<p>When a college says that it will meet "100% of demonstrated financial need", is that true? I mean some say that their students will graduate debt free... I hope that this claim is valid.</p>
<p>The COLLEGES that meet 100% of demonstrated need calculate that need themselves using THEIR own formulas to do so. They don’t use the FAFSA EFC. Most schools that meet full need for all students also require the CSS Profile (with the exception of Princeton which uses their own form in addition to the FAFSA).</p>
<p>Most of these schools DO expect a student contribution. </p>
<p>If your family has a calculated family contribution, the school will not give you aid to meet that family contribution. </p>
<p>The schools with generous need based aid, and no loans…that meet need for all are very small in number.</p>
<p>ETA…your first hurdle is gaining acceptance to one of these highly competitive colleges.</p>
<p>Some colleges meet the need with loans. For instance UVA meets 100% need but they package loans into their aid package. My daughter (instate) was offered $9,000 in loans in addition to us paying our EFC. They also calculated our EFC higher then some other schools.</p>
<p>Princeton and some other private schools meet need without loans packaged in so that you still have room to borrow if you cannot pay your EFC. </p>
<p>Also good to know is how the school handles outside scholarships. Some schools take the money off the student work study and summer contribution before they take away from need based aid.</p>
<p>“Meet 100% of need” schools can produce very different net prices because:</p>
<ul>
<li>They may define expected family contribution (and therefore “need”) differently.</li>
<li>They may have different expected student contributions (direct loans and/or expectations of work earnings).</li>
</ul>
<p>Check each school’s net price calculator for an estimate rather than relying on whether it “meets 100% of need”. It is even possible for such a school to have a higher net price than a school that makes no such claim.</p>
<p>Meeting need does not mean “no loans”. (there are a few that don’t use loans to meet need, but they will use work study)</p>
<p>Meeting need does not mean …give only grants (free money)</p>
<p>If you have $40k in “need”…the school may meet that need with:
$30k grant
$5500 Direct loan
$1500 Perkins loan
$3000 Work study</p>
<p>Also…the SCHOOL determines what your need is. Your family may think it needs $50k. The school may look at your parents’ finances and say that you only “need” $30k.</p>
<p>Exactly. Meeting need means meeting need as defined by the school. You can only graduate debt-free if you don’t need to borrow any money to pay for school. The only way to know for sure whether or not it will work for your family is to wait for the aid package (that is why the CC mantra is to make sure you apply to a financial safety school you would actually attend if aid does not work out at the more expensive schools).</p>
<p>The problem with the Guarantee in terms of financial aid is that terms like “need”, “afford” are not absolute. How does one determine how much a family “needs” or can “afford”? Schools have their formulas to d determine that, and it is not by asking you or your family what you need to go to the school or what you can afford. People tend to want to pay as little as they can and the schools want to get as much as they can out fo the families. </p>
<p>There is no guarantee about no loans. Schools will say they won’t put loans in the financial aid package. But there is nothing to stop you and your family from taking out loans to pay for the costs that you have to come up with. Most of the schools that have loan free packages have work study in there for self help and/or have a required student contribution that is close to what the Direct Loan amounts are.</p>
<p>It’s all about having the ability to pay the EFC. My D attends a 100% meeting need/no loans college and yes, she will have no debt. However, we always knew if she attended our state flagship, we would be full pay, so we had saved for that. When her FA package came though, what was left on the table for us to pay was lower than our state flagship, so off she went debt free. </p>
<p>QLM</p>
<p>^Saving always beats borrowing. See [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Saving vs Borrowing Calculator](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid)</p>
<p>As noted above, many of the colleges that offer no loan policies are extremely competitive in admissions. Those colleges can offer that policy because they have extremely high endowments per student, and because they often have relatively small enrollments. </p>
<p>The number of no loan colleges has also been shrinking, and often the no loan policy only applies to the students from the very lowest income families.</p>
<p>For the vast majority of students, the goal should be to try to graduate with only federally-subsidized college loans. Don’t overstress yourself trying to find a college where you will have no loans. You will have 10 years after you finish full time college studies to pay off federal Stafford and Perkins loans, and payments can be delayed if you are attending grad school at least half time. It is the private and PLUS loans that you should avoid whenever possible.</p>
<p>The colleges with the best aid consider many more factors than are considered in the fafsa. For example, they may base their decisions upon family income without some deductions, and they ask more questions about assets. Those colleges also often have early deadlines for the submittal of required information.</p>
<p>It also is worthwhile to consider how much work study a college will offer in order to meet full need. You don’t need to accept work study, and can do fewer hours, if you can find the money elsewhere. It is often very difficult for a freshman to complete many work study hours while they are adjusting to college work loads. While some work study jobs may allow you to do some school work (such as working the desk at a branch library), other jobs will tire you out. The older students often get the better jobs.</p>
<p>Almost all offers of meeting 100% need are limited to US students. Also, many public universities only meet most or all of need for in-state residents.</p>