How do need based and merit aid come together?

Paying for College
61

One issue I’ve seen here is that families look at the “average” amount of aid awarded and think that is the amount their kid will receive. Averages include folks with less need based aid as well as more.

Each student’s need is calculated for that student…and each college has their own formula to do so.

Home equity is one thing that can affect need based aid awards at some schools, but some families are also surprised by how some colleges treat family owned business expenses/deductions in the aid formulas the schools use.

Other families figure that a non-custodial parent won’t need to pay…when that’s just not true at many Profile schools.

The devil is in the details, and some folks don’t think their situation has details that apply to them.

Any student who really is a competitive applicant for most of the colleges that meet full need for all would get need based aid at Arizona, University of New Mexico, University of Alabama for example…that would very well being the costs below $40,000 a year.

But for some, these are not their target schools. That’s their choice, but if finances are a significant consideration, I wonder why schools that award guaranteed merit aid aren’t considered.

62

Our son (like most 18 year olds) is an odd duck at times. I strongly encouraged him to look at University of Arizona and his first response was “Dad, you know I hate being hot.” Which now is kinda funny but I will certainly bring it back up as going to a hot college and leaving with little to no debt might be worth being hot.

63

Every building at AZ has AC! He won’t be attending classes in June and July, and some of August when it’s REALLY hot. Barrett honors college is very worth it. Hope he hasn’t missed the deadline to apply.

University of New Mexico…he would get the Amigo Scholarship. Instate tuition and cost of room and board is very modest. Would come in well below $40,000 a year.

64

I was in error for speaking about colleges that “meet full need” as giving nothing to someone with OP’s income. What I meant to say was that many parents look at the “average price paid”, or “average financial aid given” and see a number that is much lower than their EFC, and therefore assume they too will be given much more in grants or scholarships. Yes, there are a few colleges (most with very low acceptance rates) that will fill in the gap. But the vast majority will not in spite of very high grades or test scores.

65

Yes. I know this of course but a 50 year old and an 18 year old are sometimes on different planets (or galaxies). We have not missed the deadline for UofA if he wants to look at it.
PS. Isn’t Barret at ASU not Arizona?

66

Sorry this has not worked out for your son, but S got a full tuition scholarship requiring us to only pay R&B, plus transportation. He had very high test scores although average GPA. I think you need to research and look to find schools that offer such merit, but they are out there for high performing kids.

67

@JD7777

I’m talking about ASU…where Barrett is located.

Yes, 50 year olds are on a different wave length sometimes than their parents. BUT if the parents are paying the bills, and there are financial considerations as well, it would be prudent for the parent to speak up, and the student to listen.

Getting acceptances to unaffordable schools might just as well be rejections.

I hope your son has some affordable options at the end of application season.

68

I might even argue, worse. I’ve worked in high schools for 24 years and have watched kids go from the highest high to deep disappointment when financial reality takes acceptances off the table

69

Looking back at our search process, I wonder if this was not our fundamental misunderstanding: “If our son applies to private schools in which he will be well above the average in terms of measurables (grades, ACT scores), such school could provide merit aid to take the COA significantly below son’s FAFSA EFC.” Looking at this again, I believe that there is wide variety in posters definitions of “significant merit” aid. The limited experience we’ve had and comparing to a few friends in son’s grade, it does not sound like this is the case. It does not sound as if private schools, including small local privates, are providing merit aid to this extent and in most cases these schools are still coming in very close to EFC. Still a lot to come in our son’s case and he is a pretty good candidate for a nice award at our state flagship.

70

I think there is a good case to be made that differing definitions of terms leads to quite a bit of confusion on CC.

There are several places where your Total COA would have been at least $10,000 below your EFC of $40,000 (listed below). I would consider that significant - getting at least 25% off EFC seems big to me, but ymmv.

If you were hoping to get the COA below your instate flagship cost of ~$25,000 (looks like right around $20,000 with SUMMIT award, right around $17,000 with the Presidential though that required an additional application) that was always going to be an uphill battle no matter how good your stats are, and most likely would require compromise on your son’s part as to where he was going to apply to school.

There just aren’t that many places paying mad money for stats anymore. Getting 50% off your EFC probably wasn’t in the cards, unless you are willing to go instate, or wiling to go to a OOS public that pays for stats (Miami Oh, Alabama, NM). There are some awards that pay full costs but those are highly competitive, even at “2nd tier LACs”.

Taking your son’s scores/grades, here are several schools that would have come in below your FAFSA EFC.:

Miami OH
COA $50,060
Scholarships available for stats - $20,000 -36,000 annually

TOTAL COA - $13,940 - $30,060

Ohio Wesleyan
COA $59,930
Branch Rickey Scholarship - $30,000
(with probable invitation for additional scholarships)

Total COA - $20,000 - $29,930 (depending on amount of additional scholarships)

Ursinus
COA $66,730
Scholarships available for stats ($35,000 guaranteed, uptimes to $40,000 possible)

Total COA $26,730 - $31,730

College of Wooster
COA $64,250
Scholarships for stats ($30,000 - $37,000)

Total COA $27,250 - $34,250

Juniata
COA $59,875
Scholarships available for stats ($28,000)

Total COA - $31,875

Centre College
COA - $53,740
Scholarships available for stats ($27,000 up to full ride with additional application)

Total COA - $0 - $26,740

Kalamazoo
COA $62,910
Scholarships available for stats ($34,000)

Total COA $28,910

Whitman
COA $68,732
Scholarships available for stats ($20,000 up to full tuition/fees $53,820)

Total COA $15,000 - $48,732

71

Though , yes, the most selective schools, like Harvard , Stanford, Princeton often come out with generous loan packages, it’s been my observation that they rarely give less than the FAFSA EFC unless the student is a getting PELL. These type of schools do not tend to have self help in their packages, so unsubsidized student loans and part time jobs can bring the cost down lower, something more difficult to do when the loans are already included in the package, even when subsidized. Work study in the package takes up time that could be used earning money over and beyond the financial aid package.

But I agree with those here saying that OP’s son could find some less expensive schools. Certainly the instate schools will be a lot less and there may be some scholarships for him at those schools. My youngest could have gone tuition free in our state, full ride from Alabama and Temple - though those auto deals are not around anymore. Alabama still has terrific flagship school possibilities. Fordham came up with a full tuition deal, and I’m sure there are similar awards from Catholic schools out there. Tulane offered half a ride which comes close to OP’s EFC. But, yes, there were schools that offered little or zero merit money. Penn State only offered about $6K and Michigan didn’t offer a dime.

There is merit out there, but one does have to pick carefully , and include some schools without the name recognition to up the chances of getting it.

72

Actually, they do expect self-help (student work earnings).

Minimum net prices (if you enter the poorest possible financial situation that is eligible for financial aid):

Harvard: $4,600, https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator
Stanford: $5,000, https://financialaid.stanford.edu/undergrad/how/calculator/index.html
Princeton: $3,500, https://swebapps.princeton.edu/FinAid/finaid_form.pl

Stanford allows outside scholarships to replace student work earnings expectation first before reducing grants, according to https://financialaid.stanford.edu/aid/outside/index.html

73

“Generous loan packages”? Is this what you meant to write?

74

@cptofthehouse I believe there is a typo here. I think you meant to say generous AID packages, not generous LOAN packages.

Right?

75

Jan. 25 update: Son was awarded OOS tuition at 1 of the 2 state flagship schools he targeted. He has to maintain a 3.6 GPA which is high but this is certainly some good news. Still a lot more to come in the next 2 months.

76

Feb.19 update:

Son has been accepted to 7 schools with 1 still out (and a likely acceptance). Breakdown as follows:

  1. Private. Deans award of 18. Our out of pocket 58k per year
  2. Private. Presidential award of 25. Out of pocket 40k per year
  3. Public in state. 6k automatic award. Out of pocket 24k per year. Waiting on additional 9k scholarship he has good chance to receive.
  4. Private. Presidental award. 25k. Out of pocket 41k per year.
  5. Private. Arrupe award. 25k. Out of pocket 45k per year.
  6. Public out of state. Tuition award for 4 years. Our out of pocket 16k per year.
  7. Private. Accepted yesterday. Trustee award of 23k. our out of pocket 41k per year.
  8. (no information received yet)

The letter we received yesterday from #7 says additional scholarship and/or grant award may be available. This makes me wonder if this really happens. As schools build their class of 2024 roster, do they reach out and offer additional merit aid? This makes me think it would be best NOT to decline any acceptance. At the same time, if a school wants us to pay 58k per year and we have a budget that isn’t even half that, shouldn’t we just say “no thanks” and let someone come in off the waiting list?

77

I think that you have two great and highly affordable choices. Congratulations!

If there is a decent chance that your kid will get that money, and it will be affordable for you if your kid gets that scholarship, there is no reason to decline that acceptance.

If you cannot afford the COA for a college, even with the maximum scholarships/FA that they are willing to provide, decline, and do let somebody in off the the waitlist. However, first make sure that you cannot get more merit money or FA. It is possible to negotiate a better financial packet in some cases.

78

Forgive me as this may be a dumb question… how does one “make sure you cannot get more merit money or FA?” Is that simply a call to the school? To Financial Aid or Admissions?

79

@JD7777

There is no need to decline anything right now. Both of our kids made those decisions at the end of April. So…just wait.

Merit awards are usually decided by admissions.

Need based usually decided by financial aid.

One of my kids had some pretty substantial merit offers sent his way between January and May (he was a music performance major and these were performance awards). He never asked for them…the schools just sent him additional funds (I’m talking $10,000 or more). He didn’t attend either of these schools. But it was nice to get the offers.

80

March 25 update:

What a different a month makes!!! We were cruising full speed through Senior Spring and watching our son enjoy the end of his varsity basketball season and COVID stopped everything. They cancelled the state tournament, sent the kids back home, sent them to school for 1 day and then shut down schools across the state. For a couple days our son enjoyed the weather outside, played tennis (his next sport) with his buddies and began what looked like a 2 week spring break. Now we, like many, have been ordered to stay in and the whole college search feels different.

He hasn’t seen any additional $ from any of his schools and wasn’t awarded the extra 9k from school #3 (up thread) which was a significant disappointment as he somewhat expected based on stats of previous winners. That is our in-state flagship, a school he has grown up visiting, attending sporting events… It has become a “hot” school for out of state applicants with over 50% coming from out of state and perhaps that explains the lack of additional merit money for him (an in-stater). Putting a student from out of state into his spot supports a much healthier bottom line.

Looking more likely that he will end up at school #6 but we had to cancel our trip to visit (which would have taken place last weekend). Can a student really commit to 4 years at a school none of us have ever seen? It seems like quite a leap of faith.