Okay so I go to community college, and I fill out the FAFSA and I get declined (Like I knew that would happen). But next year I want to go to a Private school (e.g RIT, Clarkson, Colgate, Syracuse, etc.) and they are about $40k - $50k schools compared to my CC tuition of $2k - $3k. How generous are these schools and how much financial aid would I receive?
Each school has a net price calculator on its website for this purpose.
If filling that out is too much work, use College Scorecard as a rough estimate.
@welchie98 – what do you mean you were declined by the FAFSA? Do you mean you do not qualify for grants?
You will be applying as a transfer student. To be honest, I think you need to consider applying to schools that don’t cost $50,000 a year…or more.
What was your family income? Need based aid is based on that. Many of the schools you listed also will require the CSS Profile which looks far more in depth at finances than the FAFSA?
When you say you want to transfer “next year” when exactly do you mean? Fall 2018?
The following may give you the answer that you seek for each school:
https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/rit
http://www.clarkson.edu/admissions/undergrad_admissions/calculator.php
http://www.colgate.edu/admission-financial-aid/financial-aid/net-price-calculator
https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/syr
With that income you would only qualify for federal loans, not grants.
Some schools might give institutiinal grants, but if EFC is $30k that might not be enough to be affordable.
Transfer students usually don’t get big merit scholarships.
Talk to your transfer advisor at CC to identify affordable instate schools you can transfer to.
@welchie98, the answer depends on various factors and as the first response noted, running the net price calculator for each school you wish to attend is going to give you the best estimate of a financial aid package. It’s possible that you may receive significant grant money but it may depend on other factors such as other assets, investments, and other children in the family. But all of the options you mentioned have traditionally been strong with need-based aid. Determine what your family’s EFC is and go from there, good luck!
Actually…RIT, Clarkson and Syracuse do NOT guarantee to meet full need for all…and they don’t.
No, not full-need, but compared to in-state public schools that typically meet none, it may be more cost-effective. DD attends one of the schools mentioned that meets 75% of our need and makes the cost about $10,000 less than in-state public options.
As a transfer, good luck getting any merit aid (pretty rare). I remember (as a first-year applicant) scouting for colleges that would give me the most money. I scratched RIT out INSTANTLY when their NPC gave me a number almost $15K above my cutoff point. As thumper1 notes, colleges like RIT, Syracuse, etc. that DO NOT meet 100% of demonstrated need are not as “generous” as some of the other schools.
In terms of how much you will receive, we cannot tell from just your income. Get an EFC going and we’ll at least give you a ballpark (notice also that most colleges actually use CSS, not FAFSA, to determine need).