@OHMomof2 - There will be several components to your overall financial aid package. There are, of course, outside scholarships and grants which have nothing to do with the school or government. The school provides two types of aid; merit- and need-based aid. Merit-based aid (excluding full-ride) is usually awarded as eight semesters (and only eight semesters) of $XXX, and this does not fluctuate at all. There is also university gift aid, which is based on the CSS Profile you submitted. This is where the Northeastern Promise applies. At the very least, it will always go up by the same percentage as tuition; but it will never go down, even if you win the lottery. Finally there is federal aid, awarded based on the information provided in the FAFSA, which comes in the form of Perkins and Stafford loans (both subsidized and un-subsidized). While still loans, they have much lower or no interest with various perks regarding when you have to pay them off. If you show more income than last year, your federal loan allowance will likely go down somewhat.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Many degree programs at Northeastern include, at some point, participation in a graduate degree program. This applies to BS/MS accelerated programs, the physical therapy program, and possibly the pharmacy program (I’m not certain). There is a point when you transition from undergraduate student status to graduate student status. When this happens, your tuition increases somewhat and you become ineligible for certain types of aid. Talk to a financial aid adviser for more information on this.