Does anybody have any input or experience on how financial aid would work if we qualify for a lot of need-based aid for freshman year, but not for the other years? Would we be able to get merit aid for those years? We had a loss in the business for the tax year that will be used for his freshman FAFSA, but our other tax years are projected to probably not qualify us for any need-based aid.
At many places, need aid will come from a CSS.
Most don’t assure aid - you file each year. There’s a few, I believe, that assure.
In your case, if you want to keep the cost low, but won’t qualify, then the better solution is to set your budget and apply to schools that meet that cost - i.e. merit if that’s needed…because if you go cheap in year one and then the next year go up due to an income change, you’re unlikely to get merit. Typically, you get merit at the beginning and it lasts for four years, assuming you hit the minimum GPAs, etc.
In other words, if you want to spend $40K a year, don’t go to one that’s $20K, but then will be $90K the last three years.
They’re not going to make that up with merit, with possible few exceptions.
This is an AI overview but there may be some that keep need steady - but AI doesn’t mean it’s right - so check - but I would go with the getting there not based on need so you don’t have any issues.
Good luck
'Colleges that commit to maintaining institutional grant levels for the duration of a student’s academic program, regardless of private scholarships or changes in need, include Vassar College, Stanford University, Harvard University, Northwestern University, and Franklin and Marshall College."
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As I understand it, both Boston University and Northeastern University offer various “promises” that the amount of institutional aid will never go down, including for need-based.
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You need to check the small print on those schools that say need based aid will never go down.
My suggestion is that you look for schools where your student would garner significant merit aid. In most cases, merit aid is not tied to income and assets, and is guaranteed if the student meets a designated academic bar.
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Thanks for the responses, I will definitely be digging at each of the schools he is planning to apply to.
So which is awarded first, the merit or the need-based aid? I guess I’m trying to understand which of these would be more accurate:
Scenario 1: He gets accepted and is offered 20k of merit aid, and the rest is covered by need-based aid the first year (grants, work-study, loans), and then the following years he just receives the merit aid if we don’t qualify anymore for need based aid.
Scenario 2: He gets accepted, and they cover any need based aid, and then offer merit aid minimally so the next years, he doesn’t get the benefit of much merit aid. Would amount of merit aid be something they would reconsider for the following years? From my research it generally doesn’t appear so. Or if we disclose our situation upon admission, would they shift some $ from need to merit?
Also, I’m wondering if this would affect his chances at admission, e.g. looks like he is a high-need student, when the following years he is actually closer to full pay.
At need aware schools, having high need can and in some cases will impact admissions. There was a magazine article 5 or 6 years ago and Lafayette College showed how they do it. They were turning down eminently qualified kids with high need, because the budget is fixed, and they wanted to cover more kids. I’m sure it’s schools by school but.
I would think schools are trying to use merit b4 need in cases where it doesn’t stack. You might ask - but logically it would make most sense.
I absolutely would not go to somewhere where i hoped for increased merit aid. I don’t see #2 as a thing.
You are playing with fire here short of the few schools that don’t calculate need each year.
If you have a fixed amount, then find schools that hit it. There are like schools in all price, size, and environmental ranges.
But your question is really school by school and you’d have to ask them - but you’re setting yourself up for disaster - if you try to find a school and hope they’ll find a way to match in future years even though their policy says otherwise.
I would not expect merit in future years that isn’t offered the first time, short of departmental or one year type scholarships.
In your scenario two you mentioned a disclosure - you could try - but again, it’d be school by school how they adapted. If it’s a school that is need aid only, obviously it wouldn’t work.
I will say colleges need you more than you need them today - so it is often a consumer’s market - so if you pick right, it could be.
But you are also playing with fire - but yes, you need to ask the schools themselves. And I don’t know what level of school you are looking at.
There may be a difference between a Kenyon/Lafayette and a Beloit/Kalamazoo.
Good luck.
Merit and financial aid are two different parts. Merit is usually awarded after acceptance (if you get any) and it usually kept all 4 years if you keep above a certain gps. Merit awards are usually for freshmen. If you didn’t qualify for merit freshman year, you are probably never going to get it since you are already a student.
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One thing to keep in mind is the Pell Grant. If your freshman year financial aid includes the Pell Grant, but your family’s income would not qualify for for the Pell Grant in subsequent years, you could see a big difference.
The Pell Grant currently goes up to as much as $7,395 for the '26-'27 school year. It is unlikely a university would make up $7K in Pell Grants with institutional grant aid, if your family’s financial situation greatly improved after the student’s first year.
Regarding schools with “guarantees” like Boston University or Northeastern, the university might keep its contribution amount the same from Freshman year to Sophomore year, but the family would likely be required to replace the lost Pell Grant contribution. And colleges without 4yr aid guarantees would likely alter institutional aid year-to-year based on your family’s changing financial situation.
My son attended University of Dayton and that school provides a 4yr guarantee. UD never raised my cost. In fact, each year after his freshman year cost me less out-of-pocket than his freshman year. UD financial aid went above my expectations for my financial-need student.
When will I receive my personalized four-year offer?
After a close review of your academic credentials and your family’s financial circumstance, the Office of Recruitment and Admission will create a personalized four-year financial aid offer for admitted students. This offer will include your four-year outlook, which shows the guaranteed net tuition cost for the next four years, along with your detailed financial aid award.
This might help if your net is cast wider than T50 USNWR ranked schools. FWIW, U Dayton is ranked #50 by USNWR for best Engineering schools.
U Dayton may not have the sort of diversity you mention in your other thread. However, IF your budget mentioned in your other thread is a hard budget, AND you have a strict set of non-budget requirements, THEN you’ll most likely end up at an in-state affordable public university option. Which is not a bad outcome, considering most CA schools should meet your diversity requirement
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Did you have a situation like this with a sharp income increase?
Based on the Dayton CDS, you can surmise that few, if any, are paying full there. You are getting need or merit - because like many, it knows it can’t get people to pay full.
So they know they’ll be paying one way or the other. Maybe that’s why they have the four year guarantee.
That’s why I noted - and I didn’t realize there’s another thread - but when you have a school list - the non selective schools might be more open to having the discussion.
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My income went up, but not to the point of doubling my AGI. Also, I was/am a single parent of three and all three (then) income streams allowed healthy write-offs. That gave me a lot of wiggle room before I crossed the AGI threshold that would significantly change my returns.
From talking to other parents at UD (and my son talking to students), the institutional aid happens mostly in either one of two ways. Either high-income families receive merit aid to get down to $30-$45K, or lower-income families receive significant need-based aid and lower merit aid, to get down to the amount the family can afford. In my son’s case, UD delivered both significant need based aid and significant merit aid.
In the end, my son’s Pell Grant amount never decreased, and UD never charged me more out-of-pocket than his freshman year. Also, my son enjoyed on-campus housing that improved every year, leading to his senior year when he lived in a very nice new two-bedroom two-bath kitchen+dining room on-campus furnished apartment.
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The people I know who were in a similar situation stayed with in-state public universities. Admittedly they lived in a location where the in-state public universities were very good and a good fit for them.
In the case that most quickly comes to mind and who I knew best some merit aid was also involved. This was a case of “you need to maintain this specific GPA (or better) and make normal progress towards graduation” to maintain the merit aid after the first year, which they did.
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Is this student applying to colleges that guarantee to meet full need for all students? If not, your freshman year aid might not be what you expect it to be.
Plus, if your income has already increased (since the aid forms use prior prior year tax info), is funding college going to be financially difficult?
Again I suggest…apply to schools where merit aid is your friend. In most cases that will be guaranteed for all four years. You will likely need to look at colleges that are less selective than BU and Northeastern…but there are most definitely colleges out there that might give merit aid, or are otherwise affordable.
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Thanks @EconPop for noting there’s a list.
It lists these schools:
CPSLO, SJSU, UCs - you’ll get state wise money you qualify for (need)
Bama - Merit only
Purdue - very small chance of merit - so you’ll be full pop
USD - you can ask them - but my guess is they have a top level merit and hit it - and would be unlikely to increase in future years to make up for lost need. But - you can ask. It’s the kind of school that needs you more than you need them.
Same with SCU.
USC - not going to give you merit to make up for lost need. Same with Mudd.
You can always ask, but why would they.
So what is your budget - and find schools to achieve.
What you are doing or asking to do is gamble. Gambling has extreme consequences. Find the sure thing up front. We don’t know the budget but we could help you find some. Well maybe it’s buried in the other thread. But why gamble with something that could impact you financially.
And by the way, you have some CSS schools. You have a business/assets. The SAI may be irrelevant for gaining need aid.
Now I didn’t look to see if SC or Mudd guarantee four years at the first year level. So you can check that. Same with USD and SCU.
Good luck.