Trying to get an idea of cost for our OOS son to attend. We know our EFC and have a child in college already as well. NPC for Clemson shows us at full price, even with EFC being a lot lower. I called their FA office and was told there is an issue but they could not give me any more help! From current parents - is FA usually this difficult to get help from? Not a good sign at all from a prospective parent viewpoint as our other son’s college was so nice and so helpful! Was hoping Southern hospitality would be helpful but no go so far!
@Momtofourkids What did you ask them?
Clemson doesn’t meet full need even for in state students. Full price is likely to be the cost for your out of state child to attend.
If he applied by December 1, he may be eligible for one of the merit scholarships listed here: https://www.clemson.edu/financial-aid/types/scholarships/clemson-scholarship-recruiting.html
Many or most public universities give no need-based financial aid to out-of-state students.
Clemson is a public university funded by South Carolina taxpayers. If your son is a nonresident, you have to expect to pay full fees, since you can’t expect the state’s taxpayers to fully fund your son.
Most public state universities cannot afford to fund nonresidents. State budgets are limited. If you didn’t indicate nonresident status, then the EFC would be inaccurate.
Hopefully, your son can receive a merit aid package. If not, he needs to think about his other affordable school choices.
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@auntbea Umass, along with UNH, UVM all give money to OOS students (as state schools) using EFC etc. So many do.
I fully realize Clemson is a state school and we are OOS. Clemson when contacted said they, like most schools use the EFC and that it should matter. However their NPC does not “work” - their words not mine but they could not help me any further on the phone and just said to …wait.
If Clemson did not give any money to OOS students why would they require a FAFSA from them - there is no need other than to give aid. People who do not use aid do not do the FAFSA .
And I most definitely did put OOS they 4 or 5 times I ran the NPC over the last few weeks - it is a pretty easy thing to do.
Some do publics give $ to OOS, but many, maybe most, don’t. Further it’s often more of a tuition discounting situation, then a merit situation, when schools do give $ to OOS students.
Students have to fill out FAFSA if they want to qualify for government financial aid, such as Pell, Direct Student Loans, SEOG, etc. Clemson requires FAFSA so that students can access those $, whether in-state or OOS.
Edited to add: I agree that it’s ridiculous that their NPC does not work, there is really no excuse for that.
@Momtofourkids, I agree with @Mwfan1921, in that many publics don’t provide OOS aid, especially to schools that are hard to gain acceptance.
As for FAFSA, my kids are in grad and med schools and they use this form for their student loans and research dollars/fellowship qualifiers. Our income wouldn’t qualify them for need-based aid anyway, if they were still under 24. The FAFSA form is utilized by universities in many capacities.
Call it what you will, merit FA or “tuition discount” either way it affects the bottom line price.
Many do, many do not provide aid
Agree to disagree
With an EFC of 0 and the top possible stats, Clemson’s NPC shows a “merit/need” grant of 12k and a need-based grant of 5.8k off the 53k out-of-state cost of attendance for a net price of 35k. Without the merit, that is, with low stats, the NPC shows only the small need-based grant of 5.8k for the out-of-state student with an EFC of 0, for a Net Price of 47k.
Likewise, although UMass, UNH, and UVM provide some small amount of need-based aid, none of them meet full need for out-of-state students, according to their NPCs.
We all need to remember. Clemson does not need our kids. Last year they had over 29,000 apply. They expect this year the number to be larger. We are. OOS & my kid has applied to 2 schools that are OOS & we know we are getting a bill. Our D did earn a merit award from Clemson, but that is all we are expecting. I also thought they were quite clear both when we visited and online
@CollegeorBustNE
Very true. They get 10’s of thousands of applicants. Kids on waitlists dying to get in. If a parent doesn’t want to/can’t pay for it the school doesn’t care. They’ll take the next applicant who can pay for it. I know several families who straight out told their kids at the start of the application process that they had to live at home for financial reasons or need to start at community college etc…most people have access to a computer and can look up the ballpark cost of any school and everyone should not assume their kid will get merit or some other kind of aid.
I agree. I feel parents should be honest with their kids & tell them what they can afford. There is no point having a kid apply to a school that you can’t afford to pay for & then blame the school. That is just wrong! It is our job the parents to save the money & not to expect handouts
@CollegeorBustNE Good point. I would add that I think it is a good idea for the child to be aware that they are expected to help out as well. Both my kids started working in HS and put money back for college. Each have saved several thousand dollars to help out. When the kid has skin in the game, they became much more aware of costs.
Good point! My DD also works and has been saving her money for school. We have told her we expect her to save her spending money
The FAFSA EFC is only useful for determining Pell eligibility. It doesn’t have any bearing on how much you can expect to pay for any school.
I ran Clemson’s net price calculator for a family of 6 with 2 in school and an income of less than $30k (but didn’t include stats). It generated a need based grant of ~$5k/year.
When I plug in the stats listed in one of your other threads (1290 SAT, 3.5 GPA) it still only generates need based aid. Merit grants start kicking in at about a 1340 SAT, but those are only $5k/year. Unfortunately, it seems entirely possible that your income is too high for need based aid and your son’s stats are too low for merit awards.
@86grad
Yes exactly. Skin in the game is the key. My oldest used to make money and then turn around and spend it the first chance she had but now that she’s in college and has a small loan payment to make already she’s more aware and becoming more thrifty! She’ll tell her friends she can go out to eat sometimes but it can’t be multiple days a week.
Don’t listen to everyone. Many people on this blog are “people of means” that get snooty if you are critical of the merit aid process. They’ll tell you to stop complaining and make better financial decisions. Nice, huh? To most of us - YES, it does matter. Keep working it!