Taking Out a Larger Loan Amount

Question

If a school estimates that the Cost of Attendance is $70K, can I somehow take out $80K. If so, how do I go about this?

brandon432 · Answer

Typically, no. Federal or private lenders almost always set the borrowing limit at the published COA. It is possible (but rare) that your COA could be higher than the published one. If for example, you end up taking 11 courses instead of the required 10 in a given year, your COA would be higher by the cost of the additional class. Of course, that money would go towards paying for the class, so it's kind of a wash.

HopefulApplicant22 · Answer

If COA is $70k per year, and I received a fellowship for $20k/year, would I be able to borrow more than $50k from a private lender, since it is still under the COA? Or will they only lend the difference?

mgg234 · Answer

From a private lender you can borrow whatever you want (or rather, what they'll approve), COA is only for federal loans.

brandon432 · Answer

This is not accurate. I applied with 7-8 lenders. Every single one required school certification. I've never heard of a school certifying for more than the COA less the amount of any other aid received. To answer Hopeful's question, yes you will only be able to get the difference.

kdkpsj · Answer

As brandon432 said, most, if not all, lender (both private & federal) clearly specifies in contract that the borrowing limit is COA budget (minus any other aid) set by school. I believe many of them verify the amount with the school directly as well, so you can't just lie about the amount. And also as brandon432 said, you will be able to borrow only the difference between COA & any other aid.

But I believe you can request your school to increase COA budget. I haven't tried for my MBA degree, but for my UGrad, I was able to. But I had to have a valid reason (which I had) and it had to be reviewed by school for approval.

So, in your case, you can ask your school to increase COA to $ 80k. Of course, you have to have a valid reason for extra $ 10k. I think you should contact the financial aid office for the process, and the process can vary a lot by school.

Taking Out a Larger Loan Amount

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