this with their financial aid department. They offered us $10,000 in loans, but we aren't about to accept that much debt simply for R &B, so it looks like a summer of prayer and lots of work. :)

[creekland]

Thank you all for your sympathy and help! I'm glad someone else has been through this. I scored well enough on the SAT to get merit, but our income level allowed us a lot of state need money, part of the reason I'm hesitant to push very hard on this with their financial aid department. They offered us $10,000 in loans, but we aren't about to accept that much debt simply for R &B, so it looks like a summer of prayer and lots of work. :)

 

Work over the summer is how many of our kids help pay for college, so you're not alone there. ;)

 

Remember too, technically it's not the whole amount you need to get. You'd have been eating at home (or out) over the school year anyway, so there's some food "savings" that can go toward the bill. Also, if you'd lived at home you'd have needed to commute. Unless you were walking/biking, there's some gas/upkeep or bus/train tickets you won't need. Even if the gas were 1/2 gallons per day, that's still $2/day plus upkeep you're saving. It's more if you'd have to do more driving. It won't (likely) all add up to $10,000, but all the combined ought to take a couple of thousand "off."

[Starr]

Don't feel like asking more or pushing staying at home is going to hurt you. You are accepted and you have a scholarship. They won't take that away from you.

[LaJuana]

don't like to award aid for room and board expenses is that that money is then taxable for the student. So, if you were to receive a scholarship that covered the room and board costs, the federal (and state) government can each take a bite out of your income, and the college is just giving away money to the government. In the end, you're still left with a bill for room and board. When you think about it, it's reasonable that a person provides for his own room and board. The Financial Aid office may be open to a hardship waiver if you can find housing for a lot less by living off campus.

 

I would advise working as many hours as you can this summer to help pay for your room and board in the year to come. Often you can work part time during school, too. I know students working three part-time jobs in the summer to try to avoid taking on those huge debt loads. It's worth pounding the pavement in earnest to avoid debt, and the more you work in the summer, the less distraction you'll have by having to work during the school year, though many students also have to do that, too.

 

Blessings to you as you try to figure out how to make this all work. It's incredibly challenging.

 

 

From the IRS publication for students at http://www.irs.gov/individuals/students/article/0,,id=96674,00.html

 

Taxable Scholarships and Fellowships

 

If you received a scholarship or fellowship, all or part of it may be taxable, even if you did not receive a Form W-2. Generally, the entire amount is taxable if you are not a candidate for a degree.

 

If you are a candidate for a degree, you generally can exclude from income that part of the grant used for:

 

Tuition and fees required for enrollment or attendance, or

Fees, books, supplies, and equipment required for your courses.

You cannot exclude from income any part of the grant used for other purposes, such as room and board.

[Beth in OH]

You didn't say where you would be living if you were not required to live in a dorm, but colleges can often be more flexible on this requirement than the financial aid piece (for the reasons other posters have mentioned.) Since you are a good student, and especially if you will be living with your parents, I would try to get an accommodation for this requirement.

 

If you are in an honors program, talk to your advisor. Honors programs are often helpful in gaining flexibility with university requirements.