<p>Ok, I will be attending a top tier LAC in the fall that is known for giving excellent financial aid. They met 100% of my demonstrated need through a renewable merit award, a need-based scholarship and a small loan/work-study. My question is about the need-based scholarship. Has anyone ever experienced a situation in which their need-based grant/scholarship changed significantly after their first-year(without a significant change in income and whatnot)??</p>
<p>I would definately check with the LAC's financial aid office about the possibilty of it changing. I've seen on this list that some colleges will do that to entice freshmen, and then underfund later years. We called D's college (another top LAC) and they assured us the need-based award would not change. They were more than happy to talk to us, even though it felt strange to ask.</p>
<p>It happens all the time. What do you mean by top tier? The better, more well endowed schools are the least likely to do this. Also look at what type of grants you're being given and if there are any rules for keeping them.</p>
<p>I mean top 50 LAC, It has hovered in the 25-50 range for the last 6 or so years.... Ill just say the school, DePauw University. It has an endowment around $438 million and around 2400 students, it also is listed as meeting 99% of need on average but im not sure if that is for freshmen or entire student body. The scholarship comes from the schools annual fund, I have no idea how this fund is determined. As far as i know there are no rules maintaining the need-based scholarship and my merit award requires that I have a 2.5 gpa at the of my freshman year, 2.7 end of soph year, and 3.0 the final 2.</p>
<p>I know nothing about PePauw, but if they meet 99% of need it's a good sign.</p>
<p>It better be, I turned down guaranteed(assuming i maintain the standards) merit full scholarships at other schools and Im really hoping i didnt screw up... the 12-20k in debt I might be looking at is already bad enough</p>
<p>the financial aid section of the common data set includes information for both freshman and the entire undergraduate population. dapauws doesnt look too fishy.</p>
<p>USNEWS would be a great place to get this info, but you need to subscribe. I did look it up and they do not seem to give significantly less to the average undergraduate than their freshmen, however, I am sure that is an average so if it happens to you, you won't care about statistics. They apparently met full need of 95% of their undergrads, only 86% of their freshmen. It looks to me like the difference in gift aid between the two groups was $200 less for nonfreshmen. They look like they are meeting full need of 95% of their undergrads. Just remember that need is how they determine need, and not how you determine need.</p>
<p>ericatbucknell, thanks for the link, i really wish i knew about common data sets when i was actually looking for colleges.
I have never heard anything bad about Depauw's aid office but i was just checking b/c a lot of things have changed since i enrolled (They voted in a bunch of new rules after may 1st, and the once responsive offices and counselors dont even answer their phones anymore) and im starting to feel a lot less confident about their administration.</p>
<p>With almost all the schools the self-help loan component goes up the junior and senior years. (I think the subsidized loan limits set by the government go up in those years) It is definitely worth asking the financial aid office (by email, so that you have the answer in writing) how your loan amount will increase each year if your family resources remain the same. It's a little late to start thinking about it now, though! The time to have asked for the answers to these questions was in April, when you were making your college decision!</p>
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They met 100% of my demonstrated need through a renewable merit award, a need-based scholarship and a small loan/work-study.
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<p>To add on to anxiousmom's post concerning need based FA and the self help portion: Yes, your stafford loans are going to increase (this will be the case no matter what school you attend).</p>
<p>Starting on July 1, 2007, Stafford Loans allow dependent undergraduates to borrow up to </p>
<p>$3,500 their freshman year (up from $2,625)
$4,500 their sophomore year (up from $3,500)
$5,500 for each remaining year </p>
<p>Your work study and student contribution of your EFC is also going to rise slightly each year (going to happen no matter what school you attend).</p>
<p>My concern would not be so much how much your need base aid is going to change, because the self help portion is government mandated but your merit portion. As your merit aid is renewable, it means that it is not guaranteed and does not happen automatically.</p>
<p>The questions that I would ask are:</p>
<p>Is there a minimum GPA requirement for keeping the merit aid?</p>
<p>Does the gpa requirement happen as a phase in (for example first term 3.0 gpa, second term 3.3 each term afterwards maintaining a 3.5 gpa)?</p>
<p>Is there any wiggle room? For example if you are required to maintain a 3.5 gpa and you end up with a 3.46, do you lose your scholarship (at some schools the answer is yes).</p>
<p>Is the aid attached to a particular major?</p>
<p>What happens if you have a bad term, is there a probationary period? For example if your gpa makes a dip in the fall term do you have until the end of the spring term to bring your gpa up before losing your scholarship or do you lose it immediately?</p>
<p>another thing I would ask about your merit money is :</p>
<p>Is it a straight $ amount
Does the scholarship amount get adjusted as prices in the cost of tuition rises (on average 4 to 5% a year)</p>
<p>My merit award is a strict dollar amount and it doesnt adjust. My renewal requirements for my merit award are very lax (2.4 cum fresh year, 2.6 cum soph year, 3.0 cum other two years) and the gpa is determined at the end of an academic year, it isnt attached to a major.... My need-based award didnt include any stafford loans this year, it included a perkins loan but that is being replaced by my scholarship from the national merit corp... My family income is going to be reduced next year due to a divorce being finalized(The one being divorced is not my biological parent so I will only list my mothers income as my family income next year) so I am hoping that all my loans will be of the subsidized type.</p>