ED and financial Aid

[overwhelmedma]

We are really hoping our d applies ED to one of her top choices and maybe ends this whole process early however we know that the financial aid offer made then is projected not actual and also that supposedly can be less since they know you will come regardless. What are peoples experiences/ thoughts about this? Some Fin aid will definitely be a must.

['rentof2]

If the college offers only need-based aid, and not merit aid or other catagories of aid, then they almost certainly have an institutional formula they apply to all applications for FA. That yields a preliminary award, which can sometimes be negotiated (for both ED and RD applicants), but it's up to them whether or not they're willing to make adjustments.

If there is merit aid or special non-needs based scholarship funds available, then you may get different results from an ED app and a RD app., like you said, because they know you're coming regardless.

The general rule of thumb is don't apply ED if you need aid. I think there are significant exceptions to this rule, but only for students with low-ish family incomes, very little in the way of assets, applying to schools that will give FA estimations prior to applying (some have online calculators that use their own institutional methodology for awarding aid; Princeton, Amherst, Williams... there are a few others), and only for schools that guarantee to meet 100% of need without student loans. That's going to be a fairly narrow band of applicants!

Outside of those circumstances I think it gets riskier, although there is always an out on the ED agreement if the FA package is not sufficient. There are conflicting stories about how hard/easy it is to be let out of the agreement and what, if any, consequences might ensue, but it's probably not a good idea to plan on an ED agreement release as a no-consequences loophole for getting out of your ED contract.

I would suggest talking to the admissions office about it upfront prior to applying. I have had friends (with financial need) do exactly this and hear much different responses than you'll hear on College Confidential. Carleton, for example, is quite relaxed about releasing students from ED if it turns out they can't afford the school. Other schools may be more hard-liners about it. You should just ask, but you'll only get general answers for the most part. I doubt they'll look too closely at your individual situation in advance of an official FA application.

Unless you're going to a FAFSA only school, forget the more generalized online calculators that estimate financial aid if you're thinking of applying ED. You really need one that is dedicated to a specific school that uses their own methodology. (Unfortunately not many schools have such calculators available online.) And you need to enter very accurate numbers for your income and assets to get a good estimate.

In general, it's probably not a good idea to apply early if aid is an issue, and especially if you're hoping for any non-needs based aid.

[nyc]

I wouldn't trust the on-line calculators. Using estimates (rather than the hard data required for the FAFSA and CSS) can throw the numbers off quite a bit. Also, if my recollection is correct, the calculator gives just a number, not the actual composition (loans vs grants), though this is not a problem with the "no loan" schools.

That said, I think a finaid candidate can apply ED if:
- the school meets 100% of need
- the candidate isn't seeking merit money
- the family has a bit of wiggle room and doesn't need (or want) to compare offers
- the family would happily pay a bit more for the candidate to attend his/her "dream" school

[NewHope33]

I agree with the above posters -- you CAN gamble on FA if you're holding the right cards (i.e., the ones nyc lists). Be careful if you're banking on the "can't afford it" out. Another part of the ED contract specifies that your S will withdraw all other applications. That means he can't use the "I can't afford your school so I'll be attending XXX University" unless XXX has a really late application date.

[mini]

Our experience is that you can't trust the on-line calculators (even for some of the schools mentioned), and that the spread of need-based aid at 100%-of-need schools can be very, very wide.

If the actual award is not really of concern, then go for it.

['rentof2]

My son applied ED with huge financial need, and we found the calculator on the school's own website to be very accurate relative to the final award.

But if that's a concern, it's also a good thing to ask the admissions office and/or the financial aid office about. They could probably tell you what kind of margin of error some applicants find.

[deb922]

My D did not apply ED but she found that 100% meets need varied widely. Two schools both meet need 100%, one school offered $10,000 less in grant aid than the other. One school offered almost no loans and the other was loan heavy.

One school thought that we (the parents) could pay $8,000 more than another school.

[nattirbee]

does the school offer early action. It is just as early only non binding so you can apply to other schools if you don't like the turn out.

[vossron]

Carleton, for example, is quite relaxed about releasing students from ED if it turns out they can't afford the school. Other schools may be more hard-liners about it.

I have heard only of the former case, and I would call it "totally relaxed" since there is no way (or reason why) a school would try to force something that simply can't happen. Our D's LAC considers such ED acceptances with financial aid to be "offers" that are freely declinable.

Does anyone have a specific hard-liner experience?

['rentof2]

Agreed. All it takes is a call to an admissions officer. Ask them about getting released from an ED contract if the aid isn't sufficient for a kid to go. I would trust what they say --and how they say it-- a lot more than third-hand tales here on CC.

If a student honestly cannot afford a school based on the FA offer they get, then of course it would be insanity to pressure to do so them under threat of having any further applications to other schools blackened by some kind of Curse. It's as unlikely that the ED school will punish them because they "should have known better than to apply if they needed aid." If ED already disadvantages lower income students, there's no way schools are going to exacerbate that problem by further punishing them.

On the other hand, people who apply ED cycnically, who certainly could afford to go based on the offer they get, who delay telling the ED school they want to break the contract while they field other applications and other offers... those people are obvious and they most rightly, in my opinion, deserve some negative repercussions.

[younghoss]

I don't personally know of a good experience with ED. Here on this forum we often hear about withdrawing all other apps, a mediocre aid package, the inability to compare/contract other schools and their aid packages, second thoughts after a committment, and more.

Much like nyc, I think If money is absolutely no object whatsoever, and the chosen school is the only school in all the world that will give the student the education to prepare them for their career, then I think ED is the perfect way to go.

[vossron]

ED should not be used if an applicant wants to compare aid offers from multiple schools.

If an applicant has a favorite school above all others, and will attend if there is any way at all to make it happen, there is no disadvantage to applying ED even if FA is required. If the FA is just not enough, the student simply declines and applies RD to other schools as if the ED application had not been sent.

[nyc]

I did not say a finaid candidate should apply ED only if money was no concern. If one is applying for finaid, I assume money is of some concern, though individual family need can vary greatly.

D applied ED to her first choice school, a school which meets 100% of need. D was not a candidate for merit $ and in fact, felt she needed the ED boost to be a definite "admit." The initial award was a bit less generous than I had hoped, but was later adjusted (proof of addit expenses) so that the ultimate family contribution was very close to the FAFSA-EFC. Admittedly a gamble, but not an unreasonable one.

ED finaid applicants can decline if the finaid offer is "too low" but beware, some schools release candidate only on the condition that they NOT apply to similarly competitive schools.

[daffymom]

The online financial aid calculators are NOT accurate if one or both parents are self employed. Some IRS allowable expenses are not allowable by the college institutional methodology.

[overwhelmedma]

Can you elaborate? I would assume that college would mainly see final tax returns - do they go through and eliminate business deductions if you are self employed? My husband is and his is the larger income.