Free/Reduced Lunch Scholarship?

Paying for College
1

<p>Hey everyone, I have a question about which I’ve received some mixed information.</p>

<p>I’m a high school Junior and I qualify for the free / reduced lunch program at my high school. My question is: Is this advantageous for the college application process? I’ve heard both that colleges like to enroll economically disadvantaged individuals (using free/reduced lunch as part of the criteria), and that colleges avoid said individuals. </p>

<p>I am not currently participating in the free/reduced lunch program. Should I be? Will it help me get into my dream college?</p>

<p>Thank you for any input.</p>

2

<p>Doing the paperwork so you can qualify for free/reduced lunch will help you, I believe, get fee waivers for college applications and for, I believe, SAT/ACT testing. Do talk to your guidance counselor about this.</p>

<p>It also probably would provide GCs the proof that that they may need to include your being economically disadvantaged in the recommendations that colleges require GCs to fill out.</p>

<p>Yes, colleges such as Harvard, Amherst, Stanford want to attract high achieving low income students, and are very generous in their financial aid. However, do make sure that you have safeties that you know you can afford because most colleges lack the resources to meet the financial need of all of their accepted students – even students who are middle class. Consequently, overall, it is more difficult for low income students to get the aid that they need to attend colleges.</p>

<p>Typically, for many students – including middle class ones – their financial safety (school they know they will be accepted to and can afford) is a 4-year or 2-year college that they can commute to.</p>

<p>Don’t look at CC and assume that most students in the country are going to private schools thousands of miles from home. Most students in the U.S. go to colleges within 250 miles of their homes, and also take into consideration their finances when figuring out where to apply to and where they can go to college.</p>

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<p>Thank you very much Northstarmom, that is some very useful information. I have never heard of the fee waving opportunities. I will talk with my counselor to confirm, but that is a very appealing option. Thanks again.</p>

4

<p>When you do the FAFSA, qualifying for free/reduced lunch is one of the factors for the simplified needs test. It means you have to provide less information, you get to the end of the form faster, and are possibly eligible for an automatic EFC (Expected Family Contribution) of $0. See <a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/111609EFCFormulaGuide20102011.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/111609EFCFormulaGuide20102011.pdf&lt;/a&gt; for some info about that. Basically, 30K income or less + free/reduced lunch = EFC0. </p>

<p>It also helps with fee waivers – you can ask your GCs about it; sometimes you have to prod them a bit.</p>

5

<p><a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/CareerDevelopment/Resources/Documents/AppFeeWaiver09.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nacacnet.org/CareerDevelopment/Resources/Documents/AppFeeWaiver09.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>^^ My lifesaver. :smiley: I applied to 15 schools and I only had to pay for the stamps I used to send the fee waivers. If you have free lunch status you can surely use these. Th best thing is that most colleges accept it and you can use as much you want. there’s no limit, unlike the SAT fee waivers.</p>