<p>I was excited when I learned I was admitted, but then severely disgruntled at how expensive NU is for next year (something like $49,300). I’m like many people in my area…we are not poor enough to receive financial aid, yet we are not rich enough to comfortably afford the school at the same time.</p>
<p>It seems like work-studty programs are only for those who are somehow awarded the approval to work (the reason why eligibility for us to work and earn money needs to be screened escapes me, although I’ll admit know little about federal work-study eligibility). There are no merit scholarships (minimal for even national-merit finalists), and NU seems to be a hard school to get financial aid from.</p>
<p>If it’s not too personal a question, how are you paying for NU?</p>
<p>I have a horrendous package: my EFC is 36,000, and I have a meager grant of 4,000. My mom makes 40,000 a year. Parents are divorced. The thing is, NU got the impression that my dad is rich, and unfortunately, he hasn’t supported me financially in years, so now I’m stuck with this crappy package. </p>
<p>Oh, and I’m an ED student, so I have to attend NU and accept the package they’ve given me.</p>
<p>I’m going to contact the Financial Aid office before the first tuition payment is due to try to straighten things out.</p>
<p>I totally agree, the package I received was just all loans… I guess the main reason I’m hesitating, when I go to the Preview NU program, my dad and I are gonna go talk with the financial aid office hopefully to get some form of assistance…</p>
<p>i am so happy with my package… 21k in grants, 2.2k in work study, 22k parent contribution (reasonable), and around 5k in loans. **NU is now cheaper than going to my state school <a href=“UIUC%20which%20is%2027k%20this%20year%20for%20college%20of%20business%20students%20and%20i%20got%20no%20aid”>/B</a></p>
<p>I received an instate scholorship for my salutatorian status that I will be giving up in order to attend NU. Hopefully they will not disappoint financially :-/</p>
<p>Contact the financial aid office as soon as possible. There’s a ‘noncustodial parent information waiver form’ you can fill out if a parent has not supported you. Your financial aid package should be adjusted accordingly.</p>
<p>I loove my fin aid package. I have to pay 4200 even though I had an efc of 0; but even though it is still a stretch for us, my family will try to make it work. NU is worth it.</p>
<p>so…since your parent contribution is 22 K or whatever, are your parents going to pay that much every year? or is what your parents have to pay the amt that FAFSA predicted in it’s ECF?</p>
<p>You have to re-apply for financial aid every year, and the amount your parents will have to pay will likely change a little each year based on salary changes or tuition changes, etc. </p>
<p>And NU doesn’t automatically have you pay the amount FAFSA suggests. I think they factor it into their evaluation, though.</p>
<p>Ahh, my NU EFC is about $10,000 higher than my FAFSA EFC… My parents said they are willing to pay for it though. Plus i’ll have to do some workstudy and take out loans. =|</p>
<p>NU seems to add between $5,000-$10,000 to the EFC before finally telling you the family contribution NU expects from you</p>
<p>so if you have EFC=0, expect to be paying something</p>
<p>if you have EFC 20,000, expect to pay between 5,000-10,000</p>
<p>i hear what NU’s finaid office does is take everything you make payments to in intervals (like car, home, anything else) and consider that your parents will refinance, say your home mortgage, so that you are paying less for a longer time on your mortgage just so NU can bump your Family Contribution up</p>