<p>i tried the financial aid calculator online and it said i would have to pay more than $5000 in loans per year, and then some (“self help” - the remaining cost that the financial aid does not cover). i am from a very low income family and i was surprised by this. if i were to get merit scholarships, would it help me cover the self help amount and the amount that wouldve been covered by loans, or do they just lessen my university grants?</p>
<p>My D has outside (not Bucknell) scholarships and these come directly off what we pay. It does reduce anything Bucknell offers.</p>
<p>johndoe1992-</p>
<p>Most financial aid packages include some kind of loans. $5000 in loans per year is quiet typical. Some colleges will get you up to $8000 per year in loans. They expect after you graduated from college you should be able to make decent amount of money and that these loans have nothing to do with your parents income.
If you are looking for colleges that give aid packages consisted mainly scholarships and grants, try Amherst, Williams, Wesleyan, Colgate, Vassar. These schools tend to give out very good packages for low income families.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>The Financial Aid calculator for Bucknell gave us a net figure that was higer than any other college we looked at. Is this what the current families experience or is the calculator a “worse case scenario?”</p>