<p>scubasue, I have the same situation one year behind you. My first two kids will also have one year of overlap. And I too am worried about how we can interpret financial aid offers based on two in college, when years 2-4 will only have one in college. We <em>need</em> to know “approximately” what our aid would look like when our need drops substantially due to only having one in college (assuming kid 1 doesn’t go to grad school and/or school 2 doesn’t count kids in grad school). </p>
<p>I had assumed that the same schools that tell you “if nothing changes, your aid will be about the same” would also be able to give us <em>some</em> guidance about what would change in our award if something specific that we can predict in advance changes. Frankly, I don’t think we can let S2 commit to any school that is totally unwilling to work with us and give us a clue what kinds of policies they have covering that kind of change.</p>
<p>I was in the same situation last year, Older D would be a senior and younger D starting college, one year overlap. I knew what D1’s school would do (they are meet full need and the grant increased when D2 started college last fall). My larger concern was what D2’s school would do when D1 graduated. I made appointments in person with the assigned FA officer (not the gate keeper). I explained that I needed some financial information before D2 could commit to attending (this was admitted students weekend). No one would want the finances to derail a students attendance in year 2 or 3. I spoke with more than one school BTW (on the phone for those we could not revisit) and the more ‘generous’ (meet need type) of schools seemed to give more money in year 1 but a drastic decrease for year 2.</p>
<p>The school D2 decided to attend sat me down, pulled up our financials, asked me some questions (would income increase etc) and ran a rough estimate right then and there. It was understood that this was not any promise but gave me an accurate estimate that I could willingly let my D2 sign up without worrying that she would have $$ trouble in year 2.</p>
<p>I have run the NPC’s for both D’s for multiple years, including the change in number in college, and both schools NPC’s have been accurate so far. YMMV. If I get D2’s award for next fall (sophomore) I will let you know if it is not as expected.</p>
<p>I think it is in the schools best interest to have an informed customer so there is not a large exodus for sophomore year due to finances. The school D2 attends - does not promise to meet need.</p>
<p>PS - D1 will probably attend Law School next year (the Law Schools she is applying to count parents for FA), D2’s school will not count any siblings in grad school. Figures.</p>
<p>I have a friend who worked at a small, FAFSA-only private school. The grant they gave year 1 was the grant that would continue all four years … whether the EFC increased or decreased (so that can be good or bad). The public where I worked could not tell anyone what would happen from year to year, because it was too dependent on funding over which we had no control. The private where I work now is grad-only, so it’s not an issue. </p>
<p>When my son was thinking of attending a private school during his sister’s senior year, we turned them down because our EFC would rise to a level in future years that would have made the school cost more than we felt we wanted to pay for that particular school. It might not have actually cost us what we thought it would … but we were not willing to take the risk.</p>
<p>You can ask the aid office. Some private schools can and will tell you what will happen next year; others cannot and/or will not. The only way you will know what this particular school will do is to ask … and then, if you don’t get an answer, you will have to decide whether or not you are willing to risk what “could” happen.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone. </p>
<p>No offense to all of you FA officers–I know you’re just the messengers-- but some part of this process feels a little like shopping for a used car. PLEASE, just tell me what the #$%^ car is going to cost! 
</p>
<p>Have any of you ever applied for an Adjustable Rate Mortgage? When you get an ARM, the lender is required to provide 1) a cap which guarantees that your cost will never exceed a certain amount and 2) a document which details the worst case scenario at adjustment time, and an example of what the payment would be if the adjustment was happening at the present time. </p>
<p>Maybe colleges should do the same thing.</p>
<p>Disclaimer! I am just a parent…not a financial aid officer!</p>
<p>Your used car has a fixed price with no other variables. College costs are not fixed, and need based aid is dependent on things like number of kids in college, fluctuations in school funding, etc.</p>
<p>Remember in this mix, you will not even likely KNOW your kid’s cost of attendance or the %age of the increase in COA until during the summer. And returning students don’t typically receive their financial aid packages until much later in the spring or early summer.</p>
<p>Don’t worry Thumper, I’ve been around long enough to know you’re “just” a parent, but I didn’t want to offend the FA officers who are reading this. </p>
<p>My experience at used car lots is that though they may have a fixed price, finding out what that price is requires a ridiculous game that is very similar from one lot to the next. Of course, it’s not a great analogy, but this process is conjuring up some similar feelings. </p>
<p>My DH and I have worked for state schools for over 20 years each–he for a small university and me for a community college. I totally get that funding for all kinds of programs is often not settled until the last minute. I get that colleges, especially state schools are frequently at the mercy of state governments, and that students and/parents are in limbo until those issues/decisions are settled. </p>
<p>It seems we’ve all just decided that, at all levels, setting financial issues at the last minute is the new normal.</p>
<p>Some schools do promise not to change the rules on you after you commit, and if they need to make changes, they make them only for future students. S1’s school started adding more loans to many lower-income students’ packages last year, BUT that didn’t affect anyone’s aid who had already committed under the earlier terms. Olin also famously reduced their full-tuition scholarship for all students to half-tuition, but again, ONLY for students not already enrolled. They stuck by their commitments to those already enrolled under the full-tuition plan.</p>
<p>I guess that public schools can’t necessarily make that commitment, but it makes it a huge gamble for anyone who needs financial aid to attend.</p>
<p>I didn’t want to offend the FA officers who are reading this.</p>
<hr>
<p>That would be me. I don’t make the rules, so I can’t imagine why I would be offended by those who don’t like the way things are.</p>
<p>Kelsmom…glad you weren’t offended by my frustration and the analogy. </p>
<p>You might not make the rules, but I do know that you have to listen to a lot of complaining, and some heartbreaking stories!</p>
<p>The best you can do is contact the school and explain the situation. It can be a heavy whomp when the second one is out of school, I know. Friends of ours had one in a local public and one at an expensive private that did guarantee to meet need, but they did not think too much about the process until the one at the less pricey school dropped out, and that increased the other’s family contribution to full pay status. That was at least predictable.</p>
<p>If the school does not guarantee to meet full need, then there is no telling how they will handle a major change in future years. Most schools are pretty good about keeping packages pretty much the same year to year even when the school is not one that guarantees to meet need. But a big change in the EFC is a curve ball that can be handled in a number of different ways. </p>
<p>I agree that you should explain the situation to the financial aid office and get whatever assurances you can from them. If they out and out cannot tell you a thing, it is a concern. The idea you have of requesting some change to merit is one you can fly by Admissions. Do be aware that often Admissions and Fin aid are two separate offices that do not work well together at a number of colleges. Sometimes they are also one and the same. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Cpt…your PM box is full!</p>
<p>Just took care of that! You filled it!</p>
<p>Some questions so that we can hone in on the situation.</p>
<p>What is your EFC per student this year?</p>
<p>Is your DD’s school meeting the need (COA-EFC) attributable to her in their package?</p>
<p>Are you and have you been paying your Son’s EFC each year? </p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that the school is most likely NOT going to even be able to give your DD more than what the defined need (COA-EFC-Merit award) the next year. Most schools don’t permit that and federal funds don’t permit that either, other than PELL. So the absolute best financial aid package you can expect from that school is having you pay what your EFC will be less the merit aid. </p>
<p>So your EFC for your DD will double next year all income/asset things staying the same, with your son out of school. She has $18K reducing that figure, and if the school can meet that amount, most likely with a lot of self help like the Staffords and workstudy in there, that is about as good as it gets. Even at a school that guarantees to meet full need and with deep pockets, it can be a big hit when what the school expects you to pay doubles, when another student for whom you were not paying even close to EFC graduates from another college and leaves you with double the cost for the remaining student.</p>
<p>Cpt…see the op for more details, but current EFC for each kid is $9700; school is not meeting current need. In fact now that I think about it, the unmet need is about what our EFC will be next year. Yes, we’ve been paying son’s EFC in previous years, but it was significantly lower than this year, because of an increase in income.</p>
<p>As far as future year’s tuition increases, I believe there is more reason to fear high future increases for a student attending an out of state public than other colleges. They can decide the shaft the out of state students without getting their elected officials mad, and they have no obligation to increase any aid as a result, to the out of state students.</p>
<p>Most private colleges have realized the competition they face and have been holding their net tuition increases down in the last year or two.</p>
<p>Agreed Charlie. BUT a 3% increase on the private school cost can be a deal breaker for some students.</p>
<p>Another thing. Some schools have an EFC threshold for awarding grant money. If your child is below that threshold, they get the grant. If above, they are not ELIGIBLE for it. If the EFC is more than doubling for the OP, she needs to check to see if the college has this type of threshold for grant aid (remembering it is a need based award, and some schools award it only to the most needy students).</p>
<p>With one student out of college, hopefully the funds being used for the older student’s costs can be diverted to the younger sibling.</p>
<p>If the grant was canceled, we could divert the funds we’re using to cover his tuition to daughter’s tuition. </p>
<p>However, we will not be doing that. </p>
<p>The current award makes the school roughly the same cost as our in state publics. If she is not eligible for any grant funds next year, the net tuition would increase to $32.5K/year. This is a good school, but it is not $48000-worth-of-tuition better than either of her in-state public choices. </p>
<p>We’re willing to pay a little more, but not that much more.</p>
<p>For us, we’re basically planning on “diverting” what we’re paying <em>now</em> for S1 now to pay for S2 when he’s in school. For the overlap year, we’re hoping to pay a little less for each of them but still understand that it will probably be a bigger total. But we can’t afford to pay that bigger “overlap total” amount for all 4 years for S2. We need our approximate net payment for him once his brother is out of school to be about what we are paying now for S1. </p>
<p>S1’s school meets full need and we already have their maximum amount of self-help in S1’s package, so I believe his grant aid will increase for that year. </p>
<p>It’s S2’s school that will be the big question mark because they will be giving us a package for the one anomalous year when the much more important question is what the package will look like in future years. And our situation is more complex than the OP’s because my husband is self-employed and his income is very variable. So that adds more uncertainty to the equation. But what I will need to know from every school he is seriously considering is: If everything else stays the same, but there is only 1 student in school, what would the package look like. Fortunately, S2 is looking at a lot of schools with big merit, so the question may be moot at some of those schools, which would make our lives sooooo much easier. (Then the question is the same as it always is for merit aid – what does he have to do to keep it, and is there any probationary period or chance to earn it back if his GPA drops below the required level for one semester.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>To simplify: Yes.</p>
<p>Which is why the smartest move would be to see if you can get the offer converted in part to merit, which you mentioned might be possible. That would at least predict your keeping the 6k; but not what will happen to the balance of the grant next year.</p>
<p>IME, also, I’ve seen 6 - 7% tuition increases each year even at our state flagship school (which is a top national school with strong OOS body and very high fees.) They add up, just so you know. In addition, jr. and senior years are more expensive in terms of tuition as well. So even what was a full tuition scholarship back in 2009 now leaves a gap 
(Not complaining – we’re in state. I’m a lucky duck!)</p>
<p>My son’s school is not alone in these increases; I’m seeing COAs in the early to mid 60s at some of the privates that back in 2008 during our search were coming in around $54k range!</p>
<p>Best wishes in your discussion with FAid, but seriously, pursue the increase in merit eg. via matching offer if this school goes in for that kind of thing.</p>