<p>Merit scholarships reduce need. So if you were initially offered a 15K academic scholarship, your need-based aid will likely be reduced by that amount.</p>
<p>But if you’re offered 32K in grant/scholarship aid at a school with a COA of 52K, that’s a pretty good offer. And it doesn’t mean you need to take out 20K per year in loans.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>School’s COA is often somewhat inflated, with estimates for personal expenses, books, and transportation that give a frugal student plenty of wiggle room. We’ve found that if a student is careful, he can often shave 2K off the estimated cost by not taking the most expensive meal plan, buying used books, not splurging, and watching transportation expenses.</p></li>
<li><p>You should be eligible for Perkins or Subsidized Stafford loans, probably to the tune of around 5K per year. These are the best loans, interest is paid by the govt while you’re in school, and you don’t need to start repaying until after you graduate. 5 to 6K per year would leave you with 20 to 25K of debt upon graduation, which is doable for most.</p></li>
<li><p>You should be able to work during summer and bring in 3K or so.</p></li>
<li><p>You should be able to work part time during school, and bring in around 3K during the year (you might be eligible for work study, which would be great, but regardless you’ll need to work). It’s your education, your dream. You need to step up and work for it.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>2K + 6K + 3K + 3K = 14K. That leaves around 6K-- see if your parents can do this from income/savings, or perhaps a PLUS loan.</p>
<p>There are ways to make this work, if you work for it. But if you just expect others to give you money, forget it.</p>
<p>Otherwise, go to a cheaper school.</p>