CIC only here - I don’t believe there is a limit on applications, but the same rules apply for getting dependent tuition here, at least one year of employment, I think… (I’m in year 18 - but it used to be that it was immediate, and we had several people who would pick up a job in June, student enrolled in August, and four years later…student graduates, in May, they’d resign in June and go back to their true career. I think that’s when they imposed the waiting period!
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I don’t know the ins and outs of the administration of the program but we have filed an appeal as our income went down, so we are waiting on those numbers… but part of me thinks this year when it’s down to a difference of the FA package being a relatively small difference than just doing the waiver, why not just do the waiver and save the headaches! (we are just above pell line, and will probably be partial pell eligible next year based on 2023 taxes.)
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There are no restrictions beyond meeting the minimum years of service (3, I think). Technically, I could have had all 3 using TE simultaneously. There are no limitations on the number of schools they could apply to.
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Ours I think is a certain years of employment thing. Maybe 2? No limit on schools to apply to though.
Yes, the waiver does seem much easier for sure. Unfortunately my D’s top choice we have to see if FA is doable as she is on the waitlist for TE. I really like the TE guarantee better though. Even if tuition rises we would be covered. 
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Sadly one waiting list is no more. All students offered have taken the TE so he is officially denied. One more to go. 
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Hey @DeeCee36 - I’m just checking back into these forums as I have a S25 going through the process next year. My S20 is graduating from Lafayette next month and TE has been a game-changer for us as they don’t do “merit” at Laf. I enjoyed swapping stories with you four years ago - best of luck!
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@DtheHun I’ll see you in next year’s thread! My S20 is wrapping up an ME degree at Lafayette with TE and I have a S25 hoping to head to Virginia or the Carolinas…
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Thank you! I do feel like we hit the lottery twice with TE. We would have been in no position to consider the schools that my girls ended up being awarded TE otherwise. I am glad to be done, once and for all, with the process. Too much uncertainty for my liking.
Best wishes to you and your S25…I’m sure I’ll be lurking on the Fall 2025 TE page soon enough!
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We are finished, our last go-round! Home institution is Jesuit, so FACHEX & TE. This search was so different than D22’s, who wanted small LAC within a day’s drive; D24, bz major, wanted larger university with business school, big city, no distance restriction. She will be at Fordham this fall on a FACHEX award! On 4/8 we declined other awards.
The TE forums have been so helpful. Definitely agree with those who say to cast a wide net and be prepared for the unexpected. We stuck to 11-40% and 41-60% regionally with great success for D22. I was concerned that D24 applied to too many in <10% range, but she ended up with 3 awards in that range, and 2 in 11-40% range (along with anticipated rejections). She applied anywhere she wanted, but we set low expectations and she knew she couldn’t attend w/o $$. I think in addition to stats, geography may play a role. We’re in the Midwest, and D24 didn’t have much luck with Midwest schools, but did get awards on both coasts. Who knows? Also, while this process can be incredibly nerve-wracking, D24 had a safety OOS flagship she really liked, and she also liked our home institution. It helped immensely to know she had good options regardless of award outcome.
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@wallyworldjb Absolutely! I will be there. 
Actually, I think a thread was already started…
My second is a D28, and will almost certainly be a different story than D24, as she’s NT, high achiever, super involved in band and theater, so will have ECs by default, etc… I am hopeful she finds her place and a waiver when it’s her turn. For D24, we are okay with borrowing some to make sure she is a school that will be good for her quirks, strong supports, etc but she is also a late-blooming 3.0 (and climbing) kid so not as appealing, probably, to the waiver selections. If even one kid got a waiver it would be fantastic. (I love my job, no plans of leaving, and don’t work it FOR the waiver, but it would be an excellent perk.)
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My husband’s institution allows only a handful of applicants each year based on seniority.
Our home institutions has 10 spots on the TE list and you get a spot based on seniority. There are also 10 spots on a wait list since many kids drop off list to go to home institution or for other reasons. In 22 we were #1 on the list because of seniority. What we didn’t know was that once we used TE in 22, we were dropped to the bottom of the list. Thus this year my D24 was #1 on the waitlist. She ended up securing a spot in the end, but it was a bit of a nail-biter.
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Is anyone having any luck with waiting list movement this week? We have two schools where we are the waitlist. One let me know that they are meeting to discuss whether they can make more offers. The other has not yet replied to email.
My S24’s top choice is a wait list position. He was told today they filled all their spots 
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No changes on our end. One school hasn’t even provided us any feedback on TE despite my emails; I’m taking that as a no.
Do you mind saying which school it was?
We have had no luck with our waitlist. They did say by mid May though. I also emailed and had no response but I did email my D’s AO and they reached out to TE. So that may be another way to get ahold of them. I didn’t want to bug them but I don’t know why they couldn’t respond to questions we had. 
Also, that would be really cool if they did make more offers. Crossing my fingers for you.
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I doubt we will get off the waitlist, but we appealed our initial offer and the school reviewed our 2023 taxes (where our AGI had gone down about 10% from 2022) and the final price, pre-loans, is 10k above room and board (our benchmark when considering costs) - so D24 will commit once she’s back from her school trip!
The final cost for Wheaton was only 5k over the waiver cost for Lesley, so she will be turning Lesley down and I hope it opens a spot for someone that has Lesley as their top pick!
ETA: Our 2023 numbers make us partial pell-eligible, so some federal grants were added as a boost to the Wheaton grant which is also need-based. I think this is another situation where TE/CIC is more valuable the more you make, and for staff/non high earners it’s murkier, so when folks say “why on earth would you apply to a school you can’t afford” - this is why! We absolutely could not afford sticker, which most people don’t pay, and we are not averse to loans if they are in the range of ‘reasonable car’ vs ‘forever home.’ And the caveat to all of it is that we will help if you are growing and thriving, and if you aren’t, you have a soft landing at home with free tuition at my institution.
D24s stats are that she’s an awesomely average kid, 3.0 test optional handful of ECs and one AP (didn’t take the test, just took the course for subject interest) with some neurodivergence, and even SHE has gotten great merit - it’s not reserved for the high flyers.
It will definitely be interesting when D28 is coming through, as she will have an easier time with admittance which I think will make it easier to net some CIC options as well - neurotypical, band kid, high honors with ease, etc - but I would still have her target the non-selective schools, too.
I added our info, and Lesley, to the spreadsheet - not sure what source is used for the demographic info for Lesley, so that is blank…
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