She filled out the online application for me (which I thought was a little weird because I could have done it myself) for what is called a “private loan” to supplement the government aid that I was receiving.

Therefore I decided that I am going to go part time this semester and probably for the rest of next year as the governmental aid does not increase until your second and then again at your third year.

I am not too bummed about this. I know it is going to take years of investment anyway in order to get my degree so pushing it out a little further is really not going to matter much.

The only thing that could possible make a difference is if my company decides that they are going to reimburse me. The reimbursement that they offer is $2k a semester so if I get money for this semester then I could actually apply it to next semester and go full time.

Other then that I still have no out-of-pocket expenses associate with going to school which was the plan.

Technorati Tags: Financial Aid, DeVry, University, College

I got a figure back that I will owe $1,081.11 at the end of this semester which is 10 weeks from now. At present I have to pay that out-of-pocket which is news to me. I was then told that if I want help with applying for personal financing to let them know and they would help.

Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that school is not cheap and this is what it costs, I have no problem with that. The problem that I have is that when I came into this I was sold on the fact that I would not have to have an out-of-pocket expenses if I did not want them.

I told them I did not.

Because of that they told where to go and what to do in order to get financing – I did everything they said and assumed everything was taken care of. Well I am finding out that now it is not taken care of because of this $1000 remaining balance.

I guess part of the confusion is the fact that I have not received an statements from DeVry concerning financial aid. The other confusing part is that the federal loans seem to be based on academic years and DeVry bases things on semesters. As far as remember DeVry has 3 – 4 month semesters a year so the financial aid does not seem to fill in very well.

I have a request in to meet the financial aid counselor to sort all of this out. I will post on the outcome of that meeting.

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The loans that I applied for a called Stafford loans and are government guaranteed loans through private lenders. I requested mine through Wachovia bank. I have also qualified for a small Pel grant which will help. I am going to try and pay for my books as I go along so that those do not get financed.

Unfortunately I have been selected for “verification” of my income tax info by the Department of Education. They say that 40% of applicants get selected for verification so I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I think it probably had to do with the fact that I am claiming 7 dependents this year on my taxes (self, wife, 3 kids, and 2 in-laws). I think that would raises eyebrows for anyone. I am just hoping that doesn’t set me up for an audit later down the road with the IRS.

Also, I had a good run of luck finding out that my employer does have tuition reimbursement. It is not widely publicized and I only found out by seeing a reimbursement form that someone had left at the printer. I was not going to ask but now I know that you should always ask because you never know. The way it works is that they give me money after I complete a class/semester and then I have to stay with the company at least 1 year after they gave me the money. It’s cool free money.

So putting it all together I should not need to put any money out of pocket while going part time (other then books if I want). I still do not have enough to go full time without getting private loans but I do not want to get those if I don’t have to. As I enter my sophomore and later years the loans are for more and more money so full time should not be an issue then.

I turn in my final aid paperwork today and wait to see if they want anything else for the verification process.

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