Reading Your Financial Aid Award
You know it’s a good day when: you open the mail and find a check you weren’t expecting, or you flip through the newspaper and see a coupon to your favorite restaurant. Receiving a financial aid award is much like that. “Wow! You mean I don’t need to pay $40,000 this year? Let’s take a vacation!”
The financial aid award is designed to lighten the financial burden of funding a college education, and to grant opportunity to those needy students who could not afford higher education otherwise. Your financial aid award for next year will arrive in your student’s GU email in late March or early April. He or she will then be able to accept or decline what is offered either by accessing Zagweb, or printing off the form and returning it to the Financial Aid Office. For incoming freshmen, the award will be sent via U.S. Mail.
As you are looking over the award, your thought process will probably be something like this: “What’s a Direct Loan? The Unsubsidized one looks good. Sure, we’ll accept it.” However, it is important to know what your student is being offered so he or she can make the best long-term financial decisions.
Direct Loans are funded by the government. If you have had a Stafford Loan in the past, the Direct Loan is essentially the same. There are two different types of Direct Loans, Subsidized and Unsubsidized. With the Subsidized Loan, the interest rate for next year is 4.5%, and the government pays the borrower’s accruing interest while he or she is enrolled in school. With the Unsubsidized Loan, the student is responsible for paying the accruing interest of 6.8% while in school. Repayment on these loans does not begin until 6 months after graduation. Which loan is awarded and how much is allotted the student in an academic year depends on the student’s grade level and FAFSA results. Some parents want to avoid having their student accrue debt, but a student loan can actually be a great way for young adults to learn how to manage finances (not to mention it’s an easy way to build credit).
Work Study is a wonderful tool that teaches students the importance of working to earn an education. They are expected to work, and in return receive a monthly paycheck. Work Study is an excellent way to gain skills for the world outside college. Many parents are worried about having their student work while in school, but individuals who have little or no work experience have a rough time finding employment after graduation.
Any grant or scholarship is free money (like that refund check from the car insurance company)! Take them while you can, as they have limited funds (even donors have a bottom to their pocket books). If you decline them and decide you want them later, they may have already been given to another student.
Since the financial aid award will be sent to your student’s email account, it is important to have a dialogue as a family. Some students make it a personal goal to ignore important emails for as long as possible. This is not good news for financial aid, as some awards can be taken away if our office does not receive a response. Make sure your student keeps an eye out for this email in late March or early April, and if you have any questions about what has been awarded, your financial aid counselor is there to help.