sybbie719

go to

College Search - SAT Registration - College Admissions - Scholarships

type the name of the college into the quick college finder

for example: Boston University (click find it, or the arrow)

click the tab Cost and financial aid

for most schools you will find the FA statistics:


If your school has a Common Data Set

Links to the Common Data Sets Posted by Colleges

or you may have to check the office of institutional research at the school you are looking for:

Check section H Financial aid

If you purchase the US new online edition (probably one of the best $15 you will ever spend, you can compare the data from different schools side by side)

remember any school that does not meet 100% will have a gap

some schools package their FA where the loan portion of the package will be larger than the grant /scholarship (free money ) portion of the aid package. You want try to get the highest ratio of grants to loan/work ratio.

Link to the college board EFC calculator

EFC Calculator: How Much Money for College Will You Be Expected to Contribute?

Calculate your numbers using both the Federal (FAFSA) Methoology, the Institutional Methodology (CSS Profile) and both (try to have all of your financial information because the calculation is only going to be as good as the information you put in).


Also keep in mind, if the school raises your package, you definitely want to know (if you have doubts get it in writing):

Is this increase only for this year

Barring any major fluxuations in income (loss of income, hitting the lottery, etc) can we expect to receive the same package year over year.

If it is a straight $$ amount will the school increase the award to reflect increases in tuition (tuition increases at a rate of ~ 5% a year).

collegecraze24

would someone be able to explain what it means for negotiating if your college is part of the 568 President's Club? Does it just exclude merit based appeals?
Thanks.

sybbie719

Hi Tulip,

I posted my answer but it seems to have gotten stuck in cyberspace so here it is again

Go to the college board's website

http://www.collegeboard.com/splash/

type the name of the school in the college quick finder

Boston University

click find it

the school's information will show up

Click the tab Costs and Financial aid. You will find the following..

this way you can see if your package aligns with the information that the school has given. When looking at how aid is packaged, hopefully we wnat to find a higher grant/scholarship (free money) to loan ratio

You can also information if your school has a Common Data Set

Links to the Common Data Sets Posted by Colleges

In the common data set check section H (Financial aid) Sometimes you may have to look for the office of institutional research to find the CDS

You can also pay $15 for the US New best colleges on line edition (personally it is one of the best $15 you will spend because you can compare your schools side by side based on various criteria.

As far as calculating your EFC

use the financial aid calculators

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/...it-up/401.html

run your numbers using:

the federal methodology (FAFSA)
Institutional Methodology (CSS profile)
both FM & IM


In the event that you ask for a financial review, be use to ask the follow up questions (get them in writing if you must)

Is the "new package" you are being offered for 1 year only

Barring and substantial changes in income (loss of job, hitting the lottery) can you expect to receive the same package year over year ?

If there are stafford loans in your package, they may go up each year as your child will be able to borrow more $$ (3500 freshman year, 4500 sophomore year, 5500 junior year until completion of the first bachelors).

When it comes to straight $ merit money, will increased me made that relect increases in tuition (tuition increases at a rate of ~ 5% a year)

You want to know all of the terms of the merit money
gpa

Is it tied to a certain major?
Is there a phase in period?
What happens if your child has an off term?
Is there a grace period so your child can bounce back before losing the scholarship?
If your child loses the merit scholarship is there need based aid to help make up the $$?
If your child loses the scholarship does s/he have a chance of getting it back?

hope this helps

morning_glory

yes. once accepted they wantyour kid and if you say (politely of course) that I wants to go to your college X but at XX college they got a better scholarsihp, there is a very high chance college X will respond positively.

mesenfants

Clemson granted us "In State" tuition (we are OOS). Rice gave a nice merit scholarship and UC schools have offered only admission (we are, again OOS). Is Clemson unique in this, or has anyone ever heard of UCLA or UCB to waive their out of state fees?

idic5

As far as attempting to get a lower price by comparing a school price with other FA packages, what if your least expensive school is still too expensive?

by too expensive, I mean the amount after grants/scholarships is above our EFC.

Is the right approach in this case to be to appeal to family affordability?

also, Can someone speak on how FAO's perceive EFC and the bottom line aid they give? Specifically, one college already told me that the college 'tries to match the EFC' in developing their FA package. The problem is, and it is a huge one,

[i]the college takes loans into consideration when matching EFC[i]

and I DO NOT take loans into consideration to get down to our EFC.

Will FAOs understand this (my) position?

Iron Maiden

A few Ivys and a couple other elite LACs have eliminated loans. Every other college considers loans as part of the package to get to EFC. Most schools don't even give 100% even with loans. So your opinion will not sway them.

Hopefully you applied to some lower cost schools.

mccm20

Did anyone respond who should make the call to the finaid office student or parent? My d is looking to increase merit aid from her #1 choice.

idic5

We will to sway them with our little voice. I ask that any family who thinks that loans should not be used to get you to EFC to bring this up to the FAOs. Congressional representatives should be contacted, too, to try to correct this situation for the future.

The elite colleges are not dispensing with loans just because they CAN, but they are acting like leaders and know that this absurd burden on the students, and their (mostly middle class) families, is deleterious in the long run for the greater good of our country.

see poster atana' comments on this subject (which is applicable beyond the elite schools, the 2nd and third tier schools, which our family is dealing with).

Should you incur substantial debt for dream school or even pay the "dream" tuition?

NorthEastMom2

idic5,

I agree with you - we need to speak up and ask for "truth" in FinAid. Just as the fed gov has standardized the calculation of HS dropout rates, FinAid data should be standardized in reporting, so we can compare collegeboard data accurately. As an example, my d received offers of "aid" - a $ 3500 Stafford loan - unsubsidized. Now that school can count her as one more student who receives Financial Aid, so their numbers look better. They can say that 80 % of their students get packages. I realize that that is a small loan - but that's the point. If a high income kid takes out a small loan - they're a fin aid recipient for the purposes of the college's reporting - which is a little misleading.

Also, colleges who use institutional methodology should be limited in the number of years they can add back in retirement contributions to SEP IRA & 401Ks back into the income. Most schools add the yearly contributions which are taken from current income back into the AGI. So to them, you have an additional $ 15,000 available for school. The reality is that many people are in their catch up years (age 50+) or have multiple kids going through college for a number of years. WIth no traditional pension plan, our family cannot give up 8 years of 401K contributions.

Sorry for the long post - but these 2 issues really frustrate me. Don't even talk about institutional methodology for including home equity as an available asset, with no protected amount. The days of 100 % LTV are long gone !!

1990Dad

Yes, absolutely. Colleges have taken advantage of the rise in applications this year. You should take advantage of them where you can. Drive the hardest bargain you can. Most schools have plenty of money to give you.

standrews

What is frustrating for parents and students alike is that it is so hard to get clarity about FA packages & terms for the first year alone, and nearly impossible to get a feel for what happens as assets get drawn down and/or a 2nd child starts college in another 2 years. Parents and students are forced to take a worst case view regarding FA and loans, all the while hoping for the best.

I don't consider loans to be FA any more that I consider my mortgage to be FA. Interest deferred loans have some FA value, but not a lot in the grand scheme of things. When a school provides no need-based grant and are content to let the gap be filled with $10K in student loans, I really don't know at what point need-based grants would kick in. I have to assume that my kid will graduate with at least $40K in loans, but more probably $45K, and perhaps even more.

As far as truth in FinAid is concerned, I would like to see schools state what their loan limits are. IOW, how much loan do they think is reasonable to graduate with after 4 years. This doesn't need to be stated in absolute dollars, but could be relative, such as one semester's tuition per year or 1/3 COA. Colleges have shown that they are able to work together within agreed upon standards. The April notification deadline and May enrollment deadline are proof. They ought to be able to adopt uniform standards regarding the content and terms of FA packages for the first year AND BEYOND, so students can make intelligent decisions regarding where they choose to enroll and how they can go about paying for it.

churning

Honestly my stomach is churning with all of this financial aid stuff, hence the name! Why in my warped little mind did I think I would only have to come up with the monies above the EFC? My son's choice school did not offer him even one penny in aid, besides the freshman loan of $3,500. He did get one small grant. But where am I to come up with the rest of the 40k they want? I make decent money, but not great money and can come up with about half of the 40k, per year, even that with some loans. I'm going to try to negociate with the school today or else we are moving down the list of other schools we can afford without tremendous loans. I am very disappointed.

swimcatsmom

I may be misunderstanding your post (in which case ignore me ) but did you think the EFC was the amount of aid you would/might get? The EFC is the amount - loosely - that you would be expected to come up with. The amount above the EFC (or COA less EFC) is what your aid package would be based on.

ohlollipop

I was just wondering, is it better to call the school or write a letter, or an email at this point? I have about a month until I need to make my decision, so is calling better and faster? Or is a letter more effective? ): What should I do?