If your aid is more than your school charges, you may get a refund for other costs like rent and books. It can feel like a windfall, but it needs to last until the next one, and if it includes loans, you'll repay it.
Make it last
- Before it arrives, list costs until the next refund: rent, food, books, transport
- Divide what's left by the weeks in the semester
- Keep it in a separate savings account and move a weekly amount to checking
- If you don't need it all, ask whether you can return excess loan money
General educational information. Aid rules change; check StudentAid.gov. Pocket Change Hub isn't paid by any lender, card company, school or textbook seller.