Do most Colleges offer financial counseling for students and parents, or is it entirely up to the family to sort out?
When I was attending, there seemed to be little in the way of counseling and the tuition appeared solely as a bill exclusively through the buggy web portal. In fact, I lost my scholarship only to find out later that I could have contested the decision, and struggled to fully justify the cost of tuition. Meanwhile my family looked into FAFSA, when in fact I now realize it wasn’t really appropriate for us to do so.
Why isn’t there a single place students and parents can sit down and discuss the bill, or at least have the courtesy of a Paper Copy? Web features are nice in today’s world, but it can’t replace the tried and tested lines of communication that should exist between institutions and their members.
The bill as you put does come in a paper copy - your financial aid offer. You can call the FA office and have them go over it with you. As far as affordability, that’s a family decision and schools would be very leery of getting involved with that.
@mossyoak027 You can make an appointment with the Fin Aid people. Nothing like getting in someones face and work-space to get something accomplished. Do not give them the opportunity to blow you off in an e-mail or phone call. Make an appointment and meet with them face to face. Then schedule a follow up meeting if they are unable to handle it all at that time. Once they know your serious about your money and will not just blindly hand it over, they will work with you.
No college is going to give a student more money than they qualify for according to the school’s formulas. If the student has high stats and a better offer from a peer school then they may see a little more aid if they bring that (politely) to the college’s attention. But no college is going to be moved by a family just because they have the time and money to schedule several face to face meetings. It’s not a negotiation because the parties aren’t equals. Colleges know that if you don’t pay, some other family will.
My son’s college portal has a page that lists costs and the aid he’s been offered. He also received a paper copy, but even if he didn’t we could print it from the computer. The information is the same.
Mossy- make sure you do your homework. There is a wealth of information available on the college’s own website- and people often don’t bother to read it before insisting on an in-person or phone meeting. If there are terms used that you don’t understand, google is your friend.
I find that many people are unwilling to invest a little bit of time in order to become financially savvy when it comes to college. They get annoyed that the financial aid fairy isn’t going to visit them unless they fill out the necessary paperwork. They get aggravated when they don’t understand the difference between various types of loans and the fact that repayment terms vary. They get super upset that their 18 year old cannot borrow 40K per year.
Do your homework before you call a FA officer for a sit-down. Know the rules of the road.
@austinmshauri The OP stated " I lost my scholarship only to find out later that I could have contested the decision, It was this comment that I was responding to. If the college takes away your scholarship and just expects you to pay. I think a sit down conference is in order. I totally agree with the above posts that say to educate yourself about the different nuances of Fin Aid but taking away someones scholarship is going to be hard to research until you get the Colleges’ story first.
Thank you for the clarification, @MassDaD68. I agree, anyone whose scholarship is taken away should have a face to face meeting with their financial aid office. I think things are different than when OP went to college. Schools tend to be fairly clear on what it takes to maintain a scholarship and open about the appeals process if a student does lose it. If that happens, students should definitely follow up on it. It’s important to note that students who have extenuating circumstances (illness, family problems, etc.) should take documentation to the meeting with the financial aid office.