So I read Princeton’s website on financial aid, but I’m still having trouble exactly what it entails
Could someone explain it to me?
The way I’m interpreting it is that there are no loans but grants which are paid off through work studies?
Grants are generally not paid back. All work study does is give you the opportunity to apply for some jobs on campus that are designated as work-study jobs. Your wages are paid directly to you ftom the job, and you can use them as you wish. I believe currently they try make their FA packages generous enough so students do not need loans. But as with all colleges, the definition of meeting need is based on their formulas, not what you hope they will award. Run the net price calculator on their website.
So I didn’t run the net price but I did look at their table and I fall under the 100k income bracket meaning I have tuition free and 28% of room and board paid. That equates to around ~10,000 each year. Does that all go into a loan?
Run the calculator, it will tell you what the aid breakdown is. Note that if you have divorced parents, if they own rental real estate, or have a small business, you may get less aid than it shows. I assume federal loans are still available if you want to take them, but you are limited to $5,500 freshman year. Any other loans would require an adult co-signer. You are going to want to run the calculator I every school website anyway.
I learned on these boards that there are also loans available to parents directly from Princeton, up to the whole amount they ask you to pay.
^ Here’s a link:
https://finance.princeton.edu/how-to/tuition-student-billing-l/loan-options/princeton-parent-loan-pro/
Princeton’s financial aid is really generous. If you get accepted, they will send you a folder with a detailed financial aid form and the money they give you and expect you to pay. Mine (and I expect a lot of others who applied for aid) shows a grant, a work study, a personal contribution, and family contribution amount. Your family contribution is the EFC they determined for you and the work study, which is generally not above $3,000 (because you obviously can’t work for that long as a full time student). The grant does not need to be repaid. Everything just helps pays the all the costs of attendance. The university’s page said that the average grant aid was more than the tuition.
IMO once you get in, they will be very nice to you and help you so you can stay. That’s the impression I got and that’s also what my interviewer told me. Good luck!