How much can I borrow? Forum

[ScottRiqui]

I know that the general rule is "COA minus any scholarships", but I'm not sure whether external funding (i.e. not provided by the school) lowers that limit as well.

Here are the approximate numbers:

Total COA: 53k (33k tuition/fees, 20k COL)

Scholarship - 1k/year
GI Bill (paid by the VA directly to the school) - 32k/year
Gi Bill Housing Allowance (paid by the VA to the student) - 15k/year

So, would the maximum amount I can borrow be 52k (COA minus scholarship), 20k (COA minus scholarships and GI Bill tuition/fees payment), or 5k (COA minus scholarship, GI Bill tuition/fees, and housing allowance)?

[rinkrat19]

Common sense tells me the GI Bill reduces what you can take out in loans. My guess is you could take out $5k.

I'm looking at a pamphlet from the VA and it says "A tuition and fee payment is paid to the school on your behalf." And I'm not sure if the school gets the GI Bill housing allowance and forwards it on to you like they give me my Fed loans, or if you get it directly from the govt, but either way I'm pretty sure they're not going to give you (between GI Bill and loans) almost double the living expenses you need. That would be silly.

[ScottRiqui]

The housing allowance goes directly to the student. I'm sure the school knows it exists, but they play no part in administering it.

In general, I'm just curious how loan limits are affected by external funding sources. If a student gets a scholarship from a civic organization or a business (or even a bank loan), and the organization/business/bank writes a check directly to the school, would that reduce the maximum federal loan amount as well?

[rinkrat19]

I assume so, since I think you have to enter scholarships somewhere in the process.

But the easiest way to get these questions answered is to ask the people in your school's (or any school's) financial aid office. They actually know what they're talking about.

[ScottRiqui]

I assume so, since I think you have to enter scholarships somewhere in the process.

But the easiest way to get these questions answered is to ask the people in your school's (or any school's) financial aid office. They actually know what they're talking about.

Thanks, I'll do that. I was just hoping it was a common-enough situation that someone here might know. The Montgomery GI Bill was simpler; since that was paid directly to the student rather than to the school, it didn't affect loan limits. But from what I can find about the Post-9/11 GI Bill, it's considered an "entitlement", rather than "financial aid", so I have no idea how it affects maximum loan amounts.

[BigZuck]

The housing allowance goes directly to the student. I'm sure the school knows it exists, but they play no part in administering it.

In general, I'm just curious how loan limits are affected by external funding sources. If a student gets a scholarship from a civic organization or a business (or even a bank loan), and the organization/business/bank writes a check directly to the school, would that reduce the maximum federal loan amount as well?

To answer your question, yes- I believe it would.

If COA was 50K and you got a 1K scholarship you could only take out 49K I believe