<p>I'm trying to figure out if I can afford to go to Suny Plattsburgh, but the financial aid office there is of little help. </p>
<p>I'm an out of state student, so the cost of attendance would be about 25k. From their website I have figured out that I would be eligible for about 3k in transfer scholarships. When I look on the website collegedata, it talks about need based gift, and gives an average amount for that. This is where I'm confused. I can't find anything about need based website, and the financial aid people were really unhelpful :( What is need based gift, how common is it, could I still receive it with an EFC of 16k?</p>
<p>Answering all of these questions is important in determining whether I can afford to go there or not. I'd rather not take out any loans since I plan to go to a Masters program which will cost about 50k, and I only have 50k for college saved up right now.</p>
<p>Thanks in advance! :)</p>
<p>Need-based aid is based on your “financial need” - or the difference between your EFC and the cost of attendance. So at best, your financial need is $9,000. However, as an out-of-state student, you are not likely to receive any need-based aid from the school - public schools generally reserve such aid for resident students.</p>
<p>With an EFC of $16,000, you are not eligible for any federal grant aid - only Stafford student loans.</p>
<p>With an EFC of 16k, you’ll only get a student loan. Your merit scholarship could go towards “need” if you get it.</p>
<p>If you have junior standing, your loan will be 7500.</p>
<p>How much will your parents pay?</p>
<p>If it costs $25k, and you get 2500 for merit and 7500 loan, that’s $10k in aid. Your family would pay the rest.</p>
<p>Darn, that’s definitely not what I wanted to hear, but I guess it is what I expected 
I wish they saved some gift aid for us out of state students, we make the student body more diverse.</p>
<p>Sorry that you are disappointed however, you have to realize that the goal of a public state university is to first and foremost provide an affordable option for their taxpaper base (NYS residents) whose taxes support the SUNY system. There is nothing to stop you from attending SUNY, you are just not going to get any taxpayer funds to do so.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids</p>
<p>My parents are paying 30k, and the remainder will come from me. I have about 20k saved up right now. I really would rather not take out any loans during my undergraduate because the masters program I want to go to is expensive (about 50k for 2 years).</p>
<p>I’d really like to go to suny plattsburgh because it’s so close to montreal, and frequent trips there appeal to me 
But if it’s too expensive I’ll just go to University of Houston which is in state and much more affordable for me.</p>
<p>@sybbie719 I realize that. My parents paid taxes to the state of NY for a good 15 years…if only there was some way that qualified me as an instate student! Too bad it doesn’t work that way :P</p>
<p>Paige,</p>
<p>Just save the difference in the money that you will be saving going to school in your home state and paying in-state rates vs going to SUNY. It shoudl be enough to fund you a nice spring break to Montreal (with spending money).</p>
<p>* I wish they saved some gift aid for us out of state students, we make the student body more diverse.*</p>
<p>Many/most state schools don’t worry about “state diversity” because they can’t really afford to. they may offer some merit scholarship for high stats OOS incoming frosh students, but they’re really doing that to help raise their middle quartile numbers for their frosh class.</p>
<p>Frankly, transfers rarely get great aid at most schools.</p>