<p>If a family's financial situation does not change much, can they expect roughly the same financial aid package (with regards to need based grants given by the college) the next year also?</p>
<p>This depends entirely on the school. Most top schools require a student contribution, which generally goes up from year to year. Merit aid packages may also change depending on the studentâs GPA.</p>
<p>As far as need based I also noticed schools like Bryn Mawr for instance, expect more every year from the student. If you canât make the 6,000 needed by Junior year, for example, you would still have to come up with it.
Our grant decreased every year but our salary did increase. At Drew it was almost dollar to dollar but I canât say other schools are the same. I was frustrated I couldnât work more to pay off other bills, but that was the way it was. I was told unless a job was under the table, the grant would be re-calculated every year. I didnât realize at the time, for us, a larger scholarship would have been better and âmaybeâ we would have had one if the grant wasnât first given. A friend of my sonâs who is in a similar income group, got 4,000 more in his scholarship, but no grants.
If you arent going to fluctuate too much, it should be fine, but you should always question first.</p>
<p>Every school has itâs own FA policies and itâs wise to ask questions up front. It seems that some schools give more need-based aid to freshmen, which can lead to accusations of âbait and switchâ but really the info is usually there if you look for it or ask. So, look carefully at the grant descriptions on your FA award letter and call FA if youâre unsure. Also, some schools award more of the discretionary federal grant/loan money (FSEOG, Perkins, work study) to returning students.</p>
<p>A neighbor of mine had her son get more the second year than before because of âin-schoolâ scholarships but I donât hear about that very often.
I do hear about the âbait and switchâ accusations, especially when nothing is really different. It pays to ask (and not to a student working in the office) what would change your package. So many families are happy to get a great package and when i changes, it is hard. One mom I know had her sonâs grant almost fully taken away his junior or senior year and by then transfering is hard or not doable. I learned from them to not just âassumeâ and ask questions and GET NAMES!</p>
<p>From a recent blog entryâŠ</p>
<p>Why Did My Financial Award Change?
July 7th, 2009
· by Scott Anderson · Filed Under: Financial Aid</p>
<p>ÂWhy did my financial aid award change? is typically a question asked after the student has lost money compared to the previous year. Rarely does anyone ask this question if they received more money.</p>
<p>Here are 6 reasons why a studentÂs financial award offer will change from year to year </p>
<ol>
<li><p>The familyÂs income has changed. If income goes down, then the expected family contribution (EFC) will likely go down. This typically results in a better fianancial aid package. However, it is more likely that your income went up from the previous year. This means your EFC went up and your financial aid package will be lowered according to the establised guidelines.</p></li>
<li><p>The familyÂs assets have changed. As with income; if the assets go up, EFC goes up. If the assets go down, EFC goes down. Since most families will spend assets while their students are in college, this will most often have a downward pressure on your EFC (good for you). But if you won the lottery or inherited money, those new assets are going to drive your EFC up (bad for youÂ
sort of).</p></li>
<li><p>The number of students in college changed. The more students you have in collegeÂ
the lower your EFC will be. If a student graduated last year and you only have one in college this year, then you will see a big spike in that studentÂs EFC. Consequently, they will get less financial help from the college.</p></li>
<li><p>Changes in the federal Stafford loans. Stafford loan amounts increase as a student progresses through college. Currently freshman students can borrow $5,500; sophomores - $6,500; juniors - $7,500; and seniors - $7,500. As students are able to borrow more under the Stafford program, colleges will typically lower the other sources of help in the financial award. For instance, the student getÂs an addition $1,000 in a Stafford loan, but their college grant is lowered by $1,000.</p></li>
<li><p>Your collegeÂs endowment has taken a hard hit in the market. One of the unfortunate results of the current recession is many colleges have seen their investments dropÂ
big drops in some cases. This means the schools have less money they can give to their students. The recession is unfortunately limiting the amount of money many schools are able to give away compared to previous years.</p></li>
<li><p>Your college is a cheap-skate. It is rare, but some colleges will do a bait and switch to get freshmen students. They will give them very generous offers their first year, but then pull back the money in the subsequent years. This is not common, but there are unfortunately some institutions that will do this.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Good post, scott. On the bait/switch thing, I just have to add that some colleges are really accused of this unfairly. Iâve seen several schools who offer âfreshman grantsâ and/or favor freshmen in the distribution of limited funds such as FSEOG and Perkins loans. I donât think the intention is to mislead, or bait, people as they often do send a description of the awards with their FA letter or clearly post it on their website. It seems to be their practice to try to limit loans, and often work study, for freshmen, which makes sense given the number of freshmen who fail, drop out, or transfer. </p>
<p>Itâs hard to get past the cover letter, especially if youâre excited to get a great offer, but soooo important to read the details and confirm your understanding of the schoolâs policies with FA! I agree, itâs best if this info is in writing.</p>
<p>My son is starting his second year at U Chicago. His first year he received a perkins Loan and a modest grant. They actually increased the grant slightly when I wrote them and said I had submitted the wrong appraised value for our house. This year, he received NO aid, nada just a Stafford Loan. I made slightly more income that was offset by unanticipated expenses but they would have none of that! They looked at only one line of my 1040. Whereas the first year they were more âholisticâ in their approach, subsequently they seemed rigid and non caring. Our savings are less, and his 529 funds are gone. I am self employed so I must wait until I file my 2009 return before I can appeal. I feel this was a bit of a bait and switch. No college or university transparently reveals its formulae for calculating admission or financial aid yet almost all institutions of higher ed are receiving millions of dollars in federal aid in the form of research grants, etc. As a country we deserve better for our tax dollars. When a âprivateâ institution accepts federal money, they are no longer private (perhaps they are "semi-private). their endowments are run like non profits and they are required to disburse 5% of their assets each year to keep their IRS non taxable status but few do and even fewer show you on their websites how they are compliant. How much longer are we going to put up with this? After healthcare reform (if we ever get it) we need education reform!!!</p>
<p>My daughterâs aid at a State school has actually improved every year. Her highest loans were year 1, partly because she turned down part of her WS award until she could see how it would all work out workload wise. Year 2 she was eligible for the SEOG which she did not get the 1st year, plus her ACG was a little higher though that was offset by not having a particular freshman research scholarship she had year 1. She also had full WS. Year 3 she became eligible for the SMART which took away her WS eligibility. Year 4 we anticipate being about the same as year 3 except for any changes due to increases in tuition and fees (her school did not increase them this year so next year may be bad). This is a school that only does federal and State need based aid so after her merit money it is pretty easy to anticipate what need based aid she will get each year.</p>
<p>My sonâs Perkins loan has stayed constant for 3 years. His stafford loan has increased from 3500 to 4500 to 5500 (we only take the subsidized part, not the other 2k unsub). And his scholarship amount went from 30K to 31K to 32K (from the infamously stingy NYU, but they have been great to my son). My EFC has been consistent (12K). But the added loan amounts and additional scholarship $$ have largely offset the increase in costs. The COA has gone from 49K to 54K (but this can vary based on dorm and this year he is in the âcheap seatsâ.</p>
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