“Aid official: Excelsior scholarship has lots of unanswered questions
Local college aid officers say they can’t get answers from the state”
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Aid-official-Excelsior-scholarship-has-lots-of-13124209.php
to add more misery, i have heard that they are still processing appeals for excelsior dating last fall and spring!!
do you believe this???
now i hear a recording saying they are updating accounts on a daily basis…i would start checking your HESC accounts for updates, ladies and gentlemen…
Not excelsior, but my son’s HESC portal was updated last Thursday with his other scholarships and it hit his school account today. That means HESC sent the data out to schools last Thursday or Friday.
It looks like they are running 2 weeks behind where there were last year when looking the school account.
Keep checking and email them once per week if nothing shows on your HESC portal.
thanks @nokilli
just read a story where it said that approximately 75 percent (and maybe more, much more) of applicants are denied the excelsior scholarship!!
it’s beginning to sound like a pipe dream for most, i’m afraid…maybe a scam according to some.
hmmmm…comments anybody? would like to hear from the financial aid officers who frequent this board. the NYS senate and assembly should hold hearings and get to the bottom of this…something needs to be changed in the regulations…and fast!!!
Can you link to the story?
yes i can…here it is
you can also go to twitter and lookup #excelsiorscam, as well
Thanks.
Isn’t the Washingtonexaminer a tabloid, ie. Unscrupulous in its spin so as to generate scandalous titles?
And Twitter hashtags love nothing.
Excelsior isn’t a scam.
@sybbie719 may be able to shed light on this.
Excelsior is not a scam. I think perhaps the biggest disconnect is that the program is really designed for first time college students.
The article makes a big deal about CUNY colleges. It seems that the reporter and those that have done the research know very little about CUNY or Excelsior.
- Excelsior is a last payer. This means that if you are a low income student who receives TAP and or PELL and it covers your tuition then you are not eligible for Excelsior, because all of your tuition is already paid for.
- For students who attend CUNY community colleges, most low income students can go free through other mechanisms; College Discovery- meaning that their family income is already low enough where their tuition is being covered by TAP/Pell. Students can also attend CUNY CC through ASAP if you are getting at least $5 in federal or state aid. ASAP will pay the balance of your tuition, book, fees and provide you with a free metro card.
From reading the study it states the biggest reasons for rejection are as follows:
Looking at those who are rejected:
By far the most commonly cited reason for denial was** “not sufficient credits,” which accounted for 36,095 denials, 83 percent of all rejected applications.
from HESC
The goal of the scholarship is for students to get in, complete the requirements for their degree and get out. It does not allow for breaks in your education, or changes in your major if the change means that you will not graduate in 4 years (this is not unreasonable considering that the taxpayers are paying for college).
Excelsior states the income limit. Unfortunately if your income exceeds, you are not eligible. The current income limit is $110k (yes, I know it seems like no money if you live in high cost areas in NYC and its surrounding areas. However for students who live further up state and families may not be making NYC salaries, it helps their kids).
People who are non NY residents (I think that is a no brainer)
TAP application missing- circling back as I stated it is a last payer after TAP. As part of the application process, they ask if you filed the fafsa and applied for TAP (NY State aid)
I think that Excelsior has been transparent regarding Eligibility for the scholarship (I doubt that people did the reading )
Since the program has just completed it’s first year, one of the takeaways from the study is that it seems like there were more students who previously attended college looking for a way to return and go to school with the free tuition than there were first time freshmen.
Most of these students were rejected because they were not on track to complete a degree (perhaps due to previous SAP issues, exhausting financial aid or other reasons that they did not complete their degree).
Baker, in your situation, you have had an almost 40 year gap I your education, where you now want to return to school and get Excelsior. During the time that you were in school, you have exhausted all of your TAP, all of your PELL and did not complete a degree.
The majority of students who were rejected are in your same situation-would you have had a different outcome if you were paying for your own education (I say this as a person who is chronologically your peer, took the long route through undergrad because I lost both of my parents. I tell every one, I had a wonderful time as a day student but learned the true value of an education, working during the day and paying to put myself through nigh classes at CUNY.
Under the Excelsior guidelines, your situation is exactly the pattern that the state is not looking to repeat. Over the course of 40 years, you could have taken one course at a time and still completed a degree if that really was your goal.
What changes do you propose needs to happen fast? Why do you think that taxpayers should pay for you to return to school, when they paid the first time and you did not take advantage of the opportunity?
That media outlet has an agenda.
just talked to someone at HESC. they are backed up big time processing applications…wait a few months they said for a decision…jeez…they should have hired more people for this…it will probably resolve itself by january…which means if you are counting from March, that’s 10 months…jeez…
note to the above…i am a ADA student…i forgot to add…
I know Im coming late to this discussing and this question may have already been answered but Ill ask anyway.
When I look at the Net Price Calculator for a school like SUNY Binghamton the total cost of attendance is almost $26K (tuition/fees costing $9300 of that total cost of attendance). Then they allocate almost $15k in unspecified grants and scholarships. Thereby reducing the COA to $11k.
So now can I still get the Excelsior Scholarship, or is it voided because the $15k more than covers the tuition and fees portion of the total COA?
@Dungareedoll , if you look up Excelsior scholarships and go to the FAQs, it clearly says that the Excelsior is the last award to be made. It is a financial aid award and therefore, all other monetary awards, including PELL, TAP, and merit awards and scholarships are applied to need first. The Excelsior is to bridge that gap so that full need is met for those families making under certain threshholds.