How do loans work with full scholarships? Forum

[theycallmefoes]

If I have a full scholarship, and I've been approved for the full Stafford loan amount, what happens to the loan money? Is it paid out directly to me?

Also, my financial aid award says I've been approved for a $2k Grad PLUS loan. Can I borrow more than that to cover cost of living?

I would really, really appreciate some input. Thanks!

[Pneumonia]

The amount you can borrow = the cost of attendance less your scholarship. It sounds like that amount is 22,000: 20,000 stafford (the max) and 2,000 grad plus. You can't receive more than the cost of attendance in combined loans and scholarships.

[theycallmefoes]

The amount you can borrow = the cost of attendance less your scholarship. It sounds like that amount is 22,000: 20,000 stafford (the max) and 2,000 grad plus. You can't receive more than the cost of attendance in combined loans and scholarships.

Thanks for the clarification. So is that money paid to the school and then paid to me as a refund?
Edit: Also, does COA include COL? So $2k is the max PLUS loan I can borrow? I need the money for a car and an apartment.

[Pneumonia]

The amount you can borrow = the cost of attendance less your scholarship. It sounds like that amount is 22,000: 20,000 stafford (the max) and 2,000 grad plus. You can't receive more than the cost of attendance in combined loans and scholarships.

Thanks for the clarification. So is that money paid to the school and then paid to me as a refund?
Edit: Also, does COA include COL? So $2k is the max PLUS loan I can borrow? I need the money for a car and an apartment.

No its paid to you, although it may go through the school first. Its not done automatically because some people don't need loans. COL is the portion of COA that covers living expenses, so COL is a part of COA not vice versa (the other part being tuition). Theoretically there is not a"max" on GradPlus, practically the max is (COA minus Scholarship minus Stafford) = (GradPlus $ that you are eligible for). The COL, like undergrad, is in most cases fairly sufficient but not excessive.

[bombaysippin]

I think for your best bet, you'd have to talk to your financial aid office directly in order to try and get more for your loans. I think in special circumstances they might be able to raise the amount, but generally like the above poster mentioned, the way the loans work is total COA that's budgeted by the school (which generally/most of the time doesn't include your car payments) - scholarship = possible loan amount(s).

[theycallmefoes]

The amount you can borrow = the cost of attendance less your scholarship. It sounds like that amount is 22,000: 20,000 stafford (the max) and 2,000 grad plus. You can't receive more than the cost of attendance in combined loans and scholarships.

Thanks for the clarification. So is that money paid to the school and then paid to me as a refund?
Edit: Also, does COA include COL? So $2k is the max PLUS loan I can borrow? I need the money for a car and an apartment.

Theoretically there is not a"max" on GradPlus, practically the max is (COA minus Scholarship minus Stafford) = (GradPlus $ that you are eligible for).

If I recall correctly, the application for the Parent PLUS loan allowed you to specify the amount. Are the GradPLUS loans the same way? Rather, can I apply for an amount greater than the $2000 in my financial aid award?

[rinkrat19]

The amount you can borrow = the cost of attendance less your scholarship. It sounds like that amount is 22,000: 20,000 stafford (the max) and 2,000 grad plus. You can't receive more than the cost of attendance in combined loans and scholarships.

Thanks for the clarification. So is that money paid to the school and then paid to me as a refund?
Edit: Also, does COA include COL? So $2k is the max PLUS loan I can borrow? I need the money for a car and an apartment.

Theoretically there is not a"max" on GradPlus, practically the max is (COA minus Scholarship minus Stafford) = (GradPlus $ that you are eligible for).

If I recall correctly, the application for the Parent PLUS loan allowed you to specify the amount. Are the GradPLUS loans the same way? Rather, can I apply for an amount greater than the $2000 in my financial aid award?

Probably not, unless you have a legit reason like child care expenses. I think that's the only reason I've heard for a school increasing the loan limit.

Your loan + scholarship package is not going to exceed total cost of attendance (tuition+fees+books+living, as budgeted by the school). If they're only offering you $2000 in Grad+ loans, I assume that means that between your large scholarship and the Stafford loans, the $2000 is all that is needed to bring your total package up to the total COA. If so, then you will likely not get any more than that. If you have full scholly, then the Stafford loan is what you use for living expenses.

[john1990]

I have a full scholarship and The loan goes through your school before you get it. You cannot borrow more than the difference between the cost of attendance and the amount of your scholarship. In other words you will only be able to borrow the amount your school has allocated to cost of living. I hate that some schools only allocate 22k, most do this because they are only providing for COL for 9 months. My schools allocates 28k and it would suck to ave to live on 22k for 12 months