<p>I have a friend whose ds is looking to go there. I don’t know anything about these smaller, kind of specialty schools. She has a FA offer that is less than she expected, and she lost her job since filing the FAFSA. Is there any reason she couldn’t refile the FAFSA and expect an aid readjustment?</p>
<p>Is she looking at the Art Institute of Chicago (<a href=“http://www.artic.edu%5B/url%5D”>www.artic.edu</a>), or one of the inferior pretenders with similar names?
When would she be attending? FA does run out at schools. If she has an adjustment to her FAFSA, she’ll have to contact someone in FA at her school and find out what her options are.</p>
<p>I am a financial aid professional, so I can give general advice. Financial aid offers are often less than students expect. The information gathered on the FAFSA simply gives a number, the Expected Family Contribution (EFC), that is used to award aid. It does not give a number that is actually the amount one can expect to pay for school.</p>
<p>If a school is quite expensive, often there is a “gap” between the Cost of Attendance (COA) and the (offered aid + EFC). If a school “meets need,” that means that COA-EFC-offered aid=0. Most schools do NOT meet need.</p>
<p>In your friend’s case, it is possible that if she requests a special circumstances review the loss of employment might result in a lowered EFC. In that case, there may or may not be any increase in aid. If the EFC is already 0, there will be no change. Often an adjusted EFC is still high enough that there will be no corresponding increase in aid. If the EFC is lowered to a Pell-eligible EFC, there would be a Pell grant … and maybe/maybe not additional aid. Sometimes a reduced EFC will result in an increase in the subsidized student loan. If the student loan is already the max for year in school, there will be no change.</p>
<p>If you know the specifics of this person’s situation, it would be easier to hazard a guess. Do you happen to know the school’s COA, the person’s EFC, and the current aid package?</p>
<p>I didn’t want to delve too deeply. I looked on the school’s website and saw that they take the FAFSA and not CSS so thought she could appeal, explaining the new financial situation. She said she’ll call tomorrow. Thanks.</p>
<p>I figured you might not know (I can’t imagine knowing that much about my friends!), but thought I’d ask just in case! :)</p>