<p>This might have everyone laughing, however is there negotiating room in terms of the financial aid package offered by a particular school? If so, in what areas and are there any approaches recommended? Thanks for any insights.</p>
<p>If stats are high bargaining position might be better. </p>
<p>But if you’re trying to get aid to cover efc or if school doesn’t have much funds or if stats are just average for the school, then you probably won’t have much luck . Do you have a better aid pkg from a similarly ranked school.</p>
<p>you can always ask. Be prepared to explain WHY your expected contribution is unrealistic, based on medical expenses, care for a family member, unemployment.</p>
<p>You can’t just say “I think my kid deserves more because they got X on the SAT or they always dreamed of attending X”</p>
<p>Every school will react differently to asking for more money. And if you do get more $$, don’t expect that a 2K scholarship will all of a sudden be a 15K scholarship. </p>
<p>If your EFC is shocking you, welcome to the club. It was never meant to be the only amount you have to pay for college nor is it expected to be able to be paid from current income. </p>
<p>I hope your child has a financial safety on their list (ie, a state school). West Chester is less than 15K and you aren’t going to get much cheaper than that. That said, I had my son apply there back in 2006 as his safety. Even with his stellar stats, they offered him no scholarship $$ and only stafford loans because my EFC was over 11K and the COA was about 13K at the time. I wouldn’t have even considered asking for more $$ because he had little financial need to attend that school based on my EFC.</p>
<p>It’s the first package received – others will not arrive until April – so I have nothing to compare it to beyond the stats available. However, this is my child’s first choice of schools (early action). Also, my apologies to everyone as I just located a plethora of older posts on this topic – should have searched first however my brain is fried and heart broken as it appears as though my child will not be able to attend this particular school…</p>
<p>What was the aid pkg? What is the coa</p>
<p>COA is close to $40K/year. Aid package is less than 50% of the COA and more than half of <em>that</em> is loans. This school is known for not being generous with aid yet this is ridiculous. </p>
<p>From the older posts, particularly the one on the worst financial aid packages (incredibly beneficial read, by the way), it seems commonplace for private colleges to somehow expect parents to pay close to $100K for their child to complete four years of colleges. I’m speechless. Plus, I just learned (yes, from CC) the term “Accept/Deny” – yes, my child was accepted (hooray for a moment) yet was denied the ability to attend because the financial aid package was…if I may say, insulting.</p>
<p>Last year, my friend’s father wrote a letter to the college she wanted to attend and indicated (a) her sincere interest in the school and (b) the fact that he could not pay more than $xxx per year.</p>
<p>The school responded that they could provide her with scholarships to bring the cost down to $xx + 5,000 per year. Her father figured that was close enough and she’s going to school there now.</p>
<p>So sometimes you can do it.</p>
<p>what was your EFC and does this school also use the CSS profile.</p>
<p>Let’s get specific. Which school is it? What is your EFC? What is your student’s ACT/SAT score? What is the offer on the table?</p>
<p>With this info, we can give you a much better opinion of what to expect.</p>
<p>No CSS profile and EFC was reasonable.</p>
<p>You can try. It might get you some merit money. You will never know if you don’t try.</p>
<p>As for the aid package … COA-EFC=Need. For the majority of colleges, if you have a “reasonable” EFC (as opposed to low), you can expect that your need will either be met with some loans or not fully met. The EFC will not be met (or will be met with PLUS or unsubsidized Stafford+PLUS). </p>
<p>Here is an example of how aid might be packaged at a school that does not promise to meet need: School A tries to meet the average cost of TUITION with a combination of EFC+grants. Average cost of tuition is $9000. EFC is $7000. Grants will total $2000. Now Cost of Attendance comes into play. COA is $20,000. COA-EFC=20000-7000=13,000. Thus, Need is $13,000. This school does not provide grants that exceed the average cost of tuition, so the rest of the Need is not going to be met by grants. $13,000 Need -2000 grants =$11,000 Need that is not going to be met by grants. Here is what the rest of the Need-based portion of the package might look like: $11,000-$3000 work study-$3500 subsidized Stafford=$4500 remaining Need that will not be met by any need based aid. At this point, we begin packaging without considering the EFC, since Need is no longer coming into play. $20000 COA-$2000 grants-$3000 work study-3500 subsidized Stafford=$11500 left for the family to pay. A dependent freshman may borrow $2000 in an unsubsidized Stafford loan, so $11500 remaining - $2000 unsubsidized Stafford = $9500 remaining for the family to pay. Therefore, there is $9500 left in the COA that is not covered by aid. The school actually awarded a total of 2000+3000+3500+2000=$10,500 in aid. That’s the best they are going to do. The rest might be offered in the form of a Parent PLUS loan.</p>
<p>Remember, though, to take out just the cost of tuition, fees, and any room & board charges when you compare packages. If the student will live at home, the above package is quite good. If the student will stay in the dorm, the above package may not be affordable for the family.</p>
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<p>I’m a little confused…and forgive me because there really aren’t enough details to provide a better response, but if you say yourself that the school is known for not being generous with aid, why are you surprised and insulted?</p>
<p>Why shouldn’t private colleges expect people to pay what is charged? There really is no ‘obligation’ to provide aid…its never a given and shouldn’t be expected. If the cost is too much to bear, there are other options out there for an education.</p>
<p>If this is a fafsa only school, then it can almost be expected that it will put big loans in packages.</p>
<p>I had to appeal a FA package one year. I had remarried mid year and then my husband retired.</p>
<p>We wrote a letter that while it appeared we made a wad of money the previous year, we were living in two separate homes for most of the year, and my husband’s new financial situation was that he was retired (he was forced into retirement - he had to retire or be fired as they were reducing the workforce in preparation to sell the company).</p>
<p>We explained that and they offered some more aid.</p>
<p>It certainly never hurts to ask and the worst thing that could happen is that the package remains unchanged.</p>
<p>it seems commonplace for private colleges to somehow expect parents to pay close to $100K for their child to complete four years of colleges. I’m speechless.</p>
<p>Why shouldn’t private colleges expect people to pay what is charged? There really is no ‘obligation’ to provide aid…its never a given and shouldn’t be expected. If the cost is too much to bear, there are other options out there for an education.</p>
<p>The second quote is quite true. Going to college is a privilege, and going to a private college is even more so. </p>
<p>When I chose to send my kids to a private high school, I didn’t act shocked that they expected me to pay the cost. If I didn’t want to pay that amount, I could choose another education option for my kids. Would it have made sense for me to think, “they expect me to pay $XXXXX for 4 years for each of my kids?”</p>
<p>I paid for 12 years of private school for each child. It was a choice. The school has every right to expect that if a parent makes that choice, they will pay.</p>
<p>You can’t “negotiate” but you can appeal…</p>
<p>You can’t try to bargain your way to a better aid package just because, but you can appeal with legit circumstances</p>
<p>I plan to appeal because my father was diagnosed with cancer in Nov and hasn’t worked since…plus his medical bills are CRAZY…but I know it’s a long shot</p>