My son just got admitted to his dream school Duke but only awarded $20,000 aid that we will have to pay $50,000. our own calculation on Duke website at $30,000 which is already a huge stretch for us. We can’t afford it. Any ideas how to appeal? What’s the best ways to pay for it?
My FAFSA EFC is 33k. Does that indicate anything? One odd thing is that Duke indicated my son’s contribution is 2600 when he has no income or savings - where did they get that number? Anyone has experience in the appeal process. We have nothing changed since submission of financial documents but I am wondering whether they made a mistake for such a big difference 20K. Thanks all for your response.
What is the basis for your appeal? Is there something in your household’s financial situation that you think they missed (unreimbursed medical expenses, care for a special needs child, medical/nursing home expenses for an elderly parent, Job loss, etc).
The information on the NET price calculator is only going to be as good as the information that you put into it. The net price calculators may not be good predictors for business owners, self employed people, divorced and blended families.
Some families do a lot of belt tightening (no vacations, no new cars, no upgrades to the home). If you feel that it is unaffordable, then you need to speak with your high school GC and the college about getting released from your ED commitment and help your child create a list with affordable options
The net price calculators sometimes don’t have ALL of the information used by th colleges when they calculate need based aid.for example, they don’t ask for real estate in addition to your primary residence, your equity in your primary residence, etc. in addition, some parents forget to add back in their pretax retirement contributions for 2015 which can be a big amount if two parents are contributing.
Remember, admission without enough financial aid or scholarships to make the school affordable is equivalent to a rejection. So if you cannot convince Duke to improve the financial aid to make it affordable, you and your son should move on, since Duke has (financially) rejected him.
Many schools calculate EFC their own way that is different from the FAFSA calculation. Duke is presumably such a school. What did Duke’s net price calculator say? https://financialaid.duke.edu/net-price-calculator
This is a typical student contribution from earnings from part time work during the school year and/or summers.
Duke probably estimates that your son can get a job over the summer and through the school year so he could contribute $2600.
For my D15, there were a number of schools where she was accepted but could not attend because the financial aid offered wasn’t enough to make it affordable. I hope your son was prepared for that scenario.
Do not let him stop working on applications to other schools, and submit by the deadlines if this is not settled to your satisfaction. Don’t let him withdraw any other apps until you know the $ work.
You should contact the FA office and ask about the difference from what the NPC shows. Feel free to do this as a parent (I wouldn’t trust my kid to fully understand the answer and our finances). The answer is important, because it could affect aid at other schools on his list as well.
Most of us that have been through this process are, initially, shocked that more financial help doesn’t come through in the manner that we expect. You can appeal, but if you are truly not “low income” the award usually stays the same. Full rides are almost non-existent. Our son was a national merit winner and was admitted to USC but didn’t receive the major award, so we were given a similar amount to yours. We would have had to pay the rest ($42k with two other children at their universities). We absolutely refused to take out loans in that amount. Needless to say, he did not attend USC.
The schools’ expect that your child has some savings that he can contribute towards his education. (That includes costs for his computer and supplies.) They usually expect a figure around $3K contribution from the child, each year because the child should be invested in paying for his own education, and can work a part-time job.
@sybbie719 is absolutely correct. You tighten the belt.
We don’t take vacations, don’t buy new cars, don’t spend entertainment dollars (no new movies) we do shop at thrift stores and buy items with coupons. We make our own house and vehicle repairs and have learned a ton through Home Depot’s Saturday repair classes. We love duct tape!
Duke uses the CSS Profile to determine awarding of institutional need based aid. The Profile goes into far more depth than the fafsa.
So…what was on the Profile that isn’t on the fafsa.
Equity in your primary residence...what is that amount?
Are you self employed or do you own a business?
Are parents divorced? Anyone remarried if so?
Any significant assets? Savings, stocks, etc?
Forget about the fafsa EFC because Duke doesn’t use that for awarding DUKE money! What is on your Profile?
ETA…this school is expecting your son to earn $2600 as his student contribution. He cannget a summer job, work now, work while he is on college…or you can pay that bill. Many generous colleges expect a student contribution.
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My FAFSA EFC is 33k. Does that indicate anything?
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No, because your CSS profile likely indicated a source of funds that FAFSA didn’t. Maybe home equity? Maybe business deductions or business value?
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One odd thing is that Duke indicated my son's contribution is 2600 when he has no income or savings - where did they get that number?
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Colleges estimate that about $2500 is the amount that students spend each year on various stuff…extra food, clothing, toothpaste, shampoo, extra travel, dates, movies with pals, pizza on a Friday night. They have no intention of funding that. So, they expect students to work over the summer to earn those dollars.
The student contribution is not just for discretionary spending. The colleges expect STUDENTS to take some financial responsibility for their college costs. The student contribution is a modest number considering it is for a full year.
True…was the student offered any work study? That amount combine with the expected student contribution would probably be about $4500-5000 total per year.
Hmm, tightening the belt. I understand sacrifice for your kids, but you should take perspective and take care of yourself also. Giving up everything enjoyable in life = stress = cortisol, less retirement, impact on physical and mental health. You only get so many trips round the sun. Don’t give them all up for some elite college, or at least think about it in perspective.