Can FAFSA pay all expenses for a private university?

Paying for College
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<p>hi, i plan to go to a private university (Chapman) but unfortunately the cost is really high ~50,000 with tuition and DORM. i kind of do want to do dorm just so i can make connections. i am transfer so idk how financial aid will be towards transfer. i also might get a 12,000 merit aid scholarship for my gpa. my EFC is 0 and my parents income is very low for a family of 6 (including me, ~27000). i am just asking if there is any hope for 90% of it to be paid off? leaving me with like 5k off loans? thanks!</p>

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<p>With a family income that low, there is a very high chance that you will go to college for free, since private universities tend to actually have money to give out. I don’t know how Chapman’s financial aid works, though; I’m just going off of other private unis.
Have you put in your information into their aid calculator? http ://<a href=“http://www”>www</a>. chapman. edu/finaid/orangeUG/default.asp here’s the link, if you haven’t.</p>

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<p>FAFSA is just the form used to qualify you for government funds. Those funds are limited to Stafford loans and possible Pell Grant eligibility. The Pell is around $5300 tops, and the most you can get in unsubsidized and subsidized stafford loans is $5500 freshman year, $6500 sophomore, and then $7500 for junior and senior years. So, if Chapman has a lot of it’s own scholarships and grants to offer you, you may get lucky. Most money goes to freshman though, and transfers tend to get a little or a lot less, depending on the school. Good luck.</p>

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<p>With a family income that low, there is a very high chance that you will go to college for free, since private universities tend to actually have money to give out.</p>

<p>This is inaccurate info for a couple of reasons:</p>

<p>1) most schools - including privates - do NOT have a lot of money to give out.</p>

<p>2) transfer students usually get poor aid.</p>

<p>If most/all low income students got tons of aid, then most/all would go to college. </p>

<p>FAFSA doesn’t give aid. FAFSA is just an application for FEDERAL aid - which isn’t much.</p>

<p>Are you a Calif resident? If so, then you might qualify for a Cal Grant.</p>

<p>Do you know if Chapman promises to meet need for transfer students? If not, then no one knows what you’ll get.</p>

<p>Have you tried the NPC on the website? Be sure to note that you’re a transfer student.</p>

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<p>I believe Chapman is the ONLY FAFSA only school that guarantees to meet the full need of all accepted students. HOWEVER, I do not know if this policy applies to transfer students. You would have to check that. They do package loans in their financial aid offers. There really is no way to know what you will get for aid until you apply and get the package. </p>

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<p>NO NO NO…this is not uniformly true. There are some very generous private universities that do meet the full need of ALL accepted students…they are very much in the minority considering there are thousands of private universities.</p>

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<p>thanks for the reply people. i guess i mean full met aid instead of FAFSA. i am a CA resident. i tred their net caculator on the chapman website and it says net cost is 25,000 and they only give me 27,000 aid. im kind of confused about Cal grants, do they apply to community college too? i also get pell grant from my community college 5500 a year.</p>

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<p>Cal Grant does have entitlement grants for transfers from CCCs to qualified California colleges if qualifications are met.</p>

<p>[California</a> Student Aid Commission - Cal Grant Program Summary](<a href=“http://www.csac.ca.gov/doc.asp?id=568]California”>http://www.csac.ca.gov/doc.asp?id=568)
<a href=“http://www.csac.ca.gov/facts/fsentitleccc.pdf[/url]”>http://www.csac.ca.gov/facts/fsentitleccc.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>i tred their net caculator on the chapman website and it says net cost is 25,000 and they only give me 27,000 aid. im kind of confused about Cal grants,</p>

<p>What was the breakdown of the aid?</p>

<p>If you’re only going to get 27k in aid, then the school may not be affordable.</p>

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<p>okay i did the caculator again and it shows
gift aid: 28,300
estimated scholarship: 12,000 (consdiering i have 3.6+)
estimated net price: 26,100
estimated net price after aid: 12,600
now is estimated net price after aid with or without cal/pell grants?</p>

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<p>Well…this is a bit confusing. I would say you would be paying at LEAST that $12600. But remember that Chapman packages loans in their financial aid awards.</p>

<p>Scholarships are a FORM of “gift aid”. </p>

<p>Will you be living on or off campus? Seems like the cost of attendance is very low for someone for the full year living ON campus.</p>

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<p>*gift aid: 28,300
*</p>

<p>That likely includes any Cal Grants.</p>

<p>Did the NPC mention the scholarship for grades, or is that something that you’ve added in? Scholarships are often part of “gift aid.”</p>

<p>Can you copy/paste your results?</p>

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<p>the ‘estimated scholarship’ is the scholarship for grades. if i have a gpa of 3.6+ i get 12,000 if i get 3.3.-3.5 i get 10,000 scholarship. theres also a talent scholarship which im trying to get that is worth 10,000. </p>

<p>if i choose to live at home, i get less gift aid. and vice versa if choose to dorm.</p>

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<p>The question remains…can you pay the difference between what Chapman offers you in aid and their cost of attendance…if their aid doesn’t meet your expectations. Very often merit awards REDUCE your need based awards. You would need to contact Chapman to see if that is the case at that school. There are some schools which allow “stacking” of all aid (need and merit) up to the cost of attendance. BUT not all do.</p>