Can Trustee Take Pell Grant Funds???

[Beeheery]

hi everyone,
can a trustee take a students financial aid? whether loan or grant? i will be hopefully receiving a grant in the fall for schooling but it is direct deposit and do not know if a trustee can take it or if i need to claim it as income. it is used only for tuition/books/fees etc. i wanted to deposit it into someone else's account but i thought that might look shady. any help would be appreciated!

[hopeforus]

I am getting grant money for school in the fall as well and I'm not sure how it's going to look re: income.

[Beeheery]

Also, if someone gives me $ to pay for my tuition before my financial aid comes in and then i give my financial aid to the person who paid for my schooling, is that preferential payment? soo confusing!

[Flamingo]

Most grants are paid directly to the school. My daughter received Pell grants and the funds did not come to us; they went to the college. Stafford loans and other loans come to you as a direct source which you are to pay to the school. However, there have been many who have taken the funds and used the funds for other things - someone once posted their father took their student loan money to take the family on a European vacation and they got stuck paying the tuition owed. Check with your attorney as to student loan money but a Grant is usually paid directly to the college from the grant source.

[hopeforus]

You get any extra funds from grants sent to you from the school after all fees/tuition is paid. I will have about 400.00 extra after tuition is paid each semester. If I was going full time then it would be a whole lot more. My grants more than cover my tuition and books.

[teacher]

The school pays you via check after they deduct your tuition/fees. I would imagine this would count as income considering it is "living money".

[Beeheery]

The thing is, Pell Grants at my school do not come in until 3 weeks after school starts so that they don't end up giving $ to students who end up dropping out. So, someone will pay for my classes upfront and then I get the FULL aid back since there is no balance. That is where I am confused. My classes would be dropped if I didn't pay up front. See what I mean? So basically I get the refund and then would give it to the person who paid for my schools fees. Is that preferential????

[hopeforus]

That's crazy. In my school as long as they see that you have enough financial aid coming in to cover your tuition you don't pay anything first. Our dispersement is like a week after classes start so I will have to buy my books ahead of time but not tuition.

Are you degree seeking? I know the way I just stated is how it is for degree seeking students but not for those just taking classes.

[Beeheery]

Yep. going for my bachelors. they don't disburse funds until 3 weeks after the add/drop period because i guess alot of students were registering for courses, taking the $ and then dropping the courses before the deadline and made all that money back, they kept the aid and didn't have to take any classes. i thought this was everywhere but maybe only my school??

[Absolutely]

my understanding was that the trustee can take a percentage of income from your job, and a cut from what's in your bank account on the day of filing...so if your leftover pell grant funds were not in your account on the filing day, wouldn't that mean you're in the clear? I delayed filing until my tax return was spent off...

[Flamingo]

Any overage as to grant funds (my daughter did not have any) is sent to you to cover fees, books, anything school related. We received notification that certain grants could be taxable income so you will need to investigate whatever grants you receive and if they fall into that category and would be included as income on your tax return. At the time my daughter was in college, her Pell grants did not fall into that category I believe because they were not large and we did not receive any overage. Go to IRS.gov and search their information as to grants and what is/what is not taxable and that will help you with your situation. Thoroughly discuss with your attorney.

[blackjune]

Lol, once you are approved to receive a Pell Grant, the funds are "locked-in" so-to-speak, and your school will automatically credit them towards your account. This of course comes with the provision that you can continue to satisfy the appropriate Pell Grant requirements, that will mandate that you sign a release form that confirms that you are only going to use the money towards "education-related" expenses. No bankruptcy, or other legal judgment can for whatever reason, touch the funding you receive by way of the Pell, hope this helps, regards.

[Dst1]

This is something that needs to be discussed with an attorney knowledgeable about student loans. A great deal is going to depend on the timing and on your financial aid package.

For clarification, grants are not usually paid directly to the school. It depends on the type of grant and the overall financial aid picture of the student.

Frankly, trying to plan a BK and trying to plan a student financial aid package at the same time is enough to make my head hurt just thinking about it. What a mess.

Good luck!

[lrprn]

blackjune, it's against our forum rules to post to long-inactive threads like this one. The member you tried to help hasn't been here in months and will never see your response.

In the future if you have a question to ask or a comment to make, please start your own new thread - thanks!

[Dst1]

lprn. Now I feel stupid too. I just noticed the date of the most recent post and not the post of the OP.