Questions about grant aid (other than the Pell).. (cost, school, wage)

[Sally_Sparrow]

I am wondering about other grant aid aside from the Pell. There are 3 other grants at my school that I qualify for. There's the FSEOG, the Texas Public Educational Grant, and another institutional grant (Texas State Tuition Grant). Amounts for all of these from a max of $2000 to a max of $3000 and all are based on financial need.

I've received the FSEOG in the past at community college, usually about $200 per semester. This financial aid year at a four year university I received just the third one, the institutional one, and I got half the max ($1500).

I am wondering if there is any way to increase the likelihood of getting more of these grants. At the university (this is my second semester there), I had some kinks in my application process and I didn't get registered until the last minute. Likewise, my award package was finalized at the last possible minute. So I am guessing the grant money was all gone.

This coming year, I have a pretty big problem -- I am near the end of my Pell eligibility due to the new Pell regulations and I won't get a full Pell. I really need to get more of the other grant aid if possible and I am wondering what I can do to increase my chances. I am a student with what they define as 'exceptional need' and so I don't know what else to do.

If my normal aid goes down for some reason, can I expect to automatically get more grant aid to help meet my cost of attendance or is there something I can do to make this work out? Aside from applying early, registering for fall as early as possible, and doing my FAFSA on time which I normally do anyway? I am registering for more hours next year so that also increases my COA. Right?

Also does anyone know how much $ is usually awarded for an independent student for work study? I will hopefully be moving to the town where I go to school, no more commuting, so work study would be ideal for me when I am close to campus.

[MissShona]

Originally Posted by Sally_Sparrow

This coming year, I have a pretty big problem -- I am near the end of my Pell eligibility due to the new Pell regulations and I won't get a full Pell. I really need to get more of the other grant aid if possible and I am wondering what I can do to increase my chances. I am a student with what they define as 'exceptional need' and so I don't know what else to do.

If my normal aid goes down for some reason, can I expect to automatically get more grant aid to help meet my cost of attendance or is there something I can do to make this work out? Aside from applying early, registering for fall as early as possible, and doing my FAFSA on time which I normally do anyway? I am registering for more hours next year so that also increases my COA. Right?

Usually, student loans are used to fill in the difference between scholarship/grant money, and your COA.

Also does anyone know how much $ is usually awarded for an independent student for work study? I will hopefully be moving to the town where I go to school, no more commuting, so work study would be ideal for me when I am close to campus.

Work studies have a maximum award amount, however they are paid on an hourly basis (I used to supervise work-studies when I worked at a college, and was responsible for submitting their hours to financial aid). So let's say your aid amount is $4000/semester, you can work 550 hours (rough estimate...based on the minimum wage rate). You only get paid for the hours that you work. Also, once that money is exhausted, then you do not get paid anymore.

I was awarded a work-study once...and declined it; mainly due to the reasons listed above. Also, work-study awards are included in your COA so it can decrease the amount of aid that you would receive from other sources. What I did was speak to the dean in the college where I was assigned as a work-study, and they arranged for me to be hired as a regular W-2 employee. It was part-time, but this money was in addition to my full financial aid package. And, I wasn't limited in regards to the amount of hours I could work. It was a great set-up for me.