Can I Get Money for Living Expenses?
Hello Betsy:
I read your article in the Metro on Tues. June 17 and it was very informative. It made me realize that I have to get into gear! I will be going to school full time. I need money to live and pay for school. I have never taken out a loan (my parents paid for my undergraduate). I don’t know where to begin but I know that I need to apply soon. I have applied for a couple of scholarships and am waiting to hear from those. Soooo, Betsy, what do I do?! I need money to pay for rent and living expenses ALSO school. How do I do this and how do I budget myself so that I spend it wisely? Any advice or suggestions you have will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time!!
Regards,
Patty S.
Hi Patty:
I’m glad you found the column helpful! The 1st step in applying for any type of financial aid is to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The deadline for this is normally in the spring but that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck—just that some of the programs that have limited funds might not be available to you this year. The quickest way is to fill this out online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov or you can pick up a paper form at your local library or a school’s financial aid office.
Make sure you have your most recent tax forms and bank statements handy when you get ready to start. Once you submit the form, it will take about 6 weeks for the Federal Processors to send you and the schools you are applying to your Student Aid Report (SAR). The SAR will tell you and the school what kind and how much financial aid you are eligible for as well as how much you are expected to pay out of pocket (called the Expected Family Contribution or EFC). Don’t panic when you see this number as you can use student loans and other options to help subsidize it if you need to.
Once you’ve chosen the school you will attend, they will put together a financial aid package that will tell you how much you can expect to get in grants, loans and any institutional scholarships and monies you may be eligible for. In that package they will include in your cost of attendance not only the tuition, but books and living expenses as well. After that, all that’s left to do is to fill out any loan or other paperwork that’s needed to accept these funds.
You’re right that you need to get started. Considering the time frame of the FAFSA alone I’d set some time aside this weekend to fill it out and submit it. I’d also continue to seek out additional outside scholarships if you can. You can find more information on what’s available at http://www.finaid.org and http://www.collegeboard.org as well as through your school. Regarding tips on budgeting and such, the College Board has some good information on their web site and you should check out American Student Assistance at http://www.amsa.com/bor/. Read the “How to Be a Wise Borrower” info and then look at the resources and links provided for some great budgeting tips. Also, once you get to school and your financial aid is released, you can sign a form with the school that tells them only to release a certain amount of living expenses to you at a time—almost like putting yourself on a forced allowance.
Finally, and if you remember nothing else please remember this, stay away from credit cards!!!!! I can’t tell you how many students I’ve seen fall in this hole while they’re in school! The interest rates are high, you can’t claim the interest as a deduction on your taxes (like you can for a student loan) and there are no deferment, forbearance or forgiveness options for them if you run into hard times in the future. Your mantra should be “I’m going to live like a student while I’m in school so I don’t have to when I’m out!” Hope this was helpful. Don’t hesitate to send me any more questions you may have along the way. Good luck and welcome to Boston!!!
Good luck, –Betsy
