Crappy financial aid!

<p>I have been accepted to the College of Engineering and I hope to do Electrical and Computer Engineering, but i just recieved my financial aid packet today and I was shocked! My EFC is only about 1900 or so, but I was only offered 15,000 out of the COE of about 34,000. That puts me at about 19,000 in the hole! Also, I was surprised to learn that I didn't get any grant or scholarships, just a Federal Pell Grant (of $950, whoopie!), a Non-Resident Tuition waiver, work study, perkins loan, and direct dubsidzed loan. Did I do something wrong? I only submitted my FAFSA and of course our Federal tax documents. I know I don't have the best stats of everyone here, but I thought that I could at least get a scholarship or a grant or something. Is there a form I forgot to fill out? Also, I am in the James Scholars Honors Program, so does that have any financial benefits? Thanks!</p>

<p>Not sure from what you actually got based on your post. You say you got $15,000 leaving you $19,000 additional for an out-of-state resident ($34,000 overalll cost) but then you say you got a non-resident tuition waiver, so you will pay in state tuition, plus a grant, work study, and loans. With in-state tuition, the total annual cost is about $20,000 if in engineering not $34,000. The Pell grant brings it down to about $19,000. So are you saying the work study plus the loans total only $4,000? Just cannot tell what you actually got.</p>

<p>As to whether you failed to fill something out, the answer is most likely not. UIUC does not guarantee to meet full financial need, has had a severe budget crunch for a few years (state has not raised annual amount in that time), and getting 60% or so of need met is not uncommon. As to the James Scholar, no, it does not provide any additional financial benefits.</p>

<p>I am in the same sitution too.
I got accpeted to the college of engineering and it costs 36000 a yr.
my EFC is 5600 so that makes it 31000/yr
now they only gave me 11000/yr(loans included)
so that means I have to pay 20000 myself.
This is so funny when my parents arent gona pay anything.
Guess I wont be able to attend that school
sigh. guess califonia isnt the only ****ty state that doesnt have money.</p>

<p>Did you guys get packages about financial aid?! Or was is online you found out?</p>

<p>yep, thats the way it goes. shocking, isnt it?</p>

<p>so how am i supposed to pay for my college now since my parents are gona pay anything</p>

<p>i dont know, get 10 jobs and a scholarship or something. it sucks.</p>

<p>Is it just me or did UIUC drastically increase their tuition recently. When I checked on collegeview.com, it was 18k, but on my F.A. sheet, it says it's estimated to be 26k (36k total)!!! Not really helping matters is the fact that I only got that "unsubsidized loan" thing on my F.A. package, which basically == nothing.</p>

<p>Oh yeah and this really sucks! I had my eyes set on UIUC, but my parents now want me to go to Georgia Tech since Illinois is ripping us off. :P</p>

<p>I've been really depressed recently because not only did CMU waitlist me, but all my schools screwed me over on Financial Aid. I really don't want to go to Georgia Tech.</p>

<p>That's my rant for the day.</p>