Can FAFSA unsubsidized loan refunds be used for textbooks?

ya thats exactly what its for. books, supplies, whatever u need for school. i used mine for a laptop last sem

Yes, you can absolutely use your loan refund for textbooks! When you receive federal student loans, they're intended to cover your total cost of attendance, which includes: tuition, housing, books, supplies, transportation, and other reasonable educational expenses. The school applies the loan to your direct costs first (tuition/housing), and then refunds you the remainder for these other educational expenses. There's no difference in how you can use subsidized vs. unsubsidized loan refunds - both can be used for educational expenses like textbooks.

BE CAREFUL!!!! While technically yes you can use it for "educational expenses" the govt doesn't really track HOW you spend it, but remember every dollar of those unsubsidized loans is accumulating interest FROM DAY ONE!!!! I made this mistake my freshman year and bought all kinds of "necessities" with my refund... now I'm paying back WAY more than I borrowed. If you can buy used books or rent them PLEASE DO!!!

I work in a university financial aid office, and this is a common question. To clarify: yes, loan funds disbursed as a refund can be used for books, supplies, and other educational expenses. The Department of Education considers textbooks an essential educational expense. However, as someone mentioned, unsubsidized loans begin accruing interest immediately, even while you're in school. For nursing textbooks specifically, I recommend checking if your program has a lending library, if your campus bookstore offers rentals, or if there are digital options which are often less expensive. Some nursing programs also have group purchases or previous student sales. This might help minimize how much of that refund you need to spend.

i used my loan money for books, food, rent, gas, everything lol. nobody checks what you spend it on. but yeah the unsub loans start building interest right away so don't take out more than you need

Last semester I needed to contact the Federal Student Aid office about a similar question regarding my loan refund usage, and I spent DAYS trying to get through on their phone lines. Then I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an agent in about 10 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ The agent confirmed that textbooks are definitely an approved expense for loan refunds. It was super helpful getting a direct answer from FSA rather than guessing. Might save you some time if you need to call them about any other loan questions!

my roommate got in trouble for using her refund to buy a car so def don't do that lol. but books are fine

Thanks everyone for your advice! I'll definitely use some of the refund for my textbooks, but I'll try to find used copies or rentals when possible to minimize how much I spend. I appreciate all your help explaining how this works!

off topic but nursing textbooks r insanely priced!! my sister paid like $250 for ONE book last year. check if ur library has reserve copies, thats what she does now