I received a choice between having student financial aid from a state grant applied directly to my student account automatically so it goes to my class expenses.
OR
The choice of having the funds given directly to me. Which is where I’m confused, what would be the pros to this option and why people select it? Would I be able to use those funds towards “other”, maybe personal expenses?
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Soy:
Generally speaking, all financial aid funds are disbursed directly to the school – I’m honestly surprised to learn that there are state grant funds that offer the option to have the funds sent directly to you.
The “real” reason that funds are usually disbursed directly to the school is to prevent fraud. You can imagine how certain criminally-inclined minds might cook up a scheme to apply for educational grant funds, despite the fact that the applicants aren’t actually attending school. By sending the money to the school, the funding organizations can insure that the money is only going to the benefit of actual students.
From your perspective, the advantage of money going directly to the school is that the school will apply those funds to what you owe for your tuition and fees. To be honest, nothing else really matters if you don’t pay those. Students who don’t pay for their tuition and fees find themselves administratively dis-enrolled, and once that happens, what’s the point of textbooks, school supplies and campus housing and meals?
If you’ve already covered the full cost of your tuition and fees, go ahead and have the money sent to you – your school is only going to forward it on to you, anyway. If your tuition and fees have not been paid, let the school get first crack at the money – once your account is paid off, they’ll send you the remainder.
Your “extra” financial aid is not an accident or an over-estimation, and it’s certainly not a gift. It’s expected that you’ll qualify for more than enough to pay just your tuition and fees, because those two expenses are only a small part of the total educational expenses. The rest of that money is intended to help you pay for books, room and board, transportation expenses, school supplies, and even a computer. Use the money wisely, because your school (and state) gave you that money because they kind of think that you’re going to need it.
Good luck to you – I hope that helped.
It really depends on what you need the money for.
If the money is going towards your tuition/fees (which seems the most likely option), have it sent to the school for them to apply it directly to your student account. This saves you the hassle of having to cash the check and then send in money for tuition.
If your tuition is already paid for whatever reason (like if you had a full scholarship), you could have it sent directly to you to put towards books, transportation, food, etc. This is really the only situation in which I would recommend having the grant money sent to you directly.
If your grant covers more than your tuition, have it sent to the school and have the school send you a refund check for the difference (or apply it to next semester/year). If you are not graduating, you will likely need to call the accounting office to request a refund check…most schools just roll over credits to your account. (In my case, they rolled over a balance from my undergraduate account to my law school account! Kind of a nice surprise, but I would have rather had that money upfront…)
Good luck! Enjoy the grant money!