Costs go up and aid goes down after first year

Paying for College
1

<p>Is this typical and to be expected over the course of a college career?</p>

<p>I finally logged into my daughter's account info from school yesterday and found - for the first time -- an increase in amounts due - to the tune of $1587 over the year ($529 per quarter) and a deficit in the aid we're getting of $2976 over the year ($992 per quarter)!!!</p>

<p>That's over $4500 more out of our pockets that we had our first year -- AND I RECEIVED NO NOTIFICATION OF THIS.</p>

<p>The tap, pell grant, perkins loan -- are all reduced. Housing, meals, tuition all increased.</p>

<p>The first year we were granted $3K more by asking .. and then this.</p>

<p>I'm literally dumbfounded and wonder if this is the norm.</p>

<p>Thanks.
Rachel</p>

2

<p>If your Pell Grant was reduced, then your EFC rose. With a higher EFC, it is very possible that all of your aid increased because of that alone. The Pell is solely based on the FAFSA EFC amount. </p>

<p>Perkins loans are given by the school to low income students as the school determines. It is likely that your new, higher EFC resulted in a reduction to this loan as well.</p>

<p>I don’t know how the TAP is determined, but if the FAFSA EFC comes into play for that, that would explain a reduction in that as well.</p>

<p>Schools do not “notify” you. They send you your updated financial aid award for the upcoming school year. That IS your notification.</p>

<p>My guess is you are seeing less aid because your EFC per FAFSA rose…AND your school adjusted your aid. It also sounds like this school does NOT meet full need for all accepted students. The only aid I see is state (TAP) and federal need based aid…no institutional aid at all.</p>

3

<p>Yes, but ours was by a smaller amount and fin aid didn’t go down–it just didn’t keep up. Tuition went up (aid the covers full tuition matched that), but fees rose, room and board rose, and course fees are more as classes in d’s major carry quite a few of those. I’ll be paying $2k more this year than last. D will also be paying more as books in the major are far more expensive than books for gen eds. This means I need to find more money to squeeze out of the budget every month. </p>

<p>This happened almost 30 years ago when I was in school, so while not surprising, it still isn’t welcome.</p>

4

<p>It is not unusual for tuition to increase about 3 to 5% each year. In addition you apply for financial aid each year. If your salary remained the same from 2010 to 2011, and the amount of the TAP and Pell remained the same, but tuition and frees increased, it is going to look as if you have received less aid in relation to the increased cost.</p>

<p>Did your daughter work in 2011? This could have an effe t on your EFC and as a result you will probably have less TAP and Pell because the school has determined that she has less need.
If your income was more in 2011 than it was in 2010, your Pell and TAP will both go down.</p>

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<p>OOPS…this should say…with a higher EFC it is very possible that all of your aid DECREASED because of that alone.</p>

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<p>So aid decrease when EFC raises. What happens when your EFC goes down? In my case, the EFC is driven mainly by assets. With college bills and living expenses, my assets will decrease 15% per year.</p>

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<p>Financial aid is more income than assets driven. Your assets going down may not have a large effect on your financial aid (parents assets are assessed at ~ 5.6%). If your assets have gone down and your income has gone up, you may not see an appreciable difference in your EFC. </p>

<p>If you attend a school that meets 100% demonstrated and your EFC goes down, you now have a greater amount of need and your package should go up. However, this does not always translate into an increase of “free money”, it could just be bigger loans.</p>

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<p>I’ve always wondered if colleges would entire a student by giving them lots of FA their first year and reduce their aid every year after.</p>

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<p>See [this</a> recent thread](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1335338-were-you-financial-aid-bait-switch-victim.html]this”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1335338-were-you-financial-aid-bait-switch-victim.html) about reported financial aid “bait and switch” tactics.</p>

<p>As I recall, most people reported that they were not the victims of such tactics by colleges. To the contrary, financial aid packages often improved when tuition rates increased.</p>

10

<p>The first year we were granted $3K more by asking … and then this.</p>

<p>Since your aid has decreased, then it seems that the increase is due to a higher EFC (less Pell & Tap) and that “extra grant” of $3k not returning. That extra grant may have been a one time only “gift” to get you to enroll. </p>

<p>Of course, this is very upsetting, especially for a Pell family. Coming up with an extra $4500 this year won’t be easy. Does your child work part-time? If she does work-study during the week, could she snag a one-day-a-week part-time job somewhere…maybe working Saturday?</p>

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<p>OP… You said you were given an additional $3000 for last year. What WAS that? Was it a loan, work study, an institutional grant? The school would not have been able to give you additional Pell or TAP money…or increase the stafford loan to an amount above $5500. So what WAS this additional money?</p>

<p>Also, did you qualify for the automatic $0 EFC last year? It doesn’t sound like it, but please clarify.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the posts here - I’m just seeing them now because despite asking CC to email me instant notifications - I didn’t get any…</p>

<p>I’m guessing these changes in Pell and Tap are indeed due to changes in income … However, increases in cost were never advised to us by the school. </p>

<p>I don’t think we were an automatic 0 EFC last year but I don’t know for sure … Where would I check. </p>

<p>The extra 3K was a grant that we will still be getting … She has a unsub. loan, a sub loan a grant from the school and a Fed. SEOG grant that have all remained the same. The Tap, Pell & Perkins loan have been reduced by almost 3K for the year and school admission, housing and food has gone up by over $1500 for the year.</p>

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<p>Pell, TAP and the Perkins loans are all income driven awards. I will guess that your increase in income caused the reduction in these awards.</p>

<p>Most universities increase costs about 3% to 5% per year. They do not usually announce the increases in costs until summer at the earliest. Many folks find out about these increases when they get their bills to pay. Most universities post this information on the websites once the decisions are made. As someone upstream noted…expect increases in costs each year.</p>

<p>The Pell Grant award, for example, is completely based on the FAFSA EFC. The cost of the school doesn’t factor into this at all.</p>

<p>Perkins loans are awarded as the school determines to lower income students. The school must have determined that this year you are not amongst the lowest income students any longer and your loan was reduced.</p>

<p>It is great that SEOG remained the same, as that could have changed as well. </p>

<p>It does sound like your increased income resulted in a higher EFC and thus some of your aid was reduced.</p>

14

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You just log in to your FAFSA account and check the previous aid year. There will be a PDF copy of your FAFSA inlcuding the determined EFC.</p>

<p>[Home</a> - FAFSA on the Web-Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/]Home”>http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/)</p>

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<p>Yes, costs for college usually go up each year since most colleges do increase their tuition and fees. Also upperclassmen housing often costs more than freshmen dorms. Not always, but often. At a lot of schools, freshmen are housed in standard double rooms, whereas the upperclass kids often get their own rooms and suite/apartment arrangements. Very nice but more expensive. To offset, many such arrangement include cooking facilities so that that the board plan can be reduced. Also many schools do not require meal plans or on campus housing for upper classmen, and if your student is lucky enough to be attending a school where there are cheap off campus housing options, that cost can go down substantially. </p>

<p>So yes, the cost goes up, and if your school does not guarantee to meet 100% of need, if your award remains exactly the same, then you will feel that gap. Stafford DIrect loans to the student are increased by $1000 between freshman and sophomore year to take up some of that slack.</p>

<p>Also, however, even at schools that guarantee to meet 100% of need, most colleges increase the student’s expected contribution each year because they believe that the student should be taking an increasing responsibility for the cost of his/her education. I have seen that made clear on a lot of the financial aid websites. Even full need kids are given increased expected contributions in many cases. </p>

<p>Then on top of all of this, if your income increases, your EFC goes up. </p>

<p>Also, if you are going to a school that does not guarantee to meet aid, certain federal programs like Perkins Loans and SEOG may not be available in future years. Even at schools that guarantee to meet need, when those monies are not forthcoming in subsequent years, the replacement funds may be via self help rather than grant, or by loans not quite as favorable in terms.</p>

<p>As a rule, most colleges make an attempt to keep aid consistent in subsequent years. Bait and switch does happen but not that often at reputable schools. Do call your student’s financial aid officer and request a “going over” of the aid package and how it was put together and an explanation of why there is a marked reduction. It seems to me that a combination of reasons are in there.</p>

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<p>I finally got into the FAFSA and our EFC went from $1876 last year $2485 this year … only $609 difference and almost 3K less in aid – which doesn’t include the $1500 raise in school costs… I just wasn’t expecting this … The school has suggested I write in and let them know of any changes – which there haven’t been many – but I feel that just the disparity in the EFC and the aid reductions is worth mentioning.</p>

<p>Rachel</p>