Insufficient summer earnings affect aid?

dt123
Wed, 29 Jun 2005 08:49:12 +0000

She is worrying needlessly. While the colleges seem to always leave a small gap (Cost of Attendance - (Financial Aid + EFC)) to be filled by summer earnings, they don’t care how that gap is closed. They just assume that if the student does not earn the money, he will fill it some other way, like reducing the expense of attendance. More Ramen, less Domino’s.

Remember that the Cost of Attendance is a combination of fixed, knowable numbers (tuition) and rough estimations (transportation, books). If a student is thrifty and does not actually spend what is estimated, the summer earnings “gap” can be closed that way alone.