First time parent of a college student so please be kind!!!
My son was accepted EA to his first choice school and received a very generous merit scholarship. We are waiting on FA but my husband doesn’t think will qualify for much. We have completed the CSS profile for the school but have not completed FAFSA yet.
The school is a private institution and very expensive even with his great merit scholarship that he received. It would be great if he could get little more merit, work on campus or receive institutional aid.
So here are my questions …
Should my son contact his AO to discuss his options … he 100% would go if we could get a little more help merit wise or institutional aid.
My husband primarily handles our finances so should he contact FA upfront to discuss the situation. We have not received a FA package yet.
Should he be upfront with what we need to make this work financially?
Thanks in advance for your advice … this is my first child going to college and it’s overwhelming!
Should my son contact his AO to discuss his options … he 100% would go if we could get a little more help merit wise or institutional aid.
your son can certainly reach out to admissions about his merit award and ask if there is potential for additional merit aid
My husband primarily handles our finances so should he contact FA upfront to discuss the situation. We have not received a FA package yet.
it is fine for your son and husband to contact the financial aid office together to discuss potential need based aid.
Should he be upfront with what we need to make this work financially?
you can…but since this is an EA decision, is your son willing to commit to enrolling if the money improves?
Also, keep this in mind…you will likely need to do this same song and dance for at least need based financial aid every year.
But yes…it’s fine to reach out…I would start by asking when need based aid awards are being sent. You might want to wait and see what happens with that first.
I’ll just add to the excellent info above - if it is a “minimal amount” ($5k or less) I would definitely
ask the school to add to his merit award and name your number - it will be way easier year after year to have that guaranteed number (as long as your child keeps his grades up) vs filing for FA yearly and knowing that is not guaranteed. Also, are you open to your son taking out the $5500 a year (raises each year) student loan?
How is “work study” granted? If we could get an additional 5K in merit and then my son work on campus that would definitely lighten the financial burden.
Institutional aid is money awarded using the college’s own funds. This is part of need based financial aid at many places.
There is federally funded need based aid as well…the Pell Grant, for example. Federal Work Study is also federally funded…students must have financial need to get this award. And the Direct Loan is federally funded. SEOG is also a federally funded grant.
But work study is not an award like a grant. The student has to obtain a job & will earn money as he works. He may not earn the entire award amount, and it’s not paid upfront.
Students can work in non work study jobs if they don’t get awarded work study. I heard a lot of colleagues in higher Ed complaining that they couldn’t get enough students who wanted to work to fill available jobs on campus.
With FAFSA info not being sent to schools until late Jan do you think it’s best to contact FA now to discuss potential for need based aid rather than wait until it gets crazy in a few weeks??
This college uses the CSS Profile. That is how they determine need based aid eligibility. So they have that. The FAFSA is just an addition to see if you qualify for any federally funded monies.
At some schools, work study only goes to those students with financial need. The good news is that in many college towns there are ample jobs at town businesses, or babysitting, and the like. Often times, students can make more money at off campus jobs and/or non-work study jobs on campus (if the school has those). Rule of thumb is to work no more than 10 hours per week during college.
Did you run the NPC on the school’s website before applying? Does the aid offer match that estimate?
This was true at both my kids’ LACs. One of them raised the salary in food service to $19/hour (for both towns people and students) and still struggled to fill jobs.
Student finds a job and works to earn the money. A student with work-study is eligible for jobs where their pay is subsidized; those jobs only hire students with work-study, so the students with work-study have a greater selection of jobs to seek. However, work-study jobs may not allow students to work more than their work-study eligibility (since the pay would no longer be subsidized afterward).
Of course, a student with work-study can also work at non-work-study jobs (and may choose to do so if the job or pay is better). The availability of work-study and non-work-study jobs on or near campus does vary by campus.
OP, you didn’t name the school, but I saw your post in an acceptance thread. It’s up to you whether to name it (and I don’t have any inside info) but it could lead to more focused advice. Anyway, you should check the NPC.
So congrats on the EA. You should reach out for certain.
I believe from other posts you are trying to fund college without loans which is admirable and is something we were able to do more or less with two kids. So, two opposing concerns to consider…
I’m not sure what your students careers plans are but if it’s med school then really think about keeping loans down. But if it’s CS or other STEM a moderate amount of loans may be manageable and might make the school do-able. YMMV
College costs only go up but aid usually does not. So you should budget for higher tuition each year. Where does that put you?
Just looked at OP’s other thread, not sure what is different now.
Is the $20K gap still the situation? If so, you son can probably make $5K this summer in a job (more if he starts working right now). He can take the $5.5K first year student loan (it is ok for him to graduate with $27K in debt IMO unless more school is in the future), and work during the school year and make say another $2K. So, the gap is now around $8K. I doubt the school will pony up more merit than the $25K he has already received. You can ask to be sure. Is filling an $8K gap possible?
Since he has a full ride at another school, I would seriously consider that.
@Mwfan1921 its not 20k after a closer look… just any additional amount would help. I’m trying to explore and understand the financial landscape of college.
Both my kids have on campus jobs -100% not related to need and 100% about them having more “wants” ie: fun money Both my kids spend very differently too - one is in an area that has a lot of off campus places to go and spend and the other one is at a remote LAC - so don’t forget about personal spending depending on the school area.
They had no issue finding work -one is a tour guide (competitive application), school phone-aton caller for alumni donations and our other child is a D1 athlete with a big training commitment and still is able to work as a disability note taker (takes notes in class for students that have accommodations) and is also a writing fellow - both these jobs vary on hours from professors and students - so her earnings change each semester.
Also, even if work study is granted, it is not guaranteed . The student still has to find the work study job, apply for it, and get hired. And the money is in exchange for hours worked and is paid on a regular schedule (ie, every two weeks) so it can’t really be used to pay for tuition up front.
If there is even any thought of grad school, I would not allow loans. Graduating debt free even if it feels tragic to a teenager right now is a huge gift later.
You can and should ask. Do you have a saved run of a NPC that shows a different number than what you got? Did it indicate you’d get any need based aid? If you have documentation on a change in financial situation, that may help.
But given the situation, I’d also just be prepared to walk away. Both my kids had to step away from fancier schools with more expensive bottom lines when merit didn’t come through quite as much as hoped. One kid especially had a rough go of it. We were much more pragmatic with kid #2 and then so was she once we got how the process goes. Honestly has turned out great for both, zero regrets.
Both my kids spend very differently too - one is in an area that has a lot of off campus places to go and spend and the other one is at a remote LAC - so don’t forget about personal spending depending on the school area.