How great is the financial and/or merit aid offered at the following colleges?
My parents are paying $0 becuase our family of 7 makes $65,000 after taxes in Massachusetts. Given the circumstances, it will come down to money for colleges, so I will need almost full aid.
GPA- 3.8
ACT-30
-Hillsdale
-Catholic University of America (CUA)
Thank you!!
What kind of aid? How much do you need?
What CAN you pay per year.
What are the student’s stats?
thanks, I edited it 
None will be affordable since none will give you a full ride, which is what you need.
These Catholic schools do not have a lot of aid to give. None of these schools meet need.
Those schools will expect your family to contribute. Your family income is higher than that. You’re giving the net income after taxes, so income is significantly higher.
None of these schools will give anywhere close to full aid. They might give you $20k or 25k per year in grants …maybe…but no where close to the $50k per year you’d need to go.
Hopefully, you’re not a senior. What year are you? If you are a senior, where else did you apply?
If you are a junior, then retest for higher scores and look for schools that give free rides for your stats.
Thank goodness you’re not a senior. You need a new list. And forget about schools like Texas A&M unless you make National Merit Finalist.
You need to retest and you need higher scores. You also need a totally new application list.
Your problem is that your parents won’t pay anything, and most schools don’t give free rides.
I’m very relieved you’re a junior Because you need a different list .
Run the NPC on Notre Dame and Holy Cross. They meet need and if your parents make less than 80k with a family if six, you’ll get a huge scholarship .
Then run the NPC on every university you listed, and look at net price (before any loan).
Work on your tests - any increase in act or sat score will make it more likely you’ll get the financial aid you need.
Have you taken the SAT? Some students do better on that test than the ACT. I would agree…retest is needed. An ACT score over 32 will put you in a better position to look at more generous colleges.
You would need a much higher ACT score to be a competitive applicant for Notre Dame or HC.
Is there a reason for having only religious schools on your list,or are you open to other options.
“My parents are paying $0 becuase our family of 7 makes $65,000 after taxes in Massachusetts.”
It’s not “after taxes” and do you mean they can’t pay anything or you actually ran one of the formulas and confirmed they won’t be expected to contribute much?
When a student needs massive aid, you have to dig, really dig, to understand fin aid. Most smaller colleges and many publics don’t have much aid to give, in the first place. Find a book like Financial Aid for Dummies and learn up. Don’t assume you just apply, get in, and the aid is magically there.
Run the Net Price Calculator on each college’s web site and see what you might get. (If your family is self employed, or certain other circumstances, this may not help. But you have to learn the basics of what FA is and how it comes.)
My dd has a somewhat similar profile with worse finances, and I looked at almost all the colleges on your list except Assumption. The only one I will keep on our list is Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg.
You might want to run the NPC on the University of Dallas. I think it might be better than the others but not a fullride.
Immaculata outside of Philly used to give a handful of full tuition scholarships each year.
DeSales in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania also has several full tuition scholarships.
Also, check out St. Vincent’s in Latrobe, PA.
Will this help? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1956958-hidden-gem-catholic-colleges-with-big-merit-p1.html
Another option is to look at well-regarded Newman clubs and see which colleges among them might be affordable. http://www.bestcollegereviews.org/features/college-newman-centers/
Here’s another possibility to consider. Colleges with FOCUS. I didn’t go through the entire list but I can already see colleges that offer automatic merit deals that you might qualify for now or with a small increase in ACT score. https://www.focus.org/give/campuses
I think I can see what your looking for in a college and I am very sympathetic. I have realized those same choices are impractical for us, even for reasons that go beyond finances like choices of major and other opportunities, so I am branching out in my search. I am hoping for some opportunity for my D’s faith to be able to grow and mature and it’s okay that she will go to a college that isn’t perfect…as long as there is true diversity, meaning she won’t be shot down for possibly having a different beliefs or views from the majority and can find some like-minded people.
My oldest may have ended up at one of the schools on your list but she was after a very specific, unusual major. She got a nice merit award from a school with a program she loved, and she had a great college experience and will come out very well-prepared for her profession. She did not get to take theology classes or be surrounded by people who shared her beliefs. But she met great people from different backgrounds and beliefs who loved and supported her. She has regularly scheduled Newman club meetings and helps out with the ministry in various ways. I think that small group helped her mature more than being in a college where most people would have been on the same page.
This is a journey for all of us.
Full tuition scholarships would not be enough for a student whose family will not pay anything and likely doesn’t qualify for much/any Pell Grant. She’s giving her family’s net income (after taxes) not gross. Likely the income is closer to 6 figures.
And, I doubt any of those schools will give full tuition for an ACT 30. I personally know an ACT 31 student, Val of her class, who only got half-tuition award to UDallas (the Catholic Univ…not UTDallas).
If this student runs the NPCs on schools’ websites, she CANNOT use the family’s “net income” (after taxes)…she has to use the income before taxes.
Frankly, Catholic univs are pretty bad about offering HUGE merit, which is what this student needs. They may have a couple of “free rides,” but usually reserved for spectacular stats ALONG with fabulous community service ECs or similar.
More likely this student will need to attend a non-secular Univ. If so, she can focus on ones that have strong Catholic student groups.
She also needs to look closely at the COAs and see how much is estimated for travel. If she ends up going to school a few states away and the school only estimates $800 in travel, that will not likely be accurate.
And…she needs to retest.