<p>Some colleges might just have low endowments; it isn't a matter of, "setting up these families to fail." What is unfair is convincing 17 year olds to apply by advertising that full need as determined by the FAFSA is met when that means $19,000 in loans.</p>
<p>Point well taken Muffy333. </p>
<p>I'm just sad because of the high hopes that my son had and it makes me sad that I can't provide what he wants in terms of colleges. He's a great kid and I'm so blessed that he is so understanding, but it still hurts.</p>
<p>I reread the financial aid statement that we received and it turns out that the Stafford loan is included in the loan package, but the Parent Plus loans aren't. So we ended up with $15,500 in financial aid.</p>
<p>I based my EFC on my FAFSA. The college did require a CSS profile, but my financial situation is pretty straightforward; strictly income, no investments, 401K, etc. I don't even own my home. </p>
<p>The college in question definitely has a huge endowment. I plan on calling them this week and finding out what's up with their FA offer.</p>
<p>So they basically covered 50% of need, not 84% - ridiculous. I'd definately call. NO house or assets - it seems like they may have made a mistake in their calculations. Good luck.</p>
<p>The other thing that seems to border on misrepresentation is calling the $12,000 a merit scholarship. Lots of schools package scholarships this way, but this is really nothing but a named institutional grant as part of a gapped FA package.</p>
<p>^^^^^
Maybe - maybe not. Some schools do put all their money into "Merit" scholarships and do not offer any Need based grants. This, I believe is misrepresentation since they do not make this clear. These are the schools that essentially prevent kids from attending who come from a needy family.
A subtle way to keep the student body representative of a certain income demographic - if you will.</p>
<p>Many private schools, however, offer a combination of "Merit" and "need-based". In this case - if you lose your Merit scholarship do not expect your need-based grant to go up. You could end up having to leave school.
While both of these are a part of the Financial Aid package, I have been told that they use a formula to come up with the Need based part and getting a higher Merit scholarship increases your aid and narrows the gap.</p>
<p>My youngest is accepted at a school that offered her both a nice Merit scholarship and a hefty need-based grant. Her gap is pleasantly quite small.
Many people are under the false assumption a Merit scholarship offered upon acceptance will in IN ADDITION to a financial aid package not a PART of the financial aid package.</p>
<p>In many situations, merit aid is not considered part of an FA package; it comes off the top of the family's "need". At my d's school, for example, all merit scholarships are administered by the Admissions Office, and need-based aid by the Financial Aid office.</p>
<p>Additionally, while one must apply for need-based aid every year, and the amounts can fluctuate based on a variety of factors, students generally do not need to reapply for a recurring merit-based scholarship so long as they meet the prerequisites of the scholarship (maintaining a certain GPA, continuing in a certain major, whatever). They may have to fill out some forms to show their continuing eligibility, but they don't have to reapply for it.</p>
<p>There is also no guarantee that a student would have been awarded that entire $12,000 in the form of grant, or in total at all, if it had been need-based.</p>
<p>If those are the parameters of a merit-based scholarship, I don't see it as misrepresentation at all.</p>
<p>Chedva -
Did your daughter's financial aid award show the Merit scholarship?</p>
<p>At all the schools which my kids were offered Merit scholarships the scholarship appears on the Financial aid award.
While it may not be technically considered Financial aid - the school is still going to use it as money toward the "Need". I have never heard of a Merit Scholarship being used to pay for the EFC.</p>
<p>You are correct though the Merit scholarship is yours for 4 years as long and the qualifications are met. With two daughters over a total of 8 years their need based grant never changed - even with a lower EFC and tuition increase.</p>
<p>JustAMom, her merit award shortly after her admission, but from the Admissions office. Her FA award came from the FA office. The document did reflect the merit award, as I said, and I agree with you, to reduce our "need" - to me, that makes sense. If someone gives me $5K, that's $5K less that I need help in paying. In our case, her merit aid wiped out our "need", so we got only Stafford loans. </p>
<p>Merit aid reduces EFC only if the amount of the aid exceeds the amount of the calculated need. Then, of course, the EFC is reduced, assuming the merit award really has no need component.</p>
<p>Now, ask me if our EFC makes sense? That's a whole different issue!</p>