I recently got my financial aid offer which is expecting me to pay 14k my first year before loans and work study. I’m not trying to sound ungrateful as I know many people have it way worse, but the thing is I have an SAI of -1500. The only reason I’m expected to pay this much is because my parents have a house worth a good amount (it was a gift from my grandpa) and my dad owns a business. My parents are not financially able to help me with any of the amount owed. Even with loans and work study, I’m expected to pay 4k. This would require me to have a work study job, another part time job, and loans. I’m afraid I won’t be able to put as much effort as my classes and extracurriculars require due to this. I was wondering if there’s any way for me to negotiate my financial aid with UofM.
Possible yes. Probable no. If he owns a house, he has equity he can tap.
Do you have alternatives for next year if you gap year ?
Many work part time - and you can work summers.
Personally not a fan of loans - they are a bridge that needs to be paid back.
But if you really want UM, it seems within reason. You might even find a higher paying off campus job but if it’s too much ask for deferral so you can develop a more comfortable plan.
Good luck.
I don’t understand though how you can get equity from a house. It’s not like he can sell the house. It’s where my family lives.
Home equity line of credit. He can borrow against the home if he has equity….meaning if the house is worth $500k and his loan is $200k, he has $300k in equity. It’s an asset they are expecting him to use based on what you wrote.
Alright thank you for explaining that to me
I don’t know if Michigan uses primary home equity in their financial aid calculations…or not.
The business is likely your financial issue. There are business deductions allowed by the IRS for tax purposes that are added back in as income for financial aid purposes.
Michigan uses the CSS Profile in addition to the FAFSA. Your SAI on the FAFSA really isn’t as relevant as the more in-depth financial data on the Profile.
I’m a little confused here. Your award likely includes the $5500 Direct Loan, right? Are you saying there are additional loans?
What is the amount you are being asked to pay in billable costs to Michigan per year. Is it $14,000 minus $5500? Does this amount include your personal expenses?
@Knowsstuff does Michigan use primary home equity in their calculations for need based aid?
Yea so basically they expect me to pay 14k with the personal expenses and textbooks and stuff. I get the 5500 direct loan. I get 3500 in work study and I’m expected to pay the rest.
I know they do for CSS since when I do an estimate and lower my house worth my tuition goes down significantly
Yes. Absolutely. Your dad’s business could be the red flag. Michigan tends to help where needed.
But, when it comes to aid Unless they can’t, I would get your parents involved. They will have to have supporting documents to support what kind of help you need.
As far as work study and ec at Michigan. My son in engineering 18 credits most semesters worked 10-15 hours each week including freshman year and started and ran a major student org they started there. Time management is key.
But first thing is to define what kind of help you need and then ask for it. The academic support at Michigan is through the roof. Working a few hours a week is doable and it is great for your resume when applying for internships. Companies like active kids on campus.
So this is outside my wheel house. I don’t want to give bad information. My wife did this part of it. She’s out of town.
Not sure if this helps:
The Student Aid Index (SAI) is a formula applied uniformly to all aid applicants and considers information provided on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and, for entering applicants, the CSS Profile, in addition to other documents we request. The FAFSA determines eligibility for federal aid, and the CSS Profile determines eligibility for U-M gift aid.
Your SAI is made up of two parts:
- Parent Contribution: What parents are expected to pay toward annual college costs, based on a formula that considers:
- Income and assets (cash, checking, savings, and money market accounts; investments and real estate holdings; and business equity)
- Allowance for living expenses (based on family size)
- Taxes paid
- Retirement asset protection
- Student Contribution: What a student is expected to pay based on income, savings, and other assets.
You will earn the $3,500 as you work during the school year. So, half of that sum will be due upfront for the first semester invoice.
You are also receiving the full $7,495 pell grant correct? You should be with an SAI of -1500. Make sure that’s in your FA package.
I agree with the others that you dad’s business is likely why the expected contribution is greater than your SAI. U Michigan uses CSS Profile to calculate a family’s/student’s expected contribution, not FAFSA.
Thing is for work study I’m doing urop I’m not sure if it’ll reach the $3500
Are you working this summer? If you can’t make $3500 doing urop, you may have to choose a different job where you can earn that much money. It does NOT have to be an on campus job.
Can my normal job go towards work study?
Work study is an “earn as you go”. You work- you get paid. It will not be a lump sum payment either before or after the semester, and if you have a job which pays MORE than work study, you are free not to apply for/try to get a work study job.
Did you have other, more affordable acceptances?
Your normal job can help pay your college expenses. Unless it is designated a work study job, the work study funds can’t be used to pay you.
One of my kids worked off campus and made a LOT of money…the other worked a NOT work study job on campus and made a lot of money.
Both a ‘normal’ job and a work study job pay your school charges, whether it’s $3500 or more. If it’s less (like the urop job), you have a bigger funding gap than the $3,500.
The difference between a work study and normal job is that the federal government is giving the school the $ for the work study job…where the money comes from is really irrelevant to you, right?
You know you have a $3500 gap that you have to fill somehow by working X number of hours. You could have worked this summer and made the $3500 (or part of it) or you could work an off campus job as a nanny making $20 per hour part time during the school year, to take two examples.
As noted several times above, your fall invoice will include $1750 (1/2 the work study) that you must pay ahead of time, and then you work to earn money each week.
I agree with blossom…do you have a more affordable acceptance? By chance had you run michigans net price calculator before applying? If so, is the $14k net aid package inline with what that showed? If not, that might be something you could bring to their attention, assuming the NPC inputs were accurate.
Could your urop be 6-8hours a week and you’d add a higher paying part time job over the weekend?
Or you can have a “paid to study” work study position like Welcome desk somewhere on campus, dorm front hall desk (different names for the position), library attendant…
You can also take the non desirable breakfast shift at the cafeteria and take a lower meal plan (breakfast shift tends to come with food to incite students, most of whom find class before 9 too early, let alone 6:30 or 7am in the caf).
In the meantime, can you work extra hours at tour current summer job?
Finally, you can email financial aid with an attached copy of your SAI and see if they can review or lower your upfront costs - I’m guessing even 2k Would make a big difference. (S.o here may be able to help you With drafting this letter)