Financial Aide Question......................................................?
SO I am starting school sept 27th, community college. I am supposed to get quite a bit of financial aide, so most of my expenses will be payed by that. But I can't find any info on how that works or when I will get it...am I going to have to spend my own money and then get reimbursed with that? Becasue it says that I need to have everything paid for before the 27th and I don't know what to do? Also, do I need to buy my books now or can I wait? Ahhhh...I'm not able to find any info anywhere on the website and the school hasn't been answering my emails or retuning my calls!
Update:So do you mean that if they know that the money is on its way, then I won't have to worry about paying it on time becasue they will have it set up and ready to go?
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The money will not come straight to you it will go to the school. Why don't you call the school up (business office or financial aid department) and see when they will be receiving your funds (you should have received an award letter stating the amount and the date. it will either come by mail, email, or on your schools web set-up). Once the school receives the money than you'll get anything extra whenever they process refunds (completely up to the school and every school is different). Since school doesn't start until the 27th the school most likely will not receive the funds until a week or two before that date. If your bill is suppose to be paid before Aug 27th than you'll need to talk to the school. Some schools if they know aid is coming in will not require you to pay for your classes unless something changes with your aid. However, not every school does this. Some schools still make you pay before the due date, will set you up on a payment plan that will hopefully give you time until your aid comes in, or will extend the due date completely. You'll need to check with the school about this. You can buy your books whenever just make sure you'll be able to return them incase an instructor changes a book or says one of the books listed was not needed (one of these has happened to me every semester in the past 2 years).
I filled my FAFSA out 3 weeks before school, and it only took a week until I received my award letter. It normally never goes that fast, but I'm sure if you keep on top of your financial aid at school, they will make sure you're okay.
Schools do say to allow 10-12 weeks to process, in which if your award letter has not come, then they will make you start making payments and pay for your books, which can be very expensive. But the good news is, if you can find someone to loan you money, you will get a much higher refund when your school mails out the refund checks.
If you filed for financial aid, make sure you have accepted it and do a fee deferment for the payments of the classes. Sadly, you may have to pay for your books yourself and wait for the aid. But check and see if the library has the books, that way you can check them out until the aid comes in. Calling or emailing the schools do nothing. Go to the financial aid department and talk to them. Good luck in college.