Financial Aid Offer Does Not Cover COA

[dvminmyfuture]

I'm an incoming Year 1. I have just received my Financial Aid offer and it covers 37% of the cost of Year 1. Yes, I asked prior to accepting my seat and the information was never provided to me. I worried, and somehow knew, this would happen.

I've sent emails and called about my 37% offer and I'll be responded to in the order my inquiry was received.

Importantly, every communication during Accepted Students Day etc indicated that aid offers would "cover the full cost of COA."

Here are my questions that I'm hoping kind people on here will answer:

1) What is happening here? Is this related to the current federal government environment?

2) How can this possibly be? I had the opportunity to accept elsewhere and did not.

3) Where, and how on earth, am I going to find 70+% of the cost of Year 1 in 2.5 months? I am early 20's and absolutely do not have this type of money. Nobody is going to give me a bank loan.

4) Has this ever happened to anyone else? What did you do? What should I do?

5) Any other supportive, positive-leaning comments are appreciated, thank you

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[JaynaAli]

There is a limit to the amount of federal direct loans you can take out, then you take out gradplus loans (which is another type of federal loan) for the remainder. Are you only looking at the direct amount?

 

[Cowsrcool]

I'm an incoming Year 1. I have just received my Financial Aid offer and it covers 37% of the cost of Year 1. Yes, I asked prior to accepting my seat and the information was never provided to me. I worried, and somehow knew, this would happen.

I've sent emails and called about my 37% offer and I'll be responded to in the order my inquiry was received.

Importantly, every communication during Accepted Students Day etc indicated that aid offers would "cover the full cost of COA."

Here are my questions that I'm hoping kind people on here will answer:

1) What is happening here? Is this related to the current federal government environment?

2) How can this possibly be? I had the opportunity to accept elsewhere and did not.

3) Where, and how on earth, am I going to find 70+% of the cost of Year 1 in 2.5 months? I am early 20's and absolutely do not have this type of money. Nobody is going to give me a bank loan.

4) Has this ever happened to anyone else? What did you do? What should I do?

5) Any other supportive, positive-leaning comments are appreciated, thank you

Can I ask what school this is? This seems crazy and not correct

 

[dvminmyfuture]

Can I ask what school this is? This seems crazy and not correct

I'm going to not share the school for now.

 

[dvminmyfuture]

There is a limit to the amount of federal direct loans you can take out, then you take out gradplus loans (which is another type of federal loan) for the remainder. Are you only looking at the direct amount?

The form lists a fall and spring loan amount, and then tells me the remainder I'll need. The loan amounts represent 37% of the total COA. There is nothing that indicates a step to be taken with GradPLUS. But that is what I am to do?

 

[JaynaAli]

It’s hard to say without knowing more details or seeing the form. I don’t remember getting any form like you describe from my school, but that was quite a while ago for me. But you should be able to take out the full COA between federal direct and gradplus loans if you’re attending an accredited stateside school. I’m not as familiar with the various international schools (which I bring up because your post history talks about Ohio vs Glasgow vs Dublin), but I think that applies to those too. I haven’t heard any actual implemented changes to loan amounts or guidelines yet. But I’m betting either you’re misunderstanding something or there was some mistake in your paperwork; both of those seem much more likely than you not being alotted the COA in some way or another.

 

[juggling-zebra0831]

I learned most of what I have from VIN Foundation. They did pretty good breakdown of how most people end up financing their cost of education on this webinar: Apply Smarter - Vet School Bound My understanding is that you apply for FAFSA first. This determines your eligibility for unsubsidized loans but annual limits depend on your program which might be less for international school. The remainder can be covered through Grad PLUS loans. Grad PLUS loans are federal loans but you have to complete separate application which requires credit check. Ultimately the Cost of Attendance (COA) is a preset number updated annually by each university. It includes both cost of tuition and cost of living expenses. It's usually not advisable to take out private loans because you are not afforded same protections that federal loans offer (i.e., IBR, forgiveness) and interest rates often variable/high. I am still learning and figuring this out myself too so if anybody has any insights would love to hear from ya'll! 🙂

 

[dvminmyfuture]

It’s hard to say without knowing more details or seeing the form. I don’t remember getting any form like you describe from my school, but that was quite a while ago for me. But you should be able to take out the full COA between federal direct and gradplus loans if you’re attending an accredited stateside school. I’m not as familiar with the various international schools (which I bring up because your post history talks about Ohio vs Glasgow vs Dublin), but I think that applies to those too. I haven’t heard any actual implemented changes to loan amounts or guidelines yet. But I’m betting either you’re misunderstanding something or there was some mistake in your paperwork; both of those seem much more likely than you not being alotted the COA in some way or another.

Really appreciate your reply @JaynaAli - I am not misunderstanding the form but your reply makes me think I have been given segmented information on the form. And the full workflow description of federal direct and THEN GradPlus is simply not on the downloadable form with a title that indicates that this is my financial aid offer. The form simply says "this is your offer" and here is your loan amount and here is your remainder. As long as there is some GradPLUS option I guess I am ok. I am reading this stuff - it just is not giving me the entire picture. Thanks again.

 

[dvminmyfuture]

I learned most of what I have from VIN Foundation. They did pretty good breakdown of how most people end up financing their cost of education on this webinar: Apply Smarter - Vet School Bound My understanding is that you apply for FAFSA first. This determines your eligibility for unsubsidized loans but annual limits depend on your program which might be less for international school. The remainder can be covered through Grad PLUS loans. Grad PLUS loans are federal loans but you have to complete separate application which requires credit check. Ultimately the Cost of Attendance (COA) is a preset number updated annually by each university. It includes both cost of tuition and cost of living expenses. It's usually not advisable to take out private loans because you are not afforded same protections that federal loans offer (i.e., IBR, forgiveness) and interest rates often variable/high. I am still learning and figuring this out myself too so if anybody has any insights would love to hear from ya'll! 🙂

Much appreciated @juggling-zebra0831 - I had heard about GradPLUS loans but as a Year 1, it would have been clearer for me if the form read "you have done your FAFSA, you have received unsubsidized loans, they will not cover your COA, so now your next step is GradPLUS." I guess the title of "financial aid offer" puts me in a different perspective as a reader as well.

 

[JaynaAli]

Really appreciate your reply @JaynaAli - I am not misunderstanding the form but your reply makes me think I have been given segmented information on the form. And the full workflow description of federal direct and THEN GradPlus is simply not on the downloadable form with a title that indicates that this is my financial aid offer. The form simply says "this is your offer" and here is your loan amount and here is your remainder. As long as there is some GradPLUS option I guess I am ok. I am reading this stuff - it just is not giving me the entire picture. Thanks again.

There are also some loans that are controlled more by the school I think, such as the health professions student loans. The HPSL is a federal program but I believe it’s controlled/administered by the school, so maybe the “loan” they’re talking about isn’t even a federal direct but something else. Hard to say as someone giving internet advice.

 

[dvminmyfuture]

There are also some loans that are controlled more by the school I think, such as the health professions student loans. The HPSL is a federal program but I believe it’s controlled/administered by the school, so maybe the “loan” they’re talking about isn’t even a federal direct but something else. Hard to say as someone giving internet advice.

Thank you @JaynaAli, all advice is appreciated! I did not receive HPSL but did receive federal unsubsidized, it's just that the amount is drastically less than total COA. After you guys shared that GradPLUS fills the remainder, I think that's likely the situation. But for the benefit of others that find this conversation someday: If you are a Year 1 and your Financial Aid Offer lists amounts and then a COA remainder, the remainder can be sought through the Graduate PLUS loan program. Your financial aid offer may not state "you also have access to Graduate PLUS loans" but you do and it is an extra step beyond the FAFSA application. I had read about Grad PLUS as an option but was misled by the format of the Financial Aid Offer and being new to vet school, did not connect GradPLUS as the step for my remainder.