<p>I hate that we have to pass up over 30K in need based aid at one school (Earlham) because we just can't come up with the rest (never mind that my daughter isn't really interested in the school anyway) and I'm wondering if others are doing the same and if you're willing to share the schools info so that perhaps future college applicants can see which schools have grant based aid to give ...</p>
<p>I know what you mean. A few years ago, my son received a $30K award, and we were so happy and impressed. And then we looked at the COA for the school which was over $55K. Isn’t it ridiculous that we would have still come up with more than $25K when he got such a sizable award? It’s times like this that it comes home how expensive colleges have become. I remember getting a NMF award and it just about covered my entire private college tuition. Now the school is more than 10X the tuition cost, and that award has stayed at the $2500 level. </p>
<p>Still, it would have been a nice break for us, had my son chosen that particular school, as the net cost is lower than the school he picked. It was just astounding that such a huge award still left so much left to pay.</p>