Since both NYC and NYS are both working on a lot of STEM initiatives including Tax incentives to bring more technology companies to NYC/NYS, I doubt if OP would lose funding for the STEM scholarship.
NYC Mayor has made a $10MM commitment to support the growth of the tech sector, and to work with public and private sector partners to develop a new model for 21st century workforce development.
Op can always appeal, but what would be the basis for the appeal? As others have stated, even if family pays full freight at SUNY it is going to be less expensive than the 35k EFC they currently have.
I see you applied to a range of financial choices, and thatâs good. I think you need to develop a little perspective so you can appreciate them though. The $40k/year youâre complaining about paying is ~80% of the median income for NYS yet itâs only 33% of your familyâs income, so your family income is much higher than the median. Your EFC alone is equal to or greater than the average personal incomes of 49 of NYâs 62 counties and itâs just under the average of 5 others. If you can full pay at the SUNYs or schools like Clarkson (after merit), your family is doing much better than many NYS residents. What reasons are you going to give the schools to explain why they should give you more money? Theyâre all NYS schools so they know you could attend a SUNY for $16k out-of-pocket if you wanted, but that doesnât mean theyâre going to drop their price to match it.
And as NY public employees both your parents may have pensions coming that allow them to save less than the average NY resident for retirement. They probably donât want to stop retirement saving, which the FAFSA assumes they should do while you are in school. I donât blame them for that but the schools FA offices wonât feel the same way.
@thumper1 - some kids donât have to go to a school with such a high price tag, but some kids, like my son may need to. My son has aspergerâs syndrome and the school he wants to go to has a block program (one class at a time). The school is $46k/yr. All his doctors and counselors think it would be the best school for him, but we arenât able to get a loan and heâs barely getting anything from the school. Itâs been difficult to find any scholarships he qualifies for and heâs Mexican, Native American and Italian with a disability. Itâs very dishearteningâŠ
Not everyone posts on this website. Iâm sure there are many out there in the same or similar financial predicament. Weâre in Caifornia, and our EFC is apparently too high to receive any financial aid from our state, and we are pretty much stuck with the sticker pice of the cost of attendance at the public colleges my D applied to like the University of California (L.A./Berkeley/Davis) and California State University (Northridge). Even if lucky enough to be offered merit scholarships, the reality is that itâs still not enough to cover the remaining college costs The burden ultimately lands on the parents to take out loans to help pay for college expenses. Itâs really frustrating and hopeless even if itâs a CA private college (USC/LMU/Pepperdine, etc.) or any out of state colleges (NYU, Boston College, Boston University, Northwestern, UMiami, etc.) The FAFSA and institutional aid calculation methods assume you can afford the costs with no consideration for younger non-college bound siblings, revolving debts you may have, other school/daycare expenses, health and insurance expenses, and even normal living expenses (basic roof over your head, food on the table, clothes on your back, working car to get to work in, ermergency house/car repairs that arise, etc.) The dream of going to college should reflect the opportunity of going to a college of your choice because you worked hard at meeting the academic and extracurricular requirements for that college, because the program you are interested in is there, and because its campus size, student life, faculty, curriculum, and resources will overall contribute to a successful future, so that you have an opportunity to pay it forward during your lifetime and avoid being financially handicapped. Therefore, appealing the financial aid process is never a lost cause because at least you were brave enough to stand behind your decision of wanting to attend a particular college that happens to have a high price tag.
OPâs family earns nearly 2.5x the median NYS income. According to OP, they can afford to pay for our state schools out-of-pocket. The schools they hope to get additional aid from are expensive private schools. Neither the federal government, our state government, nor the private colleges are responsible for funding families who want to attend private schools but feel they canât afford it. Iâm sorry OPâs family is in this position. However, itâs not unusual. Weâre also NYS residents. Our income is roughly half of OPâs family, yet the SUNYs still expect us to be full pay, our net at RIT would be only $10k less than OPâs family, and Clarkson would be less than a $3k difference. OP can ask the private colleges for more aid, but I wouldnât count on getting it.
Honestly, the point here is that if someone wants to appeal their FA package or denial, who is to stop them. Just do it. Even if the college denies the appeal, at least you tried and you can just move on. No one is going to hold your hand through this process. Every college student out there has their own set of financial circumstances and every college has legal guidelines to follow.