Hello everyone!
My father has been unemployed for the past 3 years, my family is not in a very good financial position. I got my financial aid letter from UVa this morning (I’m OOS, so my cost is upwards of 50k). I received only a $5,000 loan. Can I appeal for better financial aid? UVa is my dream school and top choice.
First, make sure there was not a mistake in the information that was submitted on your fafsa and to the university.
I don’t know about the appeals process, but UVa does meet 100% of the demonstrated need for US students. The need is typically met by the maximum available federal loans and work study.
That hardly seems possible. UVA has a reputation of being very generous, and, as noted above, claims to meet 100% of demonstrated need. Instead of fashioning a formal appeal of sorts, you (and maybe together with your father) should simply pick up the phone and try to have a conversation with an advisor at UVA Student Financial Services. Dean J recently posted on her blog that the offer is not the end of the relationship, but only the beginning and encourages admitted students to contact the school directly to inquire about issues such as these. Best of luck and congrats on the admission!
There must be an employed parent in the mix which is would increase your EFC. Of course, you can get in touch with Student Financial Services to get into specifics. I don’t have any access to your FAFSA and CSS Profile, so I don’t know what your family’s income or net worth is and can’t really help! I’m sorry!
thank you for the advice! since my dad has been unemployed my mom has been the one supporting us but her income doesnt cover the tuition at all; I’ll definitely call them with my family and see if the grant can change. Thank you for the advice everyone!
To clarify my sentence above:
After the student’s and family’s expected contribution, the proven financial need is typically met by any Federal and State grants, and then the maximum available federal loans (Stafford and sometimes Perkins), and then work study, and then the remainder of the need using AccessUVa need-based grants.
You would need to check current policies on how any outside non-governmental scholarships affect your aid.