<p>I was just accepted into the Honors Program at George Washington University, and I would love to go–but it’s an expensive school, and my financial situation will change significantly next year and I don’t want to be stuck in D.C. if I suddenly can’t afford a second year there.</p>
<p>My EFC this was 0 as my mother is a full-time nursing student and reported no income (father isn’t in the picture). I have the maximum Pell Grant of $5550 this year as well as a 20k Presidential Scholarship and an 18k aid grant to cover a cost of attendance of about 56k, with work-study and federal loans to make up the difference.</p>
<p>My concern is that my mother will be making about 30k next year, and our EFC will go up to between 3 and 4k, and my Pell grant will go down to about 2k. I was told that even though my Pell Grant is going down, that my current 18k grant could possibly go down as well.</p>
<p>Now, my mother is going to have her own student loans that she’ll be starting to pay off as well as her own living expenses. 30k is certainly not a lot of money. As we aren’t credit-worthy enough to take out PLUS Loans or private loans and no one in my family could co-sign anything, I am worried that my aid could be reduced to the point that the difference couldn’t be made up in additional unsubsidized Stafford Loans as I would only be eligible to take out approximately 4k more in my sophomore year. If the reduction between Pell Grants and my need-based aid grant totals too much more than 4k, I would very simply no longer be able to afford to go to GWU.</p>
<p>Has anybody had any experience with changes of financial aid from year to year, particularly with such a sharp change of income? Even if I am safe freshman year, worries that I may be unable to afford my sophomore year may prevent me from going to the school if I don’t get some kind of input, and naturally, the school won’t answer any of my questions.</p>
<p>I just read in the admissions packet that you financial aid will NOT decrease during your time at GW (and aid can only increase). I hope this helps!</p>
<p>Yeah…I read that too… Then I spoke to someone, and they said the University and Alumni Award I got could change based on need. Even if my need only goes down by a couple thousand, my worry is that they take too much away for me to be able to afford it.</p>
<p>Although your mother’s income will go up to 30K next year, that alone should not cause a huge jump in your EFC. I would enter the information into an EFC calculator to see what my new EFC will be next year, and go from there. Possibly call financial aid office to ask if they could determine how your new EFC next year would affect your need-based grants, but they will probably say they cannot determine now.</p>
<p>Are you taking the additional 2K Stafford loan extended to freshmen students this year? The subsidized loan increases from $3500 freshman year to $4500 sophomore year and then to $5500 junior and senior year. </p>
<p>on that kind of income it’s a pretty far reach to make up the cost of gw unless you don’t mind having plenty of debt when you graduate. it’s also not true that your aid won’t decrease. all that you’re guaranteed is that you will have the presidential scholarship and that your tuition won’t increase. furthermore, the loans will still need to be paid off and that will fall heavily on you if your mom makes 30k. gw is a nice school and everything but you’re going to have to weigh the pros and cons</p>
<p>my daughter is in the same boat at GW…we currently have 2 in college but in her junior year that will decrease to just her…I am also conderned about her aid…figured we would just need to sweat it out!</p>
<p>Same boat here – and S2 just (finally!) got his FA information yesterday. GW’s grant aid was fairly generous, but he received merit aid at AU, which is a bit more helpful because we know it’s guaranteed each year. We’ll still be paying beyond our EFC at both schools. Don’t know what to do. Anyone trying an appeal?</p>