Chance at merit scholarship?

standrews
Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:16:24 +0000

I have a son who will enter UR this August. Here is my experience.

The EFC as determined by UR was virtually identical to the FAFSA EFC. At least in my case, the supplemental info UR asked for did not change the EFC. Their treatment of assets was eminently fair. They did not include home equity as an asset and considered 529 plan money as an asset for me to pay my share, rather than money to reduce their share, (as some other school’s FA packages did.) They truly met 100% of need. My son did receive loan/work study, capped at $4000, and UR even included an extra $100 in grant for loan application fees. They did, however, reclaim the $100 when I opted not to borrow. As a Virginia resident, my son is eligible for a state-funded tuition assistance grant of $3200, which reduced the $4000 L/WS to $800 of work study. Another small scholarship further reduced the work study amount.

I felt that UR did not “punish” me for having saved for college expenses. Also, as I will have another kid going off to college before this one graduates, I am pleased that UR says the will reduce EFC by 50%, per FAFSA guidelines. I have every reason to believe that they will, based upon my experiences so far.

One other thing, my son was admitted from the waitlist and received the same FA consideration as regularly admitted students in a timely manner.