<p>agent99: Oh, I agree. Just surprises me that people don’t recognize (and even outright deny seeing) the preferential packaging/ enrollment management part of financial aid in their own kid’s offers.</p>
<p>Actually, a lot of the merit money is given out to entice full pay students to come to the school. By giving $50K to 4-10 kids that have no need as scholarships, you buy yourself students whose parents are likely to be able to pay the remaining cost, and give them a sweetner over a similar school that gives zip to the student. Giving the full $50K to a kid who needs a full ride can mean that even coming up with the remainder of the tab can be an ordeal and a headache for years to come, having to listen to the sad stories of no money. I’m being hard about this, but yes, it is a reality. </p>
<p>I think FAFSA is increasingly becoming required for a lot of reasons. To vet the kids and the parents is one reason. At one time , not too long ago, you didn’t need FAFSA to get a PLUS loan, Now it’s required. Also schools are becoming increasingly vigilent about integrating awards. Those who do qualify for financial aid, they want to make sure do get the federal and state entitlements, and they also want to make sure COA is not exceeded. Because Fin aid and Admissions often operate totally separately, it is possible for a student to get more than COA if the merit award is given and then student takes out loans or has other monies. I know of a case personally where it did happen and getting money back after it is dispensed is not easy.</p>
<p>Re: preferential packaging of need-based financial aid</p>
<p>Has anyone noticed this type of thing when comparing the actual need-based financial aid offer to the net price calculator estimate, assuming a “simple” financial aid situation where the net price calculators are more likely to be accurate?</p>
<p>ucb: Wouldn’t you need to have an offer in hand to compare?</p>
<p>We’re (actually I’m) still wading through all the numbers to compare where Spygirl might get the most merit aid. Thankfully, she has one safety she’d be happy to attend that is quite generous. Otherwise, I’d be a mess.</p>
<p>In order to receive the Zell Miller/Hope scholarship in Georgia we had to fill out the FASFA. I think it’s because they keep threatening to put an income cap on it…</p>
<p>I think that list of colleges and % meeting full need can be misleading. For example some colleges such as Georgia Tech have scholarships for students from low income families that do not require loans.
The G. Wayne Clough Georgia Tech Promise Program meets 100 percent of financial need, minus a $2,500 per year work study job offer, will be met with a combination of all scholarships and grants offered from all sources, including federal grants, HOPE/Zell Miller, state grants/scholarships, private outside scholarships, and institutional scholarships.
Criteria
Legal resident of Georgia
Pursuing a first undergraduate degree
Eligible applicant for federal student financial aid
Dependent students whose parents:
are legal residents of Georgia
have less than $33,300 in total annual income and/or benefits.</p>
<p>So if a student is an instate resident that really can’t afford college they can go to GT without loans. They do have to fill out the FASFA on time before freshman year. There are other colleges out there with similar scholarships for instate low income students. </p>
<p>I think when you start talking about middle income students that’s where things get iffy. I think people’s definition of what is considered middle income varies depending on what their current income is.:)</p>
<p>FAFSA isn’t perfect, that’s for sure. Our situation is similar to a lot of folks in that the years following 2009 weren’t our best as DH is self employed. Last year was the best year in a long time and naturally, that will be on the look back period. It doesn’t account for those lean years in between.</p>
<p>Greta: I get what you’re saying and it is irritating especially that it can lead to confusion. “Johnny was a B student and he got a full ride to State U. Everyone gets scholarships!” </p>
<p>If I hear one more time that because DD is a good student she can go anywhere with big $, I might scream.</p>
<p>It’s not just the Zell Miller/Hope award and the state of Georgia. West Virginia’s Promise, Florida’s Bright Futures also require the same, and none of them are income dependent. I was once told, it’s to make sure that only tax paying citizens, males that have signed up for selective service, screening for other issues are the reason. The agencies don’t want to do the screening themselves.</p>
<p>My recollection is that some colleges required fafsa/profile as prereq to merit awards. Otherwise you didn’t get “into the system”.</p>
<p>Things are changing so quickly in this whole area of college applications, fin aid and merit money, that one really has to check out what the story is each application season. Schools that were need blind are’t any more. Or have now excluded certain categories of students like from the WL, transfers, and those who did not apply for aid the first year. It gets so that the changes are coming faster than many of us can keep track. One really has to read the directions even if familiar with a particular school. </p>
<p>Only one of my kids had the stats to be a player for some serious merit money. The others got some awards but very few of much impact and only from their safety schools. The awards one got all tending to be under $5K, all arts type awards and, yes, he was a performing arts major. The one with high test scores did get some big award offeres and we did not apply for fin aid, nor did we fiil out FAFSA, But that was 5-6 years ago and a lot has changed. I do know many, many kids who got merit money offers from Fordham, who did not qualify for any fin aid, nor did they apply for any. It did give a number of them serious pause as to considering the school vs twice the cost to go to say, Georgetown or Boston College or the like, where they didn’t get a dime. A close friend of mine is driving those Mercendes off the cliff each year with two kids right now at BC, and they aren’t getting a dime. She has to remind herself all of the time how lucky she is that they do not qualify for fin aid. And she’s told me many a time, that she wished that they had given Fordham with the half cost awards her boys more consideration. i know a number of familes thinking that way.</p>
<p>My son got a full tuition award from a smaller local school and he put his nose up to it as probably would have meant commuting and it was his safety school. Some things have not gone quite the way he had hoped at his first choice school, and the cost is tough for us to manage and still live the way we want–yes, we are spoiled. He’s beginning to see that a lot of his peers did take up that school on their scholarship offers, and many of them are happy, thriving and doing well. A lot of perspective being gained here. When you go to a school that make your financial margins tight,when things happen it can get mighty uncomfortable.</p>
<p>"Greta: I get what you’re saying and it is irritating especially that it can lead to confusion. “Johnny was a B student and he got a full ride to State U. Everyone gets scholarships!” </p>
<p>Just about any kid can get a scholarship (i.e. a discount or aid) someplace. There would not be very many colleges if students/parents actually had to pay the full sticker price. There’s only so many hedge fund managers out there. </p>
<p>The Kiplinger database tells me that, for example, 82% of the kids who attend Gonzaga have merit scholarships with an average merit scholly of $11.5k. 72% at Marquette and Butler. Most private colleges operate with a net overall discount of about 45%.</p>
<p>2 of my daughter’s merit awards required FAFSA, including the one she accepted. </p>
<p>For her second year, a state grant (not need-based) was added on top of her full ride, so it seems clear why they wanted us to fill it out.</p>
<p>Here’s a good example of how the merit money game works. From the Tulane board (which does merit money/enrollment management):</p>
<p>Rice, Vandy, Tufts – accepted but have to pay full sticker price. $60k</p>
<p>Penn, Georgetown – $15k in financial aid. $45k net.</p>
<p>Fordham, Tulane – full tuition scholarship. $15k net.</p>
<p>Kid enrolled at Tulane.</p>
<p>What did the schools’ net price calculators say for this student?</p>
<p>Merit scholarships exist to entice desired students, so it is not exactly an undisclosed practice. Preferential packaging of (ostensibly) need-based financial aid (such that is varies from the generic package, as estimated by the net price calculator) would be what qualifies as undisclosed enrollment management.</p>
<p>Another merit money example:
- U of Az–Full-ride with tuition, books, room & board, $0-$7.5K/year
- USoCal, Santa Clara U–50% tuition + $2500/year renewable, about $30K/year net
- Boston U–accepted but full pay $60K/year net
Kid had no financial need and did not submit any FAFSA or other FAid docs.
Kid enrolled at USC.</p>
<p>We ran calculators at 10 schools for D2. Only one (Mount Holyoke) showed what appeared to be merit aid (although it was confusing, not even totally sure that it was). She applied to eight of her schools, and got merit aid at five of them. So except for MH, none of the schools showed merit on their NPC. My personal opinion is that the schools want to wait until they see the apps to decide about merit aid distribution, and they don’t want to feel hemmed in at all by the NPC. And it is more than financial info, or even GPA & test scores that drive their merit decisions. So I think very few schools include merit aid in the calculator. </p>
<p>I think most parents on CC know that the schools that are more highly ranked and possibly more desirable to your kid are going to be more expensive. That is just the way it is. Every parent who has had a kid apply in the past few years could give examples of this result in the application process…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Seems that only those which have automatic-for-stats merit scholarships would include that in the net price calculator (e.g. Truman State). Not exactly unexpected.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I believe this is correct. My D2 got merit awards ranging from $15K to $25K from Oberlin, Bryn Mawr, Grinnell, and Mount Holyoke. Only the Grinnell award showed up on the NPC. The others were discretionary, not automatic; the schools wait to see who’s on the admitted students list, and of those which do they most want and which do they think might be enticed with money.</p>
<p>We got merit money for my one son who had average test scores but good grades, and his costs ranged from very little net cost if commuting to a local private college that gave a full tuition award, to $60k+ for some private schools that accepted him but did not offer a dime. We had a budget of $35K that we were willing to pay for him; he had some savings, works summer and willing to work during the school year, plus the Direct loans were available, so schools up to $45K were in the picture. He had a nice array of choices in the batch.</p>
<p>I want to add that this is why ED is not such a good idea if you want to see what you can get at a variety fo schools. ED at Tufts, RIce Vandy could cost a full $15K more than Penn or Georgetown? That’s a huge difference–$60k+ over 4 years.</p>
<p>Plenty of schools without automatic awards give an estimate of merit aid in their calculators.</p>
<p>Here are some examples (feel free to contribute more!):</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1346342-net-price-calculators-include-merit-aid.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1346342-net-price-calculators-include-merit-aid.html</a></p>
<p>Even if NPC don’t include merit estimates, they provide a valuable early/easy view on FA that was not possible a few years ago. Now families can more easily judge whether to chase need based FA or merit scholarships.</p>