NYU financial aid package average?

ucbalumnus
Tue, 01 Sep 2015 03:36:10 +0000

http://www.nyu.edu/financial.aid/misc/npc/ says that the net price for a NYU student living in the dorms from a family of 3 with 1 in college and a family income under $30,000-$39,999 is $25,065. This is beyond the realistic financial reach of federal direct loan plus typical student work earnings (especially if you will be doing a time consuming visual or performing arts major).

Of course, even that amount is a best case scenario. If your other parent is alive but uncooperative or unreliable with financial aid forms, then you will get no financial aid from schools like NYU that require both parents’ financial information. Any income s/he earns and any assets s/he has will need to be included in the calculation if s/he is cooperative with the financial aid forms. I.e. your actual financial aid from NYU is likely to be worse than the estimate from the net price calculator. NYU’s net price calculator also asks very few questions, unlike the actual FAFSA and CSS Profile, so it may only be the roughest of estimates (unlike some other schools’ net price calculators that ask very detailed questions to give better estimates).

Realistically, if you apply to NYU, you are aiming for a large (nearly full ride) merit scholarship, either an explicit scholarship or one embedded in “preferentially packaged” nominally-need-based financial aid, not merely admission.