The Common Data Set section H2(h)-(m) excludes PLUS loans, unsubsidized loans, and private alternative loans from being counted to “meet need” numbers, so that presumes that subsidized loans and student self help (mentioned in H2(f)) count toward “meet need”.
Of course, it is possible that two colleges with the same list price could give the same net price, with one claiming to “meet need” on a stingy version of “need”, but the other “gapping” on a generous version of “need”. (Actually, it seems odd that there aren’t more colleges claiming to “meet need” by being stingier with their definitions of “need”.)
To previous posters, I’m looking for those who were gapped from their NPC or other expected contributions. As for loans, PLUS loans and private loans should not be considered as meeting need. Please email if you fit these descriptions.
my S - HS class of 2020 - has been gapped at an OOS public college.
his EFC + merit scholarship is way less than the cost to attend - there’s a $22K gap.
The Net Price Calculator showed that this would happen, but he applied anyway, hoping for a chance at their top full tuition scholarship invitation.
He’s also been gapped at a private school by about $10k: but this school doesn’t promise to meet needs.
he’s applied to several T20 schools and we haven’t heard about admittance yet. But I will say his EFC from the FAFSA is about 20+K less than what the NPCs say on these schools’ web sites. I haven’t quite figured out why there is such a big difference . . we are midwest, and do not have a high value home either.
I don’t think colleges are being tricky with this gap, I just think people often don’t know what they are getting into. There’s only like 300 schools that promise to meet full need in the US; the rest of the 2500 schools don’t promise this, and a gap is to be expected. That gap isn’t fun, but it wasn’t surprising to us.
“To previous posters, I’m looking for those who were gapped from their NPC or other expected contributions. As for loans, PLUS loans and private loans should not be considered as meeting need. Please email if you fit these descriptions.”
I am not clear as to what you are looking for. If the parents aren’t taking out PLUS or private loans to cover the gaps, then what magical source of money are you hoping to learn the parents are accessing to pay for the kid’s education?
To pay for college beyond what they planned or expected to afford, some parents may sell/deplete assets that they did not otherwise want to sell/deplete, possibly compromising other financial goals (e.g. younger kids’ college or the parents’ retirement).
IMO is the OP needs to clarify whether this is a puff piece of outrage or an educational piece focusing on how important it is to get a grip on financial literacy WRT to the college process and comprehend what FAFSA, EFC, NPC, CSS/profile all mean to applicants… Can you leave this until the week before filing? No. Is it an important part of finical literacy? Yes. Is there any such thing as a free education, well yes, there is. Is this article talking to the poor or the rich or the donuts? Almost everyone will be gapped. IS OP asking for stories from the one who do risk it all and borrow? Sure, that is a great story.
Jeff—you posted in the wrong place. CC is full of high-achievers and highly educated informed parents (so not the real world) who believe that that everyone has equal opportunity to access information, etc…in other words–fantasy. The fact is that the majority of parents/students find the current system head-spinning in its confusion and rightfully so, IMO. Set foot in a public HS on the South Side of Chicago and tell me that group of students/parents have the same access to information as a public HS in Oak Park. Talent is equally distributed but opportunity is not. If a single parent working 2 jobs to support his/ her family also has ample time to research FAFSA and CSS profile obligations, not to mention filter outside scholarships in order to fund their child’s education, then all is well. If they are fortunate to get that far and they see an estimated family contribution of $5K spit out from the government, they wouldn’t be “naive” to think that colleges/universities would be bound by the same governmental guidelines as the family, would they? Why would they think otherwise? Because they have 20 in-school college counselors available to assist? NO; because they have the financial flexibility to hire a private college consultant for their child? NO. Because they have ample time between 2 jobs and raising a family as a single parent to do extensive amounts of research to become fluid in College admission/FA speak? NO. So please refrain from the mountain-top approach and don’t tear into the OP b/c he is looking to help inform the other 90% and not cater to the CC 10%
As noted…maybe on this posters other thread…we had a substantial gap between our FAFSA EFC and what the school gave in aid. Our EFC was $22,000 or so for each kid. One kid went to a college that cost nearly $55000 a year at the time, and got $0 in need based aid but got a $6000 merit award.
The older kid went to a college that cost $48,000 or so at the time. He had a $10,000 merit aid award per year which was fine. When his younger sibling applied to college, we completed all the financial aid forms…again…and his merit award increased by $250. He got no need based aid at all.
As I noted, no magical source of money. Both parents worked in professional jobs and we paid out of current earnings. We had expected to do so, and planned to do so.
Having to pay for college was not a surprise.
If we hadn’t been able to fully fund these colleges, our kids would have commuted to the local community college.
If the OP wanted to help the 90% he wouldn’t be asking if people got the aid they “should have” based on the federal EFC. The assumption seems to be that the federal EFC is what families should pay, and that’s not accurate at all. It would be more helpful to explain how aid actually works and what EFC does, and doesn’t, mean.
It’s not that big of a stretch that people would think expected family contribution might mean something like I don’t know, maybe what the family is expected to contribute.
So say I’m a normal person and not someone who lives on CC and knows more than 99% of the population. I filled out my FAFSA, and my EFC is $5,000. A reasonable person who is not familiar with the way it works would think that means they are expected to come up with $5,000. That’s what the formula says they should have to come up with. Maybe you think that an out-of-state public might not fund it’s non-residents, or maybe that doesn’t cross your mind.
At a minimum you probably would expect a school that purports to meet full need is going to either follow that number exactly or at least end up reasonably close. If you would have asked me 5 years ago, I would have thought that was true.
Also I don’t think “should” necessarily means someone owes me something. It can also mean what is expected.
Including the points listed in reply #17 and #18 would help the article be helpful to exactly these students and parents who may not be that knowledgeable about how college financial aid works.
I agree that most people don’t understand how it works, and that is a problem. A story which explains this would be very useful in mitigating that. A story which comes to these “educated” CC parents to ask for complaints is not. So it makes a lot of sense that this group is questioning what the story intends to accomplish.
The question is if the type of “not CC educated” people who “need” this kind of information like those in post #26 are the typical readership of the New York Times.
I recently realized that there can still be surprises when you think you are extremely educated on the process. My second child is going to a school that meets 100% of “need.” I completed that college’s NPC very carefully, tax documents, mortgage statements and everything else you can imagine in hand. My husband is self employed. Yes, there is a tiny footnote under the calculator stating that it may not be as accurate in some situations. What I didn’t expect was that it wasn’t even in the same ballpark. This school uses the “consensus” method and adds a variety of IRS approved business expenses back into your income. The depreciation, travel expenses to job sites, the cost of his office phone system and many more were added back in as income which made the profit on paper much higher than the money that actually got to our bank account. It would be really helpful for schools that use this method to tell people that they use it and provide a link to information about it. Yes he will still attend. For a variety of reasons, it is the best place for what he needs, but there goes our home equity. I didn’t think we were naive. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.
In that situation, it is important to work directly with the financial aid office, because those are discretionary decisions.
“Depreciation” can be a paper expense only (example, long term depreciation taken on assets that were bought and paid for in prior years) – but it can also represent an expense taken for a purchase of equipment that is essential to the business, such as a 179 election. It really depends on the nature of the business and the purchase.
Same deal with travel – there is a difference between discretionary costs to attend a conference, or choosing to travel first class & charge off an expensive hotel vs. the straight out of pocket needed to get to a place where work has to be performed.
Phone system? Is it an independent system contained wholly within a separate office? or a self-employed person who is looking for a way to write off the cost of their cell phone?
Once my kids were already in school, I found it helpful to anticipate and contact financial aid early on. I also was in the NCP situation – but I remember one year when I knew my ex had to do a lot of business travel – and I contacted the financial aid department ahead of time to explain the circumstances. (Of course as an NCP he had to talk to them directly as well – but I think I called initially to make sure the file was flagged).
But yes, self-employment does create a mess and it is probably a good idea to run the NPC with higher figures, assuming certain categories of business expenses will not be allowed.
Not all of us CCers came out unscathed. I’ve been out of the college hunt game long enough that I don’t check here often. Count me among those with a supremely unpleasant surprise. I had two in college. My daughter applied to a string of “meets need” colleges in fall of 2016, many where she was a top applicant, and probably 30 outside scholarships. Our EFC for her was around $16,000.
She was admitted to 7 of her 8 colleges. TCOA numbers ranged from $19,000 to $35,000. She got no outside scholarship money. It was rough.
Worse, when our EFC dropped to about $10k per kid they did not adjust aid except for adding a Parent Plus loan. We did not take it, instead reducing my 401k contribution and raiding the college fund of kid #3, plus all 3 have had to work during college. My wife’s cancer treatments had eaten most of our savings already.
Like kkreuzk, my wife owned her own business and we had a ton on expenses that did not reduce our EFC. One year, we had to declare $26,000 of business income that did not ever have any chance of making it into our bank account. Instead, we owed taxes and a penalty.
One more year left of tuition for kid #3 at a U that did not offer any surprises. I’m just hoping I stay healthy and employed at this point.