so one of the schools I’m looking at on college board, states that 87% of financial aid was met. So does that mean if tuition and fees all add up to 30k. Will they give me 87% of 30k? I know my efc will possibly be kinda low anyways so is it likely I’ll get a good amount of aid? I know I’m being naive but I just wanna know
If your need is $0, that would be the case if I’m mistaken. But you should run a NPC to be sure
I can’t run an npc. Because they ask questions that would suit dependents and I’m more of an independent due to my situation. So that’s kinda out
I encourage you to focus on 100% need schools so that you don’t have to take out an exorbitant amount of loans to go to school.
Well where can I find 100% need schools?
Is there like a list of them somewhere?
@malimal98 , the NP Calculators allow you to answer questions that tell whether you’re dependent or independent for financial aid purposes. I would recommend logging into your College Board account and filling out that information as best you can, so you can get some answers.
@ohiovalley16 : on the npc they don’t ask about a student being in a legal guardianship so right off the back I’ can’t get a good idea of what I would be getting…
No to your original question. Just because 87 pct of need is met doesn’t mean that you get 87 pct of your need met at all. Those are just averaging. Some may get 20 pct met, some 100 pct for instance. It does tell you that a high pct of need is met in general at least. But it doesn’t tell you what you would get.
You can find a list of schools that meet full need by google. There is one on wikipedia. But you have to realize that they define ‘need’. And many schools that don’t meet full need for all of the students all of the time will meet it for some.
You can use the college board search and select that option.
Thanks. Well I think my need is going to be quite high
A school that meets an average of 87% of need does not guarantee it will meet 87% of YOUR need. It’s an average. You could get 0% and you could get 100%.
If you are an independent student because you are in legal guardianship, it is possible you will have high need. That would get you a $5730 Pell Grant (assuming you have no income or assets), and $5500 in Direct Loans. You might get SEOG if the college offers it. In addition, your state or public universities might offer grants to low income students. You need to find out what your state, and schools have to offer.
The schools that meet 100% of need would be wonderful IF you get accepted. The vast majority of these colleges are highly competitive, and admit applicants with tippy top stats. So…what is your SAT or ACT score, and what is your GPA? Any chance you got a very high PSAT score and could be a NMF? Will you be competitive for significant merit aid anywhere?
@thumper1 : my act isn’t good it’s just a 22. And my gpa is 3.0 overall. I took the psat sophomore year and not junior year so I don’t think that counts. And to add to what you said, idk what my state offers but right now I’m looking at an out of state school so I dint think I should worry about what my state will offer
Unless that OOS school is very inexpensive, or offers excellent need based aid to ALL accepted students…please look at other options.
An OOS public university will not likely give you the aid you need to attend…and very likely will cost double what at least one instate public university would cost you in your current state.
The full Pell of $5730, and the Direct Loan (yours would actually be $9500 because you are an independent student) would pay the full cost of attending a community college if you continued to live with your guardians. It is possible that this money would cover the cost of a four year school, again as a commuting student.
I think you need to be very realistic about the costs of colleges, and the need based aid you are likely to receive.
I know you want to go OOS, but you need to be able to pay to do so. The only public universities that meet full need for all accepted OOS students are UNC-CH and UVA. I doubt you would be accepted at either. At all of the other OOS public universities, you would be paying the OOS costs to attend…where are you going to get that money? It is not likely that these schools will meet your full need.
I would suggest that you discuss your options with your school counselor. Does this guidance counselor know your guardianship situation? If so, the financial realities might be something the GC can help you navigate.
Keep in mind…you are looking at the goal of getting a four year college degree. Your journey to get there might be a little different than you want it to be now…but keep your ultimate goal in mind. There are lots of ways to achieve this goal.
Alright I will thanks
No, absolutely not.
It’s an average. Some students get 100%, some get 0% – some get something in between.
Keep in mind that if a student only has $10K of need – and the school gives that student $10K in loans and work study – that student counts as having 100% of need met.
So it could be that a school regularly meets need of higher income applicants (with low levels of needs), and gives very little to lower income applicants. The numbers as to percentage of need met applies to enrolled students - not the students who applied, were admitted, but turned down their spots because they didn’t get enough financial aid.
So that figure tells you one thing and one thing only: that school does NOT guarantee to meet your need. The school is very likely to leverage their aid – they will offer more money to the students at the top of their applicant pool, less to those at the bottom – but they might also choose to prioritize aid to students whose “need” is less.
Looking at average student debt figures will give you a little more insight, but keep in mind that those figures include only direct loans to the student – not private outside loans or any debt taken on by parents
Are you retaking the ACT?
Yes in the fall of this year
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idk what my state offers but right now I’m looking at an out of state school so I dint think I should worry about what my state will offer
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You need to include your instate options. Your stats are way too low to get into the OOS schools that give enough aid.
Even if you were to raise your ACT to a 25 that is too low to get into the schools that give the best aid …especially when your GPA is only a 3.0.
You need to be realistic about what your choices will be. And, it looks like you’ll be needing year-round housing or will you have relatives that you can live with during the summer and during Winter Break?
Who is advising you with your college search?
What is your home state?
What is your career goal?
Ok, I remember you now. Have you found out if your relatives are your legal (court-appointed) guardians? If not, why haven’t you found that out yet??
You’re home state is Tenn.
You’re looking at OOS publics and they won’t give you the aid you want. For instance, you were looking at Alabama A&M. It’s OOS and likely unaffordable to you. Then, someone who didn’t know your situation, recommended Auburn…that would totally not be affordable to you.
Do NOT pay attention to things like average need met. Not only does that mean little to you unless it’s 100%, but if it’s an OOS public, then the numbers are skewed because instate rates are much lower so it’s easier for the school to meet much of the need.
Anyone with lots of need has to be very careful with his app list. You have serious constraints (grades, ACT, and no one to pay).
You want to major in Plant Science. Surely a Tenn school has that or similar.
The state of Tenn has HOPE awards. Do you qualify?