We have 3 children in college. When we initial filed the FAFSA and CSS Profiles, we were able to project that each child would be paying full tuition at his/her respective school. All schools were generous with financial aid. Now, in 2017-2018, while our financial situation has remained the same, we must report the actual tuition paid at each school. Obviously, with aid, these numbers are significantly below full tuition. Since financial aid awards are not necessarily guaranteed from year to year, we can again truthfully project that we may well pay full tuition at each school. However, this was clearly not the case in the prior year. How, if at all, will the reduced tuition we paid at each school last year, impact our aid package next year? Thank you.
@BrooklynRye this will vary from college to college.
I would suggest you contact the financial aid offices at each of your kids’ schools and inquire there.
Did your kids receive need based aid at their colleges? Your post is a little unclear as you say you projected to be full pay…but the schools were generous.
Thank you, @thumper1.
We are concerned with poking the proverbial hornet’s nest by asking the schools directly at this juncture. It has also been our experience that we generally do not receive direct and/or definitive responses.
Each of our kids received a combination of merit and financial aid grants (it is sometimes hard to tell the difference from the way in which the schools couch the awards language). In the first year in which we had 3 in college, we had no sense of any aid and so indicated on FAFSA/CSS that we expected to pay full tuition at each school. Filing the forms again, a year later, we had to indicate what we actually paid for each school in the previous year. However, in projecting tuition costs for the upcoming year, we went back to our original full tuition numbers as there is no guarantee of continuing merit/financial awards.
Hope this is clearer.
If they are asking what you paid (past tense) in tuition for each child, then it is clear they want to know your actual outlay for the past year. Perhaps you can add a comment that you have not received confirmation of awards for next year.
@wisteria100 - Thank you. To be clear, the FAFSA does not ask for this information. The CSS Profile for each school does. The profile also asks for projected costs in the upcoming year. As I noted above, because aid is not guaranteed from year to year, we went back to our original projection of full costs. Just wondering how the schools adjust (if at all) their aid grants once they are made aware that the other schools are also providing aid.
I have two currently in college and each of their institutions asks for a sibling verification of college enrollment and they get the financial aid information directly from the other school. Neither relies on what I put on the CSS profile.
The aid is based on your income (FAFSA) and assets (CSS profile) so if there hasn’t been a significant change in either then you should expect a similar award regardless of what you put for anticipated tuition cost on the CSS profile.
@BrooklynRye are you asking about the question on the Profile that asks how much you think you can pay for the upcoming college year? If so…THAT question is not used to determine the awarding of need based aid. To be clear…any questions on the Profile have nothing to do,with merit aid unless that merit aid has a need component.
BUT if your colleges are asking for your actual costs for your other students…your out of pocket costs…then it is VERY possible they will use this when calculating your need based aid.
@sybbie719 you have explained this well in the past. Could you chime in?
@thumper - For 2016-2017 we stated that we would have 3 kids in school with projected costs of approximately $60k per child. For 2017-2018 we can still make the same claim (aid not being guaranteed), but we are also required to indicate what we actually paid last year. These numbers are significantly below the $180k projected total. When looking at what we actually paid, will any or all of the colleges reduce the aid they provide?
You need to ask the COLLEGES. no way for us to answer that question. We don’t know the colleges…and we don’t know the aid policies of these colleges.
Ask the schools. Either that…or wait and see.
Your returning students will be receiving their aid packages by sometime in July.
If you are concerned…just call the colleges and ask if your aid will be reduced?
The merit aid parts should have had criteria for renewal and for how long.
The need based component is recalculated annually based on the data you provided in the financial aid application forms.
Were NONE of the three kiddos in college during the 2015-2016 school year? All three were in college during 2016-2017? And all three again will be in college 2017-2018?
Um, if they ask what you actually paid, you tell them.
If they ask what you project, can you HONESTLY project that you will get NO aid?
Do you have in writing from any of the colleges that the FA packages for next year are the same? Because my son’s college has already noted that his FA will be the same, with the only possible change in Pell Grant amount.
@thumper1 - Thank you. Eldest child was in school solo 2015-2016. All 3 in school 2016-2017. We will have 3 in college through 2019-2020.
@rhandco - We have nothing in writing and no guarantee that prior packages will be continued at any level. Sure, it is likely, but not a certainty. I think by honestly including what we actually paid in 2016-2017, we have provided the colleges with the most certain information we have regarding our financial packages. They each certainly have the expertise to determine the likelihood of renewed packages.
Will let you know the results for future advice.
Wow, three colleges that don’t guarantee aid in any way each year? That is surprising. Are they state schools?
My son’s scholarships are guaranteed for four years, right there on the FA FAQ page for the college. I’m really shocked your children’s colleges don’t have a similar statement. His fall semester college-based aid is posted already I believe.
@rhandco MOST colleges do not guarantee need based aid from year to year as this is determine by the filing of the financial aid forms for each academic year.
And most colleges do not guarantee to meet full need…and most clearly state that if financials change from one year to the next…the need based aid is subject to change as well.
BUT…the 2016-2017 FAFSA and PROFILE forms used 2015 tax form data…and so did the 2017-2018 forms.
To @BrooklynRye in 2019-2020 will all of these students still be undergrads?
“The profile also asks for projected costs in the upcoming year. As I noted above, because aid is not guaranteed from year to year, we went back to our original projection of full costs.”
Because you have no indication so far (and certainly, no guarantee) of a reduction in costs, IMO, you are right to put in the full cost. This is what I consider “defensible,” i.e., if a mistake (or if things change,) it was as true as you could get it, at the time.
I believe the folks who can project a reduced cost have guaranteed awards (some outside entity or the college has awarded something over the four years.)
“…you should expect a similar award regardless of what you put for anticipated tuition cost on the CSS profile.” No, not necessarily, It depends on what the awards were and if any are limited to one year or whatever.
In my experience, with friends, this question is really only tricky when the costs are very disparate. Eg, one kid’s full costs are 65k, while another’s is 10k.
@rhandco - 2 are private schools, 1 is a public school. The closest we received to an assurance of continuing aid was to the extent to which there was no dramatic change in our financial circumstances. However, this was not a guarantee and we were also told there are other criteria, outside of our control, that can impact any awards. 2 of the schools have advised that we will receive awards notifications by the end of the month. We have no sense of when we will receive information from the 3rd, other than of course it will presumably be before commencement of the next fall semester.
@thumper1 - Concur that most colleges do not guarantee need-based aid. I believe there has been an increasing blurring of the lines between need-based and merit awards. Some colleges have eliminated all so-called merit awards and are solely need-based. However, even in those cases, we have been informally advised that a child’s academic or other performance may have bearing on the award or at least on its relative size. Yes, very expeditious to be able to use 2015 returns for both 2016-2017 as well as 2017-2018. Really helps to speed things along and to speedily meet the filing requirements. This also has the affect of enabling at least some sense of future award in that 2016 filings are done and will be used prospectively for 2018-2019. Also, we have 4 kids. The youngest will enter college the year the oldest graduates. The net effect is that we will have 3 kids in ungrad for 4 consecutive years. And, yes, we will really eat it from 2020-2021 and thereafter.
@lookingforward - Thank you for your confirmation. We have at times found the financial aid process and applications to be a bit opaque and at times even tricky. I, therefore, feel no undue pressure to be overly-open. But as you note, we literally have no guarantees and can reasonably assume…Our awards are also not for beyond the year in question. We literally do not know what the future will bring.
The general issue I find with this matter is that if there is an EFC with respect to which individual schools attempt, without guarantee, to make up a gap, then on a cumulative basis, how do 2 or more schools allocate the aid. In other words, if the total costs for 3 schools is $180k, and if our EFC is $60k, leaving $120k gap, how do multiple schools allocate that gap so as not to shortchange our need, but at the same time not to award us disproportionately above our need?
If your total EFC is $60,000 and you have three in college…this will all depend on the awarding policies of each college.
If the schools guarantee to meet full need for all accepted students…that is one thing. If not…all bets are off.
For Profile schools, each of your students will have 60% of the total EFC as their EFC when all are in college. Not 33%. But that had NOTHING to do with actual awards…which are based on the policies of the colleges.
You have to ask each college.
I don’t know where the kids are in school. But I had 2 in college at the same time, one at a public school and one at a meets need school that required the Proflle every year.
It seemed like small things changed every year. We relocated due to work one year, older kid had internships/co-op and the year we only had one in school.
Every single year I seemingly held my breath until the financial aid report came in July. Every year I was terrified that this was the year things would change and kid wouldn’t be able to go back.
I guess what I’m trying to convey is that I am sympathetic to your feelings. When your kid goes to a school that meets need and requires the Profile there is some uncertainty about it. I never could figure out what you do except accept that these feelings will happen.
Thankfully for us everything worked out, the school wanted my kid to stay and they graduated.
So if your EFC was $60,000…how would you have been able to be full pay for all,three of your kids?
For that question on the Profile, we put a number very close to our FAFSA EFC…in your case, it would,have been a number About the number of the FAFSA EFC whichnis onnthe SAR…and considers that there were multiple kids on college.
Or was your EFC $60,000 per kid?
Did you run the NPC for each?
Are you really able to be full pay for all of your kids? If not, why would you indicate you CAN?
Regardless…that question is not used to determine financial aid.