Just wondering if it’s possible to get two financial aid package quotes from one U, one for “live at home” and one for “dorm or apt” (aka “traditional”).
We live fairly close to U of WA, so could possibly do either way.
Must we decide living arrangements before doing FAFSA or applying to a U?
Or can we keep options open till after we see comparative quotes?
At what stage does someone ask for a choice of living arrangement? On the FAFSA form or on the college application?
Nope. When you apply, you jeed to pick the one that is most likely to be your choice.
So that choice is indicated just in the U application, not in the FAFSA?
I suppose it might be possible to change your mind after getting an aid offer, say if you got a “living in dorm” offer but then decided to live at home instead?
^
yes and yes
When you file your FAFSA, you are required to make a choice about housing. The fafsa is what is used to determine your need based aid, not your application.
If you get a “living in the dorm” offer and don’t do that, your aid will be adjusted accordingly. It’s not like you get to keep aid for dorm living if you decide not to.
Just make an honest answer to that question. What is the MOST likely housing your student will do?
It usually doesn’t make any difference. Some schools have two (more more) calculations for COA based on living arrangements, but so few schools meet full need that it is not going to change the FA you receive very often.
If you live in the dorm and your COA is $40k or you live at home and your COA is $25k, it is unlikely that $15k was going to show up in your package as anything other than loans anyway.
Twoin speaks the truth as always!
twoin–
So what you say seems to mean that if you were initially offered a dorm-renting FA package, and then you changed your plans and decided to live at home, that this would simply result in less in loans but would NOT result in less grants (I’m assuming that the total loans of the dorm-rental package are greater than the “rental cost” that the U estimates). Am I understanding this correctly? Or could grants also be reduced in this same scenario?
This stuff is kinda complicated!
I don’t think many schools offer enough in grants to cover everything. If your child has a full ride of tuition, r&b, fees, a stipend for books then you may see a different amount for living on campus or off.
At my daughter’s school, they do not rebate any of their own money, so if the grant is more than tuition, fees, room/board they will not give her a check for the difference and she would forfeit that amount. She did live on campus for two years and now lives off campus. Her merit award is exactly the same, but it’s only about 1/2 tuition and tuition is the same whether you live on or off campus. There are a few other grants that she has that the school will only apply to a billed expense (so won’t cut her a check), but tuition eats all those funds up too.
If the COA for an on-campus student is $50k and for an off-campus student is $30k, that student is likely to see the same scholarship award of something (much) less than $30k. If the student is lucky enough to get $35k? Yes, the student may forfeit $5k if the student doesn’t live on campus and if the school has the same ‘no rebating school funds’ policy my daughter’s school has. Pell grants, loans, most state funds CAN be given to the student to pay for unbilled expenses like living off campus, books, supplies, and travel, so at my daughter’s school they apply the school funds first to tuition, fees, and even insurance, and then use the ‘refundable’ sources to pay the rest.
If your kid says they are going to live in the dorm…and they instead decide to live at home…your financial aid package will be reduced…and this could happen even at schools schools that DO NOT meet full need , and where your kid didn’t get a huge amount of aid.
The schools make,their awards based on the cost of attendance for YOUR type of housing…if you change your mind and decide to commute from home instead of paying room and board costs to the college…it is HIGHLY likely your aid will be reduced. And no one here can predict what will be reduced…Loans or grants, or work study, or whatever.
That will be completely up,to the college.
Some people think that they will just put down dorm…and then change their minds at the last minute and do the commuting…AND their aid won’t be affected. That is probably not the case.
A student who recently applied to NYU received a package based on dorming. When he changed it to commuting the grants were reduced by a lot. I’d plan for a reduction in grants if the student lives at home.
Have you run their NPC to see how much of a difference it makes? You may be able to get an idea that way.
Hi austinm–
Not sure what NPC is, but UW’s only online FA estimator (at it’s website) only gives estimates for “traditional” (aka dorm/renter/frat) package, and not for live-at-home. When I email questions related to this to their info office, I can’t get a straight answer on it, other than, “it’s different in every situation”. I’m not sure why it would be so hard to answer, as they must have some general policy for reducing FA packages when a student changes their living situation. I get the feeling they don’t want to tell me something!
A student can dorm in a single, double, triple or quad. Each room situation is a different price, so the cost can be different. Each meal plan is different, depending on what you choose so your room and board costs will be different. Some dorm costs change before move-in; you just never know. (A previously available room has a leak/heater/or other problem and that room has to go offline so someone has to bunk with someone else.)
Living off campus, the rents and # of occupants are different. Stay at home assumes limited to no rent costs but assumes food expenses.
NPC’s are NET PRICE CALCULATOR’s on each financial aid page for each school’s estimate of the costs to attend.
For each school that you choose on the fafsa you get the option or living at home and living on campus, you must check on
at UW and most FAFSA only schools (there are a small handful of exceptions- ex: U of Chicago), it is probably not going to make a difference. UW is a public university that does not meet 100% demonstrated need. In reading their web page their typical scholarship is $4k, not enough to cover tuition, room and board.
What is your EFC? if your EFC is remotely close to the cost of room and board, or more than the amount where you will get federal aid (PELL/SEOG) , you will probably have to come up with room and board monies. Most monies from state aid programs can only be used for tuition. Unless your child gets a “full ride” that includes tuition, room, board, books and a stipend any merit money or scholarship will be used toward the cost of tuition, leaving room and board on you and your child to fund.
In all cases
- check your net price calculator
know that
- Most schools do not meet 100% demonstrated need
- all "free" monies over the cost of tuition, books is going to be taxable income to your child
- Payment of Room and Board do not qualify as qualified educational expenses for tax purposes
https://www.irs.gov/uac/american-opportunity-tax-credit-questions-and-answers
- Room and board are a qualified educational expense if you have a 529 plan
Like what? If you are living AT HOME, most colleges have a lesser cost of attendance. The college is not going to provide aid for your parents to pay their mortgage or rent, or utilities, or insurance, etc. which they have to pay anyway.
So look on your college website. Look for Net Price Calculator. That is what NPC stands for.
Look for the cost of attendance. Most schools list the costs for those living on campus vs commuters vs those living at home.
Here you go:
https://admit.washington.edu/costs-and-financial-aid/total-cost-of-attendance#freshmen-transfer
For the current school year, those living at home have a cost of attendance of $18,193. Those not living at home have $25,948.
So…if you commute from home, your financial aid will be based on that $18,193 number.
If you say you are dorming, and then change your mind…your aid will be reduced accordingly.
The school does NOT meet full need anyway. As noted upstream someplace, it’s not like you would get $25,000 in aid if you live in the dorms, and $18,000 if you live at home.
You would be guaranteed the $5500 Direct Loan as a freshman, and any portion of the Pell Grant to which you are entitled. Your FAFSA EFC would need to be below $5000 to get any Pell money at all.
Your other threads indicate that your eldest is a high school freshman. Colleges can’t tell you what the costs will be in 4 years because they don’t know.
Google " cost of attendance" to get a comparison of current costs. If your income stays around $50k, you may qualify for a small Pell grant, but I wouldn’t count on it. Encourage your kids to prep for the standardized tests and maintain good GPAs in rigorous courses so they have a chance at getting some merit aid.
Hi All–I have used the NPC for UW (I just thought of it as the “FA Estimator” but now I know the terminology, thanks).
It estimates about 16K grants and 8K loans and 2K EFC based on “traditional student” (i.e. housing expense).
According to the UW’s online COA info, there seems to be an allotment in FA packages of about 8K for rental expenses for “traditional student”, as thumper1 points out.
Thumper1, the thing that the UW FA office won’t tell me is—if my kid instead lives at home–whether the 8K in less estimated need would be taken out of ONLY the 8K loan portion of the FA (which would bring our loans to zero based on the above figures from the NPC), or whether it is taken out of BOTH the grant and loan portions. Like I said, they don’t offer an NPC for live-at-home, so there’s no way to know from their site, and they avoid answering this question when I email them (I’ve tried rephrasing it to them in three ways now, and no luck).
Austinm is the only person who seems to have some specific feedback on this, regarding the NYU student who lost grant money when switching to live at home.
Austinm–I do realize prices will be different four years from now. I’m simply trying to figure out how the FA specifically works for my aid bracket so that I can make good decisions. I just don’t want to try learning about this at the same time that I’m helping him apply for colleges and fill out FAFSA forms.
Run the NPC with the student living at home. Should be one of the options. If it isn’t, the the NPC isn’t very reliable as it isn’t asking enough questions. Some NPC’s are pretty bad and you can’t really figure out how much you’ll get, but if the UW calculator is breaking it down to grants and loans, it’s probably okay. If the choice is ‘traditional student’ or ‘non-traditional’, run it both ways.
If your EFC is $2000, any Pell grant awarded will be the same for on-campus or off. Merit awards for tuition should stay the same. A grant based on financial need may change.
My guess, and it’s a guess, is that the loans would be reduced first.
Unfortunately this is another one of those decisions you have to make when you apply. There is no option to allow the student to compare aid packages based on different scenarios. The colleges force you to decide when you apply. It is not in stone but you only get a package based on your application.
If your oldest child,is currently a high school freshman , please use these Net Price Calculator results with a grain of salt. The NPCs are currently set up for kids starting college this fall…not kids starting in 2020.
These NPCs are updated annually…and YES financial aid policies do change. The formulas for awarding aid DO change.
Re: where your reduction in aid would be if your kid lived at home? That is the school’s decision…and it could be grants, and it could be loans. The school will decide.
But your take away should be…your kid will NOT get as much need based aid if he or she lives at home as he or,she would get living in the dorms. The cost of attendance is significantly less.
My opinion…it’s very likely that your kid would be expected to take the full Direct Loan amount of $5500 for freshman year. Reduction in need based aid out of other portions of awarded aid…unless this is auto need based aid your state offers based on income.
Why othet loans so you see beside the Direct/Stafford loans??