Can You Take a Semester Off in College Without Your Financial Aid Loans Coming in?

loans

I’m moving to California from Michigan and I don’t know what school I want to transfer to yet. It’s getting late for financial aid as well as applications. Am I allowed to take a semester off to get on my feet in a new state and choose where I want to go to school? Or will my loans start coming in when the new semester starts and I haven’t enrolled anywhere? Thanks.

Can My College Use My Stafford Loans for This Semester to Pay My Balance on Previous Semesters?

loans

I got stafford loans this semester Fall 2010. I had a balance from previous semesters. They automatically took my loans for this semester and paid the remaining balance. I now have a third of what I though I was going to have to live off of for the remainder of this semester. Can they do that?