Stafford Loans`Question?

Call the school financial aid office that you are applying too? Ask them if they have a supplimental request form that explains your financial circumstances; if you have a situation that is a result of loss or reduced employment, loss of assets or other financial difficulty since you applied for the FAFSA; then the school may consider your situation as abnormal and have you fill out a seperate form seeking additional assistance. Worked for my son when I told the school that I had to pay for both a home and an apartment in another city since I work away from home during the week. Good luck.

It depends on not only if you are classified as a Dependent or Independent student, but also what the COA (Cost of Attendance) is at your school, in addition to your EFC and any other aid you may have been awarded.

If you are a Dependent student, then you could get up to $3500 in a Stafford loan as a freshmen, $4500 as a sophomore, $5500 as a junior/senior, and $8500 as a grad student. You could get a combination of Sub or Unsub for these maximums (again, dependent on what your COA, EFC, and other aid awards are). If you are a freshmen and your COA is $10000 and your EFC is 6000 and you have gotten an instiutional scholarhip of $2000, then you would get a Subsidized Stafford loan of $2000 and an Unsubsidized of $1500.

If you are an Independent student then you can apply for additional Unsubsidized funds ($4000 fresh/soph, $5000 jun/sen and up to $18500 total for a grad).

Talk to your financial aid officer for more information/guidance. Good luck!

You should be able to pull both, call your finaid officer at your school. Usually you will receive less sub than unsub, because sub doesn’t accumulate interest while you are in school while unsub does. It is really best to take sub and only sub if you can, but if you need the extra money unsub is a way to go.

You get alloted a certain amount in Stafford loans overall based on grade level. How that is divided between unsub and sub, is based on financial need. For ex. (these amounts are not accurate just for the sake of ex.)

Student 1 Sophmore will get 3500 and based on need he will get 2000 in sub and 1500 in unsub total 3500 in Stafford

Student 2 Sophmore will get 3500 and based on need he will get 3500 on unsub because they did not demonstrate financial need.

People can get both, but it is dependent on your FAFSA and the school cost of attendance.