<p>Why don’t colleges publish the entire FA formula on their websites and get it over with?</p>
<p>Because they don’t use the same “formula” for everyone. Let’s face it. Some students are more desirable than others, and they will get better offers. This is true of academics, athletics, choirs, etc. </p>
<p>However, for federal aid, the FAFSA formula is published, and it is the same for all.</p>
<p>I realize that they don’t use the same formula - but why not get closer to full disclosure. I never put much stock in preferential packaging until I saw it up in print on Muhlenberg’s website.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.muhlenberg.edu/main/admissions/realdeal.html[/url]”>http://www.muhlenberg.edu/main/admissions/realdeal.html</a></p>
<p>Only a small percentage of parents and students visit CC - and until the colleges start sharing more about how their formula’s work - more and more families are left in the dark. And in a lurch when decision time rolls around. Preferential packaging essentially invalidates NPCs and colleges need to be more up front about that.</p>
<p>Kennedy…the net price calculators on each college web site are relatively new and begin to address your question. Until two years ago, any online calculator was really a crapshoot as it did not address differences from school to school in terms of how they calculated need based aid.</p>
<p>Kennedy, there isn’t a general formula at any college really. There are so many different factors that go in to each package that it’s impossible to just lay it out in a grid or something.</p>
<p>Kennedy, thanks! I thought that link was so well-put I (annoyingly?) forwarded it to my kid’s GC thinking it would help others. She just did a whole financial aid meeting, which was great, but didn’t go so far to address this part.</p>
<p>I am talking concepts here, not data in grids. Just give folks a heads up about something like preferential packaging if that is a strategy that a school uses. Is that too much to ask?</p>
<p>On their web site Willamette also spells out the situation in plain English. Not as elaborate as Muhlenburg, but appreciated:
[Admission:</a> Financial Aid: How We Award Aid | Willamette University](<a href=“http://www.willamette.edu/admission/financial_aid/how_award/index.html]Admission:”>http://www.willamette.edu/admission/financial_aid/how_award/index.html)</p>
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<p>At the end of the day, isn’t the whole college admissions, financial aid process about preferences? You are looking for some magic formula, where none really exists. The process is fluid from year to year. </p>
<p>The institutional mission changes from year to year regarding who to admit. </p>
<p>There is also some fluidity in financial aid process based on how much the school can afford to allocate in need based/ merit aid that will still allow us to meet our yield and manage enrollment. While there are some set guidelines that schools must follow, many times things are going to be situational because not every student’s/family’s situation is going to be the same.</p>
<p>redpoint - This is exactly the type of disclosures that more colleges should be doing. Especially those who distribute need-based aid based on merit considerations.</p>
<p>sybbie - Are you suggesting that most colleges package need-based aid based on preferences other than degree of need? I had no idea.</p>
<p>Kennedy…degree of need is used. The TYPE of package you see from student to student could very well be different based on the colleges desire to lure that particular student. Some students might see more institutional grant money, while others might see the max Direct loan in their package. Same aid amount…just the difference in grant vs loan.</p>
<p>And because we are talking about institutional money, the schools really can do whatever they want to do…it’s their money.</p>
<p>As noted…the formulas also vary from year to year depending on many factors.</p>
<p>you suggesting that most colleges package need-based aid based on preferences other than degree of need? I had no idea.</p>
<p>Absolutely. Doesn’t that make sense at the schools that don’t meet need? Take the two following students for a school that costs $30k:</p>
<p>Student A
ACT 33
GPA 4.0
EFC = $7k</p>
<p>Student B
ACT 24
GPA 3.2
EFC = $7k</p>
<p>Since the school doesn’t meet need, and only has a limited amount of aid, the school will think it’s “worth it” to give Student A more money because that student’s stats help the school’s stats.</p>
<p>I am the example of these practices - one kid “obviously” received a preferential package - the other did not. All I am saying is that this practice is not widely known. It would be helpful to understand that these practices exist by having the colleges themselves disclose them.</p>
<p>Kennedy – No disagreement. Most colleges hide this information very intentionally. If you want the maximum number of student applicants for rankings purposes, disclosing your actual financial aid and merit aid possibilities will not be helpful if you are usually doing preferential packaging. Kudos to Muhlenberg and Willamette for being direct about it.</p>
<p>(Even getting most colleges to disclose if and how home equity is considered is a challenge, even when the question is directly asked. “It depends” is an answer I heard more than once. A handful of schools are in the 568 Working Group, and promise to limit home equity consideration to no more than 2.4 times annual income – but remember that even there, colleges can have a very expansive view of what constitutes income.)</p>
<p>arabrab - Thanks for the validation - sometimes I think I am crazy in the way I think about things. It is curious to me that everyone is so accepting of these practices (meaning the non-disclosure).</p>
<p>Kennedy2010 -</p>
<p>Nationwide, more students are at community colleges than at any other type of institution. There aid is normally limited to federal aid (except for merit scholarships offered by the state, the CC, or a community group). The second largest group of students are at their own home-state public universities, where again the aid is often limited to federal monies or state monies that are awarded by formula. Students attending those private institutions that have the luxury of engaging in preferential packaging practices are in the minority. Hard to believe if you spend a lot of time here, but truly, they are in the minority.</p>
<p>Which of course is why families nationwide aren’t up in arms about this kind of stuff. Most families simply are unaffected by this practice. While it is frustrating for those families that are affected, if they are half-way alert they do figure out that some places seem to be handing money out a bit more readily to certain students than to others, and if they start researching options for their children before senior year, chances are that they can find colleges/universities other than the local CC and home-state public U that will prove affordable.</p>
<p>It is impossible to use anecdotal information about which kid gets more money where and why to formulate which schools use preferential packaging. I am actually less frustrated and more surprised. I seem to be the only one concerned about this. Anyway, it is water under the bridge since both S and D are done with decision day hoopla.</p>