<p>Example: My d was awarded grants to a $45,000/year almost-Ivy that cover the entire estimated cost of attendance, (tuition, room, board, fees, personal expenses, travel, books, & supplies), less our expected family contribution. Our expected family contribution is $3,500 from parents and $2,500 from my d. </p>
<p>The Ivy college that she prefers to attend expects the same $6,000 family contribution, but also includes $6,000 of student loans in her aid package. The remainer of her $45,000 expected cost of attendance is met with grants.</p>
<p>Is the almost-Ivy award package what people mean when they say that someone got a "full ride?" Don't get me wrong, I think the offer is superb, but it will still cost $6,000 for her to attend the almost-Ivy. Is that as good as it gets? Barring outside scholarships, do students ever pay less than that?</p>
<p>And for the Ivy, $6,000 seems like a lot of student loan for the first year. Does anyone know how much freshman Ivy students generally borrow? </p>
<p>I know quite a few people are taking on much larger debts than $6,000. Some up to $20,000 loans, but I'm not sure if this is considered normal or not.</p>
<p>Generally when someone says that a student got a "full ride" they mean that everything is covered with no contribution at all from the family or student. Those, however, are rare and mostly awarded to someone at the absolute top end of the entrance requirements or a scholarship athlete.</p>
<p>There is no strict dictionary definition and the term is used quite loosely, but I believe Boysmom has it right. Very few full rides. My older son got a full ride plus from the state school several years ago, as his outside scholarships, state scholarship and school merit award exceeded the cost of attendence there. I'm sure,though, that he would have been able to spend every bit of it. </p>
<p>Yes, $6000 in student loans is a bit on the high side, but that is what Ihave been seening. $20K total over 4 years is what the feds think is reasonable and that has been the official line for a while, but now I am seeing more and more top schools ignoring this guideline for full need kids.</p>
<p>Today, few athletes outside of football and basketball get full rides. It's pretty common for athletes to get partial awards, and I am not sure how much discretionary cash athletes get.</p>
<p>My daughter received a Trustee scholarship, which was the top scholarship at here school, a few years back. It covered tuition and some fees I believe. While we were able to cover her living expenses, I do understand where $6000 can be overwhelming if your parents have no way to pay.</p>
<p>My son got lots of offers from being a nat'l merit finalist -- he may go to U of Alabama where they cover tuition and room and board -- does room and board include the food? I'm too embarassed to ask them!</p>
<p>stressedparent, If it says board it includes some meal plan. Now ,which one of many board plans it includes gives you an un-embarrassing reason to verify and aske questions.</p>
<p>lwk...You should fax the better award package to the Ivy school in question. Explain that the loan would be an extra burden that would be difficult for your family.
Quite possibly the school might "meet or beat" the award.</p>
<p>Each school has an official cost of attendence that is a figure used for things like PLUS loan maximums, and you can get that number. It is usually the average reported for meal plans and dorm rooms. How schools that have a lot of kids living off campus with meager use of the meal plans compute this, I don't know. They may just use the numbers available. These numbers can be way off at schools where the board is a la carte and the student is a big eater.</p>