What do I do after I receive my financial aid award letter?

Question

Hi, this is my first time receiving financial aid and I need help. I have two questions actually.

1) Do I accept my FA awards after I register for classes or before? UTA has a policy of dropping you from your classes if you dont pay for them right after you register, and I dont know what the turn around time is for the loan to be applied.

2) If I accept more than what is actually needed, do the rest of the funds get sent to me so I can use it to buy books? Or does the money only apply to tuition cost?

I would ask the FA office myself but A) theyre closed right now and B) they have notoriously bad customer service :)

So thank you in advance if you resolve this question for me.

Answer 1

1. Accept before you register. At most institutions, the aid can be applied at the time of registration so that you are not required to make a payment to hold your classes.

2. It depends on what kind of funds you have. If you have Pell grants, you are awarded based on the level of enrollment that you stated on the FAFSA. If you said that you were going to be full time, you are awarded for 12 hours. If you don't register for 12 hours, your aid will be adjusted according to the actual registration. If you have accepted loans,  you are required to be in at least 6 hours to get them. If you chose to get loans, you can adjust the amount after the loan is certified. Once you have the money, if you decide that  you didn't really need what you took, you can send it back to your lender to apply to your balance.

Even though the school is not good with customer service, ask them if the do book vouchers.  Some schools make them available for students who have Pell grant funds. It is taken directly out of your aid, before you get anything that is left over.

Call the FA office. They are there to help (even if they don't seem to like to).