What is wrong with IU's Financial Aid?

phuriku
Wed, 14 Apr 2010 01:45:48 +0000

Yes, U of C failed to meet my need, despite the fact that they claim to cover 100% of it. But as is clear on these boards, Chicago is kind of infamous for using its own “special formulae” to determine need instead of using EFC as calculated by FAFSA.

I checked the FAFSA, and it says that it was submitted in mid-February before the deadline. However, it also says that IU failed to process it until mid-March… could this be the reason why we weren’t given any aid? But this would be IU’s fault… we submitted it and they just apparently didn’t process it for an entire month. Now, I’m aware that the state has cut the budget and that they’re under no obligation to pay anything to us, but it strikes me as morally corrupt to fail to give a single dollar to a single parent who’s trying to put two kids through college on a <$50k/year salary while simultaneously trying to make payments on her house.

My mom did contact IU financial aid today. They said that this is her final aid decision. I told my mom to go talk to them in person in Bloomington in a few days because frankly, this is going to bankrupt the family. I really don’t know what else we can do if they won’t give us any money, though. She will be taking to them a copy of her own financial records, my college tuition statement, and a few other documents. Is there anything more we can do? According to College Board, IU on average covers 90% of student’s need. Why have they decided to cover 0% of our need, specifically, though, especially when we need it desperately?

(By the way, the <$5k EFC is for both my sister and me together. So it really should be <$2.5k for each of us individually. In other words, IU is leaving upwards of $10k/year in need unmet. In fact, since Chicago halves the expected family contribution when 2 family members are in college, I will actually be paying less at Chicago than my sister will be paying at IU next year, which is really disturbing since Chicago is an expensive private school with infamously subpar aid.)