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I don't know why I got a Non-Resident Tuition Waver because I'm an American citizen. But yeah, they basically wanted me to take out 40k a year in loans.
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Your being a citizen has nothing to do with why you got a non-resident tuition waiver. You go a non-tuition resident waiver because you are
not a resident of Illinois
I hate to say this but I am just going to put it out there. From most of the posts that I am reading (especially from students) it seems that many people who posted do not have a basic understanding of financial aid.
The FAFSA does not award you money. The only thing it does is determine your eligibility for federal aid.
It is highly unlikely that you are going to get generous FA from a public state university especially if you are not a resident of that state.
Schools that use th e CSS profile will give you a different EFC than a school that only looks at information collected from the FAFSA. If you apply to a CSS profile, yes, your stepparents income, the investment property with the big mortgage that makes no return on the investment are all counted in calculating your EFC.
Most colleges are not going to cover your EFC (expected FAMILY CONTRIBUTION)
Yes, loans are considered FA and from the school's perspective they can give you loans and still have met your need.
International students are not eligible for federal aid, which is the main reason that most schools are not need blind to international students and your ability to pay is a factor in the admission process.
Cost of attendance - EFC = Demonstated need
Your demonstrated need will be met through a combination of :
Federal grant aid (if you are pell eligible)
Stafford loans (subsidized/unsubsidized)
State aid (if you qualify and the college is in the state where
you are a resident
Perkins loans (if you qualify)
work study (federal work study if you qualify, employment if you are not eligible for federal work study funds)
merit money (if the school gives merit $ and you meet
that school's threshold for merit money)
Institutional grant aid (schools with deeper pockets have more grant aid to give)
If the cost of attendance is 48,000 and your EFC is 45,000 it is very likely that you will get a unsub stafford loan of 3500 and the school will have met 100% of your demonstrated need.
the overwhelming majority of schools in the country
do not meet 100% of your demonstrated need they gap. If there is a gap, you and your family must fill the gap the best way you can.
Yes, there is going to be a major disconnect between what they give you as an EFC and what you think you can afford to (or want to pay).
Finally, colleges don't meet your EFC (this is what you are expected to pay).
No matter how "independent" a student thinks they are and they do not need their parent's help, college is a family decision and families should run the ##s together.
On the parent's forum there is a thread
101 Things I Wish I'd Known Before the College Search 101 Things I Wish I'd Known Before the College Search
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