CWRU financial aid consistent from year to year?

BluePoodle
Wed, 26 Mar 2014 17:41:58 +0000

@austinareadad,
My daughter receives FA from Case as well as a Merit scholarship. For the scholarship, they have to maintain a 2.0 gpa to keep. So that is not a problem.

Case’s housing/food plans/tuition will probably go up each year. From her Freshman to sophomore year, she received an increase in loans based on what is allowed for subsidized loans of 3,500 for yr 1; $4,500 for year 2; and she will receive $5,500 for yr 3 and the remainder years. Plus her unsubsidized loans which remains constant. So I expect CASE to increase loans and decrease aid or at least offset housing/food/tuition with the allowed loan increases.

Now we have not received our FA package yet for next year. They release that in May once students have elected housing choices, on or off campus choices, food plan choices, etc and housing has been assigned. Each year the students get more choices and flexibility so costs vary greatly and will affect the aid one receives. CASE requires first and second years to live on campus and upperclassman can live on or off campus. (Case does guarantee you can live on campus for the full 4 years if student wants to.) Moving off of campus owned housing will impact FA drastically, so you will have to way the pros and cons of cost savings for someone who receives substantial FA. It’s over $11,000 that they reduce financial need, don’t remember exact number and it could change in any given year…so just be aware. My daughter will remain on campus as it is cheaper for us because of this factor. Also, food plans are no longer required, housing is more of apartment than dorm and they are furnished, so in the long run it still seems like the better/easier/cheaper option in the long run. And since we live OOS, it makes it easier by far!

Now, in regards to same/similar FA. My D’s FA was about $1,600 less than her Freshman year. So I would have had to pay $1,600 more out of pocket for her sophomore year. I called FA and discussed it with them. The gentleman I spoke with was really nice. He told me he would have the board review it and get back with me. I was not expecting a phone call back or an increase. But I was pleasantly surprised that he DID call me back and increased her FA by another $1,000. So, that meant I had to pay $600 more than her Freshman year FA package, but of course she had an extra $1,000 in loans (as I described above). So overall, I was happy with last years FA offer.

I am hoping to have a similar experience this year but I will just have to wait until May to see. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.