I am a rising sophomore at a private university and my family/I cannot keep up the high cost of attendance even after the aid they gave initially.
I was above average in high school but still not reaching my full potential (underfunded public school, dont come from a great neighborhood, had other stuff going on) I knew I didn’t have as solid an education as many at my college but was prepared to study hard and make it work. Instead, I found that I was the strongest in all of my classes, I maintain a 4.00 with relative ease and many of my professors have remarked about me being their top student. The reason seems to be that for the first time in my life, I have no outside factors, good educators, supportive academic environment, and I can ACTUALLY focus on school rather then whatever happened in front of my house or in the school hallway.
Here’s where my problem comes in, I was not evaluated as this strong of a student because my circumstances didn’t allow. Now, I am an asset to my school in the programs and endeavors I am a part of and driving my classes all while working, but I cannot afford this.
I have become so desperate I am considering emailing my dean or other higher administration (not to blame or plea) really just to see if there is any possible room for an appeal that isn’t advertised or just some way to avoid transferring from my school. They have a major retention problem and I figure they would want to avoid another transfer but I don’t know if they’d care in the slightest about me or my financial situation.
Equally frustrating is having a friend who obtained a full ride but barely pass or even shows up to their classes in favor of partying. Guess life really isn’t fair.
Any advice? Is this just my bed to lay in or do I have any negotiating power? Is it worth emailing?
If you are not close enough to campus to actually go to the financial aid office, I would recommend calling instead of emailing. It is almost August. Time is not on your side. Also, you need to have an alternative plan.
I see from your tag that you are at American. They do not guarantee to meet full need. Is your aid award significantly different than last year? Did your family financial situation change significantly from last year.
Thats part of the issue, income decreased but when i talked to a financial aid officer last semester she didn’t believe it would be significant enough to make a dent and they don’t have any official recourse for merit aid appeals.
I definitely don’t want to be that entitled college kid with an inflated sense of what aid they deserve but even from professors I have talked to it seems like I am a stronger student and asset to the college in comparison to the aid they gave, not sure
Sadly if you cannot afford it then you might need to take some time off, and then transfer to an in-state public university. Alternately you could transfer to an in-state community college, and then transfer to an in-state public university after completing two years. I would be surprised if there is time to transfer to a four year in-state public university to start in September, but only mildly surprised and you should contact them and ask. It seems reasonably likely that you could start at an in-state community college in September.
I used to know someone who got part way through their bachelor’s degree with significant loans, including some parent-plus loans cosigned by their parents, and then discovered that they no longer qualified to borrow more money. They were not able to complete their degree. This is definitely a situation to avoid. They did end up graduating from an in-state public university, but still had the student debt for the private university where they started.
You strong grades for your first year at American will stay with you. All of the transcript that you earned, and the knowledge that you learned, and even more importantly the improved study skills and the knowledge that you can do it, with stay with you. You will however need to avoid owing any money to your current university.
I assume that you have already discussed this issue with the financial aid office. If not then this is the first thing to do. If they cannot help you, then the next step might be to email the dean and your academic advisor. I would be inclined to point out the financial hardship, state that of course you will need to drop out and that you regret being unable to continue. State that you enjoyed your year at American, you feel that you learned a lot including better study skills, and you would like to thank them for the opportunity to study there even if only for a year. Stay professional and polite. They will understand that you are unhappy about the financial situation, and you want to behave as if you are the type of mature student that they would have wanted to keep around.
Best of luck with this. Let us know how it comes out.
I hope all parents who are stretching read this. It’s very common. Families don’t plan. They just figure they’ll figure it out. And your friend with the full-ride is not relevant. Each person has their own circumstances.
No one should put themselves in the position of everything has to be perfect financially just to attend.
Since you will be second year, I would call as someone said but the aid office is unlikely to care about your gpa. Short of a departmental type scholarship, you probably need to leave. But if you are desperate, an email will likely be fruitless - even not responded to. It’s time to advocate for yourself and to do so verbally.
Perhaps you should move home, attend a CC and regroup for next year at a lower cost school as a Junior transfer.
Also, ask the department you are majoring in if there are any scholarships available to students like you. Sometimes there are scholarships designated for only upper division students in a particular major.
If the finances don’t work out this year, see if American will allow you to take a leave of absence for the year. Take that year to either work out the finances or look for less expensive options for transfer applications.
That’s better than going in over your heads financially for an additional year.
It doesn’t hurt to ask. A generation ago, my husband went into the financial aid office, showed how his grades were very strong and asked for more merit aid. Said he was in a bad financial situation (true) and he was performing at or above the levels of people getting large scholarships.
They gave him more money. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. Think through your communication strategy and give it a go.
I would definitely make an appointment to talk with a financial aid advisor (hopefully a manager) and also with the Dean of Students and the head of your department for you major. If you document your decrease in income as they request, hopefully there will be some additional need-based aid available to you. And perhaps the head of the department will have information on a merit scholarship. And the Dean may have other resources available to offer.
Do you have on-campus or off-campus work that you do? Can you increase your hours at all without impacting your studies? Note that sometimes off-campus jobs pay more than on-campus jobs.
Have you already applied for federal student loans? As you likely know, you are eligible for $5500 for the first year, $6500 for the second year, and $7500 each for junior and senior year. Depending on your financial aid profile, some of these may be subsidized, meaning that the federal government will pay the interest for you while you are in college.
Also, please double-check your FAFSA and CSS Profile entries to make sure you entered everything correctly. Make sure that any 529 assets are entered as parent assets, not student assets, even though the student is the beneficiary. Make sure that your family does not report any 401k or IRA assets as “regular” assets - -they are to be reported only as retirement assets.
paging @kelsmom and @belknapPoint to see if they have any additional information that could help this student who may have to withdraw or take a year’s leave from American University because they can no longer afford it due to a drop in income and an increase in tuition.
I work part time pretty much year round and applied for the available federal loans, I will definitely try to demonstrate to income decrease and reach out to my head of department, potentially also schedule a meeting with the dean of students.
It appears that AU has a dedicated financial aid counselor for each student. Be sure that you are working with your counselor, rather than with a student worker or administrative coordinator. The counselor is the person who will be able to advocate for you, if your situation warrants it. Definitely talk with your department head, as well. Best wishes as you navigate this … I hope it works out for you.