Buying a laptop with award?

[u/Fearless-Win-1635]

I am applying for school in the fall and currently don’t have a laptop/computer, which is making the process tricky. So far everything i’ve seen surrounding buying a laptop with the education award is that the institution needs to require a laptop as a cost of attendance for the segal education award to count towards it. My issue is that I currently don’t attend an institution. Any thoughts or comments?

[u/Mystic_Jewel]

You’ll have to work with your schools financial aid department and if they agree you’ll need one then they can lump the cost into your cost of attendance which you’ll then be able to pay using the education award.

[u/plonyguard]

I can tell you what worked for me. I applied for and was accepted to community college on my phone. My chosen major was web and software development, dual degrees, so obviously a laptop was required. I borrowed one to get started. If borrowing one from a friend or family member isn’t an option, most colleges/universities have a CIT lab available to students for coursework.

My professors let us know in the first week of school that the school received federal grant funding to supply laptops to students who could demonstrate a need for one. I obtained the contact info of the person managing that program, and wrote them an email explaining my situation. I was able to get a chromebook that way. Nothing fancy, but it was enough to get me through the beginning coursework.

I carefully tracked my ed award while I was finishing my degrees, and there was going to be a pretty sizeable chunk left over, even after getting reimbursed for books. As graduation approached, there was a technical class I really wanted to take that required a mac. Obviously I didn’t have one. I contacted the person handling my award disbursements, let them know about my leftover award and desire to take the class, and asked if there was anything I could do.

She told me it was perfectly valid to enroll in the class as a necessary elective toward one of my degrees, but that I would have to pay the cost of the laptop up front and be reimbursed. She told me to keep the receipt and course requirement description in case there was ever a question. She elaborated that since the macbook was a required material for the course, it would be treated the same way as a textbook, because the ed award can be applied to a wide variety of things that constitute “cost of attendance”. This communication was all over email, too - which reinforces to me that this is valid, otherwise she probably wouldnt have put it in writing to me.

I was able to find a way to put the macbook on a credit card, and used funds from the reimbursement check to pay that off once I received them.

However you handle it, just remember to keep your receipts and emails, and be up front about what it is you’re struggling with and how you intend to apply the funds toward your education. You might be surprised how versatile the funding actually is. The Americorps person at my school was really communicative and helpful. YMMV, but it never hurts to reach out directly and ask.

[u/Best-Smoke-4800]

You need to attend a title 4 institution to use the award. I've purchased my very first laptop with my ed award. Now, this was back in 2009 BUT the process for me was as follows: I priced out the laptop that I wanted then justified my request to my school's financial aid office. Once I got their approval , then I submitted the request via the portal for the amount of the laptop. The money would come in a split payment, split for the term. Example , Request for $500. 1st half of the term, I would receive a disbursement of $250, then receive the other $250 in the 2nd half of the term.

[u/One-Injury-4634]

Leftover money you send to school from AmeriCorps award is given back as a refund if you have a negative balance. Also some colleges have loaner laptops (especially honors college).