<p>My S was accepted to a well known, selective (expensive) school that he is interested in attending. That's the good news. The bad news is that we got some merit aid and no fin aid. This is really crazy because our EFC and CSS is much lower than the COA they proposed. They asked me to write an appeal letter. I had to explain some numbers on the CSS, which I did in excruciating detail. Because this school is rather large, the appeal went to a committee. The response was "we'll give you the money next year, but not this year". </p>
<p>I don't like to give up without a fight. I can:</p>
<p>(a) respond to the asst/asst director who I have been dealing with (either by phone or email)
(b) try to contact the head of fin aid (by phone or email)
(c) contact the dean of the college whom I met last week at an accepted students function (who I would probably email)</p>
<p>If we can't get any adjustment, he will go elsewhere because I simply cannot afford it.</p>
<p>Any advice is appreciated.</p>
<p>
how much fin aid you need?
A few hundreds? A few thousands? A few $10,000s?</p>
<p>Can you provide more info?</p>
<p>How much does the school cost?</p>
<p>What was your FAFSA EFC? (I know it’s a CSS school).</p>
<p>What did the Net Price Calculator on the school’s website indicate that you’d be paying?</p>
<p>How much is the merit scholarship PER YEAR?<br>
Is the merit for all four years?</p>
<p>It sounds like the school is Tufts? IF so, does that mean that the scholarship is a private scholarship and only for one year? IF so, then that would explain why they said “no” for this year, but “yes” for next year.</p>
<p>Is it possible that the merit scholarship is covering the “need” that was determined?</p>
<p>This is really crazy because our EFC and CSS is much lower than the COA they proposed</p>
<p>What do you mean by “CSS is much lower than the COA”? CSS doesn’t give an EFC. CSS schools provide their own “family contribution.” It sounds like your CSS family contribution is much higher than your FAFSA EFC because you may have home equity, 401k acct, a business, business deductions, or something else that CSS schools use but FAFSA doesn’t.</p>
<p>The fully loaded COA for the school is $59,000</p>
<p>My S was awarded a $15,000 merit scholarship</p>
<p>My EFC per FAFSA is about $28,000K</p>
<p>So the different between FAFSA and COA is $16,000 per year. I know that schools do not make grants based on FAFSA, but I can’t imagine that the difference would be that great. I was hoping that our EFC would be about $30 - $33K.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids – Sorry I got my acronyms mixed up – I don’t do this everyday. We do have some equity in our home, but I can’t imagine that is creating the discrepancy.</p>
<p>Perhaps your family owns a business?</p>
<p>I wish we had a family business. The issue was that I had some dividends that they could not tie back to the assets I reported on CSS. So they took the liberty of imputing a gigantic amount of assets to me that I do not have. I explained it all to them (the assets are really not there), and as I mentioned, they literally said, “we’ll reduce your assets next year, but not this year”.</p>
<p>If the school doesnt meet 100% of need for all students, for all intents & purposes does it really matter what FAFSA EFC is?</p>
<p>If you were hoping your EFC was $33,000- that plus $15,000 in merit plus $5,500 in direct loans is just $6,000 shy of COA.
Which is pretty good if the school doesn’t meet EFC.</p>
<p>They may expect you to borrow against equity, many schools do.
He may be able to use the merit aid offer at this school to encourage similar offers at a school that is closer to your budget.</p>
<p>* I was hoping that our EFC would be about $30 - $33K.*</p>
<p>So, your budget is $30k-33k per year? </p>
<p>Is this a school that promises to meet need? </p>
<p>If your son really wants to go here, ask if he can defer enrollment (and the scholarship) for a year. Then next year he’ll have the right aid. </p>
<p>As EK4 mentions, if you’re willing to spend $33k this year, and you add in the merit, a $5500 student loan then you’re almost at COA. Your son can economize, buy used books, and work over the summer to close the gap.</p>
<p>What is the cost breakdown of COA. There probably is some padding.</p>
<p>That all said, yes you should appeal the imputed assets that they wrongly did. Go to the top for FA. contact the FA director.</p>
<p>The schools understand that no parent wants to tell her child no. They believe and rightly so that she will move heaven and earth to make up the difference. It’s a bit of a bait and switch game if you ask me. But on the other side, the school is offering some aide and the largess should be respected. BTW, each year (I think) stands alone for financial aid. I don’t see how it can guarantee to meet aid next year without looking at next year’s financial information?</p>
<p>All – Thanks for the thoughtful replies. However, my original question is still not answered – which is what avenue should I take to further my discussion with the FA people?</p>
<p>Regarding not offering need based aid?
Is there anything they are not aware of?
Any unavoidable expenses like paying for transplant surgery without insurance or an indication that last years income will not be replicated this year?</p>
<p>Its hard to start a dialogue unless there is something they dont know about.
If they are aware of everything, trying to get them to improve their offer, isn’t usually that successful.</p>
<p>I think the avenue to take is to contact the FA director, politely mention to that person that his/her office made a mistake and explain that the mistake means that your child’s aid wasn’t met. </p>
<p>If the school doesn’t promise to meet need, then they may not care that they made a mistake this time.</p>
<p>I think emeraldkity and mom2 are correct. It appears you are about $6,000 apart from what you hoped to pay after your S takes the federal direct loans. You may be able to trim some cost for transportation, spending, books either through budgeting tighter or through asking your S to save money from his summer job this summer. Since the appeal has gone to committee, if you go back you need to go back with backup where they mis-stated your dividend income or something new.</p>