Fin Aid Personal Expenses

misterg
Sun, 18 Apr 2010 10:12:08 +0000

Just to throw my two cents into this confused coin purse, with reference to the talk of cheques and additional aid situations: I’m a Canadian with no expected parent contribution, and I received this in an email a few days ago.

"In addition to our staff being available throughout the month of April to answer any questions or concerns you or your family may have about your financial aid award, we also want to take this opportunity to highlight some additional services and benefits that will be available to you during your four years at Harvard. We realize that students face a variety of expenses during college, and we will work with you over your four years here to meet your individual needs.

To that end, we want to make you aware of a few of the programs you may be hearing about from our office, should you decide to enroll. These include the Beneficiary Aid, Student Events, and the Winter Coat Funds. These additional funds are awarded on the basis of need for some of the expenses you may be anticipating. Beneficiary Aid is available to students receiving Harvard Scholarship assistance who incur emergency term-time costs for medical, dental or other non-discretionary education-related expenses such as tutoring. The Student Events Fund provides free tickets through the Harvard Box Office website, to all Harvard-affiliated events, such as concerts, formals, dramatic productions, and other student events in which you might want to participate. Finally, the Winter Coat Fund is made available to students with no expected parent contribution and provides students with money to purchase clothing that will have you ready to take on our New England winters."

Hopefully, that will clear up any of the ambiguous ideas about “special circumstances.”