I was accepted to BC early action. I know this was a while back, but after emailing and calling the school a few times I just received my financial aid package.
I used the NPC calculator several times; each time it calculated that my COA would be around 40k. Since this is my top choice school, and my parents can pay around 20 or 25k for me, I was fine with taking out maybe 15k in loans. My FAFSA calculated EFC was 24k . . .
My actual financial aid package was only 6k . . . this makes BC totally unaffordable for my family. I’m totally shocked that there is such a disparity between the NPC and my actual aid. I will have two siblings in college at the same time as me, and my father’s income varies A LOT from year to year. At the end of 2016 to the first few months of 2017 he was unemployed for several months.
It’s not an option for me to take out over 50,000 in loans each year. How should I go about the appeal process for more aid?
My twin’s college is basically chosen and we’ve received scholarship and aid info. Should I send proof of how much my parents will have to pay for my twin, as well as proof of my dad’s recent income (which has been much lower because of unsteady work)?
The info that I entered into the NPC was the same info on the FAFSA, CSS, and tax returns. Is it possible that their office made a mistake? I’ve seen a lot of people saying that BC’s NPC was very accurate for them.
sorry to hear that the numbers are not to your liking.
Unfortunately, the EFC from fafsa is not relevant to calculating need at Profile schools. (FAFSA is only used to determine eligibility for federal aid/loans.). The big difference for many applicants is the use of home equity in Profile, while fafsa ignores home equity. However, the NPC should have taken any home equity into account.
When two kids are in college at the same time, the family’s EFC is split (~ 50:50); for 3, its generally a third each. For example if a family’s EFC was $60k, with only one in college, the aid would be $10k (at a place that costs $70k). With three in college, each would have an EFC of $20k, and the college aid would kick-in above that. In other words the parents are still expected to contribute $60k, but just $20k/kid. But aid can be adjusted downward for scholarships. (BC is not going to give you more aid bcos your twin takes a full ride elsewhere.). So, the college cost of your twin is already accounted for (assuming that you marked three in college next year.)
Yes, you can appeal about the uneven income, but the likely response will be: ‘federal rules require that we use the 2016 tax return to calculate aid; next year, we will use the 2017 tax return and if income is lower, aid will increase then.’
Double check your NPC numbers one more time. If a discrepancy still exists, you should definitely make an appointment with the financial aid dept for a conference call and they can explain how they developed their numbers.
Not sure if this is true. My parents’ income fell by a third in the year before I started at BC and we appealed. As a result, we were able to use 2016 tax info (despite the FAFSA/Profile requiring 2015). I just checked with my dad and he confirmed that this is the case. This isn’t to say that the same will happen to you, so don’t get your hopes high, but hopefully you will also be able to appeal.
Edit: But, agree with above that you can’t rely on FAFSA EFC, unfortunately.
@edgeook8@bluebayou Thanks so much. I knew that FAFSA EFC was pretty much irrelevant to private schools like BC. I am more so shocked by the NPC. I entered the numbers so many times to double check, and each time it came out with a pretty manageable COA.
My dad said that the taxes for 2017 are almost done, so we will probably send those in as a well as a desperate letter that explains the situation and an appeal form. I also found forms to fill out that clearly state the cost of my siblings education. If nothing works I’ll try to make an appointment with an aid officer.
I knew that BC was terrible with aid but I was kinda hopeful after my package from Fordham was on par with their NPC
That’s just the thing: I don’t think BC is “terrible” with aid. They just have the home equity hang up. Wishing you the best of luck. Fingers crossed for ya.
I don’t think this is true. I think the EFC would be split 60/60 for 2 and it would affect how much the family’s expected to pay, NOT how much aid they’d receive unless it’s a meets need school. Instead of being $60k each the EFC would likely be ~$36k each, but it doesn’t mean the college would make up the difference. The net cost seems about right.
You asked about finances last July, so this isn’t new to you. Your family income fluctuates because your dad’s a contractor, but your family has lots of assets. Colleges won’t ignore those.
You can’t borrow $15k/year. You can borrow ~$5500. Do you have any affordable options? Colleges may consider fluctuations in income, but I wouldn’t count on them giving you thousands of dollars extra to offset what your parents will be paying for your twin’s school. I think their view may be that college is a choice and if you want to reduce what your parents are paying, your twin could choose a cheaper school.
You said they paid $8k for one sibling and maybe $15k for the other. If they’ll pay ~$20k each for you and your twin + the $5500 student loan + ~$3k if you work summers your budget is ~$28k. Do you have colleges whose net cost is in that range?
Depends on the school, but yes, many are like ~60% (and BC is probably one of those, but I don’t know for sure). However 50/50, (33/33/33 or more likely, 40/404/40?) is an easy way to see if an applicant is in the ball park.
BC is a meets-full-need school…
…and, as a meets-full-need school, that’s exactly what it means.
Yes, all are counted (~5.6%) contributed towards college costs. That is why I suggested that the OP recheck his/her NPC calculator, since family assets should have been picked up by the NPC (assuming that they were all entered correctly.)
I just ran the NPC again (for like the 10th time) and it came up with a COA of 41,000, saying that I would be eligible for grant aid and student work. I’m not really sure what went wrong when their office calculated it then. I’m positive that I entered everything correctly. If we set up an appointment would they go over exactly how they did it?
@austinmshauri aren’t there private loans that let you take out >5,500? I have more affordable options but like I said, BC is my first choice. I wouldn’t be as happy at another school. My twin already is going to a cheaper school (it’s not set in stone yet but its his first choice). My older sibling will be in grad school or working towards another degree after the next school year. I don’t think it’s fair of colleges to assume that your siblings should attend cheaper schools to offset your cost.
Also something else that’s kind of odd is I was accepted in December and was just notified of financial aid after I emailed the student services office. In that time frame I checked my portal a lot but never saw anything. I never received an email to say that it was added to my portal, or got a personal letter. Every other school I applied to sent me a letter with my COA but BC didn’t …
The NPC is only a guide. You got the real number in the mail.
I am sorry the aid did not work out for you. Lots of kids from our HS who apply also have a hard time affording it. Most can’t and have to move on. Schools that ask for the CSS Profile take a more holistic approach to FIN AID. Your parents must have the ability to leverage their future and BC is asking just that. The reputation around here is that BC is very expensive. They offer a great atmosphere and charge accordingly.
I am sure if you have the stats to enter BC, then you have many other great options.
Appeal. IMO the aid we received was fantastic but clearly yours was not so you should absolutely try. Uneven income–particularly gaps showing unemployment can and should be discussed in the appeal. And I have seen colleges who adjusted financial aid based on those “extraordinary” circumstances.