So recently I asked one of the schools that I gained admission to (For early action) if they could give me additional financial aid due to my family’s extremely difficult financial situation. But instead of accepting or declining my request the school continues to tell me that I should apply for scholarships (Most are for U.S. citizens) and that they cannot offer any more aid until I filled out the FAFSA (which I already told them I am incapable of fully utilizing due to the fact I am an international student). Should I call the school and set up an appointment to see if they could give me any more aid? Or will this be too much? Should I wait to ask them if they could give me additional aid until after every other applicant fills out the FAFSA and scholarships? Thank you all very much for your time!
Does the school has other form for the international students to apply financial aid?
Does the school guarantee to meet full need for internationals?
How much can your family pay each year for 4 years?
How much is the Cost of Attendance at this school?
How much aid has the school already notified you that you would receive?
Is this a private school?
Did you fill out CSS Profile?
How much aid were you awarded?
How much CAN your family pay each year?
Sounds like you live in the US…What is the extremely difficult family situation? Has the main breadwinner lost his/her job?
@4kidsdad I dont think the school has any special financial aid form that international students can fill out (none that I can find :/)
- I was already accepted into the school, and they haven’t offered to meet my full financial need for schooling.
- Due to the fact that my parents are also paying for my sister’s college tuition, I’m guessing they can pay for about $9,000 - $10,000 a year?
- With a combination of tuition, fees, room, and board the school costs about $50,000 (Its a private school)
- The school has already offered to pay me about $23,000 a year if I choose to attend there.
Does the fact that the school has already given me a price reduction hinder my chances at having the University squeeze out a bit more financial aid for me? Should I ask the school if they could see if there is any more financial aid available for me near the end of the year (When I’m choosing whether or not to attend schools I got into) or should I call the financial aid office right away? (I already emailed the school asking for aid, but they keep telling me to look at scholarships and the FAFSA… I don’t want to annoy them haha)
Thank you all very much for your responses!
@mom2collegekids
I do reside in the U.S. and have been living here since I was 5 months old (Unfortunately, I was just born in another country…)
My parent’s business is not doing as well as before, therefore we are in a very difficult financial situation.
- Yes, this is a private school
- Unfortunately, this school does not accept CSS profiles
Questions 3 and 4 are answered above as Numbers 2 and 4 
Was the $23,000 you received a merit award based on your grades and such?
This was an early action acceptance. Your full financial aid package might not get to you until April…if you are even eligible for additional aid from this school.
You need to go to the school website, and type “international student financial aid” into the search function. You should get taken to the section of their website that talks about international student aid.
You need to find that info before you do anything else.
ETA…the school might not meet full financial need for all students. Most colleges do not make this guarantee for all students…and even less make it a guarantee for international students.
In what world is asking for $17000 a “bit more” financial aid?
Did you apply to any financial safeties?
What are your stats?
If the school is $50,000 and the OP has gotten only $23,000, she is asking for a huge amount more aid.
Are you sure your parents can actually pay $10,000 a year?
Based on what you’ve described, it would not hurt to set up an appointment with a FA officer. I would not get your hopes up, though, as asking for an additional $17K is a LOT more money than many schools will swing. I have heard that it is very rare for schools to increase an offer by more than $10K - perhaps others can comment on likelihood of an FA appeal granting more than that.
Were you not able to run a NPC at this school?
Thank you all so much for your quick responses! I really do appreciate it!
I’m so sorry, but apparently according to a friend I miscalculated the total cost of tuition, board, etc. 
The tuition is about $37,000 excluding campus room costs (about $12,000, in which I will likely commute since the school isn’t too far from where I live)
This school was considered one of my safeties (It has the dual degree program I want). But I was interested in getting a bit more aid in case the other schools I applied to end up not giving me a lot of aid due to my status…
(For stats, I am currently in the top 10% of my grade, I have a lot of extracurriculars/volunteer hours, and I have a 28 ACT score (This part wasn’t as good haha))
When I do search up aid on the website, most of what pops up is a few scholarships that is available (to both international and U.S. citizen students… I do plan on applying but I heard from a few friends that mostly U.S. citizen students win them so I can’t fully depend on these scholarships for aid.) and FAFSA stuff (idk why this pops up though since we can’t even use it haha)
The $23,000 I received was a merit award based on my academics. They said that it is their school’s most generous award. So do you think they’re gonna be a bit reluctant to give me a bit more aid since they already gave me one of their biggest scholarships?
Should I set up an appointment with the financial aid officer near the end of the year when I have to make my decision as to whether or not I will attend the school? Or should I do it right away? (Cause according to what my Guidance Counselor said, she said that schools generally have a set amount of money that they can give out to students for aid. I don’t want to ask them too late in which they ran out of money to give out more money?)
Also (sorry about this), but what is a NPC? (Sorry if this is such a stupid question haha)
NPC = Net Price Calculator
What school is this?
Just to let you know, it is not a ‘safety’ if you can’t afford it. You need a school that is both a financial safety and an academic safety to truly work for you as a ‘safety’.
This student is an international student. The net price calculator will not be accurate for an international student.
@heartandsoul221 the school has given you its most generous award. It is $23,000. You say your oarents can pay $10,000. That brings your total to $33,000. Any chance you could earn some money doing a job…i don’t know if this is possible for you.
Also, just curious…you have lived here for almost 18 years? Any chance your family has applied for,permanent resident status? If not, why not?
To be honest, I chose this school because I saw it as a safety for getting in and I’ve heard that the school gave quite a bit of aid. I can message you the name of the school if you message me about it because I’ve seen the “school” (or someone who is a part of its community) lurking around these forums and answering basic questions. I don’t want to make it seem as if I’m complaining or ungrateful for what they’ve given me so far haha.
Unfortunately, I can’t earn an official job until I gain a Social Security number. I can do jobs that directly give cash, but the only jobs around where I live that give direct cash are baby sitter jobs (They don’t provide enough money and the money they offer is it a bit low).
My parents have applied for permanent residency, but the entire process was a bit complicated (I don’t know too much about it tbh). But according to my parents, we’re suppose to get permanent residency in about a year, which is too late for me… especially in regards to my college process…
And would it be alright if you guys can explain to me how getting a full scholarship works? Cause I recently found out, that a classmate just got a full ride to this university when she has way lower stats then me… Is it just because I’m considered an international while she is not?
Thank you for all your help! I really appreciate your responses!
If you commute, would you still get the $23k scholarship or would it be reduced?
So, you are not a permanent resident, and you are not a U.S. Citizen. You can’t get a job, you don’t have enough money to pay for this school.
So…what are your options?
I believe that I will still receive the $23,000 reduction even after choosing to commute.
I am not particularly sure to be honest… I’m just waiting to see what other schools have to offer before I make my selection as to what school I will attend. I first asked this question, because I was just asking for advice as to whether or not I should set up a meeting with the school’s financial aid office and see if they can reduce my tuition further.
It is vary late in the game to be starting to consider fin aid and educate yourself to how it works. Also, safeties are not just those that offer the particular major you want. They are schools you know, in advance, that you can likely both get into and can afford.
You learn, in advance, what the college’s policies are, regarding aid, in general, and aid to internationals. You run the NPCs, to get a rough estimate of what you will be awarded and be expected to pay. Many colleges just don’t have the money, in the first place, to go giving every kid/family what they think they “need.”
Besides that, the wise path is to act fast and not spin in circles-- they want the Fafsa and you think you can’t provide one. You have to problem solve. But as said, it’s late. You said you couldn’t find a form for internationals, but did you ask them?
http://www.edupass.org/finaid/fafsa.phtml
So is the 23k a merit award? Whether or not it stays available for commuting depends on what the award states. Again, you could ask them whether it still applies.
The individual colleges are required to be somewhat consistent in their procedures for FA for all kids in a category (various categories.) If they require the Fafsa for internationals seeking some form of aid, then you have to conform. They can’t just five you money because you say you need it.
Gap year? You’ll be a permanent resident then.