<p>With an EFC of roughly $30,000 and the school with a COA of $55,000, should I be expecting loans to cover the “need based aid” that they will give me? The school pledges to meet 100% of demonstrated need</p>
<p>A few schools don’t package loans, but assuming you’re not talking about one of them, it’s hard to say. You may get a little grant money thrown in, maybe more than a little, maybe nothing but loans, maybe some work-study. You’ll really have to see when the aid award info is available. It can vary wildly by school.</p>
<p>Anyone else?</p>
<p>I agree with rentof2.</p>
<p>We are in a similar situation with a $30,000 EFC and some schools where the total COA is $52,000-$55,000. So far, we have received $ aid packages from 2 schools where S has been accepted. In both cases, he received about $10,000 in grants and $6,000-$7,000 in work-study and loans. While his grades are good, they are not good enough to receive a full-ride tuition scholarship based on academic merit. I get the sense that the tough economy has had an impact on what some of the schools may be awarding? What do others think?</p>
<p>michaelw – I think that your awards are pretty typical for someone with $30K EFC. The schools have left your student with a ~$5-7,000K gap between your EFC and what they are offering. Not ideal, but that seems to be a typical case. If you can’t cover the EFC + the gap, then your student will have to look at less expensive alternatives.</p>
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As far as I’m concerned the school is actually offering ONLY $10K. The other $40K+ is up to you and your son to pay whether you use loans or cash. Good luck.</p>
<p>For all but a very few schools, need-based financial aid includes scholarship, loans and work-study. Depending on the school and how much they want you, loans may be prohibitively high.</p>