<p>I'm currently attending Swarthmore, and so far, the aid packages have been great. However, my sister is graduating from college this year, and I'm worried to death about how my aid will change. If it changes a lot, I will not be able to return for next year and instead take classes at community college in hopes of transferring to a UC. Has anyone else been in this situation before? I feel so worried and guilty all the time, I can't even concentrate in my classes. I know I should have considered this before I chose to attend, but hindsight is 20/20....</p>
<p>Archers, I your concern is understandable. I would suggest you speaking with the financial aid office at the college & your earliest convenience, and express your concerns. If anything–it will get it off your chest. You have a full load with your course work at this school. Don’t harbor guilt or fear–go for it. It’s gotten you this far in your undergraduate career. Best to you!! :)</p>
<p>I spoke with the FA office, and unfortunately, they couldn’t tell me anything useful or reassuring. I turned in my FA application and requested early notification of my package for next school year, but even ‘early notification’ will be too late to register for community college (in the worst case scenario that returning to Swarthmore will be too costly). Sigh. </p>
<p>My new FAFSA EFC went up by just ~$3,000…but I’m sure that a private school’s EFC calculations would come up with an exponentially larger number. I guess it would be reasonable to estimate that I’ll have to pay twice as much for next year. Hopefully it will be less than that, since my parents suffered a 10% decrease in their already kinda low income.</p>
<p>I just feel so stupid. :[</p>
<p>archers:</p>
<p>Take a deep breath. You are getting yourself all worked up over a problem that only exists hypothetically at this point.</p>
<p>Swat couldn’t tell me in exact numbers how my package would change after my older sibling’s graduation from college, but did say that I could expect Swat’s expected family contribution to double as long as nothing else changes. They said I should expect this even if my parents are supporting my sibling in graduate school. I may be taking a year off to work to help pay my way through…</p>
<p>Is EFC inflation a prevalent issue with Swat–or does this run through with most LAC’s?</p>
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<p>No. The only time it is an issue is when there is a material change in a family’s income or expenses: such as going from two kids in college at the same time to just one kid.</p>
<p>If Swarthmore figures you can pay $20,000 this year and nothing else changes except that you make $20,000 more next year, then Swarthmore is going to figure that you can now pay $20,000 more in tuition.</p>
<p>This is a very rare case where I think interesteddad may have simplified things too much. Although I do not have first hand experience with financial aid, I did run the case of an extra $20,000 in income through both the finaid . org institutional methodology calculator and the financial aid estimator at another LAC (Carleton). In both cases, an extra $20,000 in income does not produce an increase of anything like $20,000 in the parents EFC. The increase in EFC seems to be more like $4,000 - $6,000 for an increased income of $20,000, all other things held constant. This iseems to be because the EFC calculator / financial aid estimators take into consideration the increased federal and possibly state income taxes and increased FICA taxes on the higher income, and also seem to only allocate about 40% of the higher after-tax income towards college expenses.</p>
<p>dadx3, thanks for the clarification. </p>
<p>D has been accepted by this school. This is our first child to head off to college – we also have a hs freshman S & 4th grader D – and we just want to know what we’re getting ourselves into before signing the dotted line on May 1st. If D WERE to matriculate, will the school blow up the EFC sometime during her junior year? I’m sure these concerns are unjustified. </p>
<p>I do know that of the eight LAC schools to which D applied, Swat’s attitude toward financial aid seemed to be (for lack of better word) the most pisnickery/edgy. Their paperwork harbored the most questions regarding family assets~leading beyond means of the immediate family (grandparents, etc). </p>
<p>Leads me to believe that the School may have been taken by a few unscrupulous family’s (false) claims in the recent past? Just a guess…</p>
<p>Also – after digging around the web – my wife recently found a open letter (a couple yrs back) from students/parents regarding their concerns over Swarthmore’s financial aid policy–which left a big question mark for us, regarding the School’s stance. I hope these concerns are unfounded. But it leaves you wondering…?</p>
<p>I welcome any comments, suggestions & advice.</p>
<p>Hello, All</p>
<p>I think I’m just encountering early stages of “buyer’s remorse.” </p>
<p>Daddy is just going to chill out, breath and allow the process to take place, as it will. Feel like I’m taking the role of “helicopter parent” to a new level~lol! </p>
<p>D to arrive @ decision between Swarthmore & Kenyon by the end of next week…</p>
<p>Why these reflections? Just found a previous CC post from 2OO5, I believe; see below…</p>
<p>"Daily Gazette: Bock speaks on Swarthmore admissions and financial aid </p>
<hr>
<p>The following is taken from Thursday Nov 10th’s Daily Gazette (available at daily.swarthmore.edu).</p>
<p>Bock speaks on Swarthmore admissions and financial aid</p>
<p>by Lauren Stokes
Gazette Reporter</p>
<p>Class awareness month may be winding down, but on Wednesday night Swarthmore Dean of Admission Jim Bock spoke to a group of students and faculty about Swarthmore’s admissions and financial aid policies.</p>
<p>College enrollment rates are considerably lower for low-income families than high-income families, and although the disparity has decreased since the 1980s, explained Bock, there is still much work that needs to be done.</p>
<p>Bock himself graduated from high school in 1986 and almost didn’t apply to Swarthmore because it was the most expensive school on his list. He was convinced not only that he couldn’t get in, but also that if he did manage to get in, there was no way his family would be able to afford it. In the end, Swarthmore’s generous need-based aid meant that Swarthmore was the only college he could attend. He graduated with $20,000 in debt, all of which he managed to pay back within ten years. Today the average debt for Swarthmore students on financial aid has been cut down to $15,000. “While we could be doing a lot better,” noted Bock, “Swarthmore has the lowest loan default rate of any college in the country. Swarthmore helps students earn the money they need to pay us back.”</p>
<p>Bock came back to work for Swarthmore admissions as the profession was “struggling” with these very issues of financial aid. Swarthmore has “the true luxury” of being able to afford a lot more than other schools; for as long as Bock has been here, the college has had a firm commitment to need-blind admissions and need-based aid. A recent development is the expansion of financial aid to cover study abroad programs, something Bock was unable to do in his time here.</p>
<p>Bock believes that one of the most important parts of his job is helping students understand that financial aid is available, and that Swarthmore is within access for everyone. He is proud of the fact that he heads an admissions staff which is 60% non-white and 30% first-generation college students. “I realized the other day that I’m the only white guy on staff! Start with a diverse staff, and you’ll get a diverse student body.”</p>
<p>Swarthmore has only ever offered one merit-scholarship, the McCabe Scholarship, established by Thomas B. McCabe '15 before need-based aid ever existed and given to four deserving students from the surrounding Pennsylvania counties and the Delmarva Peninsula each year.</p>
<p>All of the other aid at Swarthmore is need-based; Bock believes strongly that since every student here deserves a scholarship, the college’s financial aid should be going to those who need it most. Over 50% of Swarthmore students receive need-based awards. This year the average award was $28,000 and the average grant portion was $24,616.The difference is made up through loans and work study, as “Aid is a balancing act.” Interestingly enough, Swarthmore’s yield rate for aided students is higher than that of non-aided students.</p>
<p>While Swarthmore’s need-blind admissions policy is a great thing, Swarthmore needs the full-pay students too. “It costs a heck of a lot more to increase our aided students by even 5 or 10 percent… it magically seems to even out every year at around 50%.” In the future Bock would like to endow Swarthmore’s financial aid budget, like Princeton has done. Princeton has eliminated loans from its aid package, and has diversified their student body considerably as a result. Princeton is the world’s only college or university with such a policy, and for good reason, said Bock, “They have more money than God.” Bock would like to see Swarthmore’s figure of $15,000 in loans over four years go down, “but it simply can’t at the moment.”</p>
<p>While Swarthmore has a long way to go, “we are in a unique position in the sense that financial aid at Swat is a sacred cow.” The financial aid budget is never up for debate, but always set aside and protected. “We will never run out of aid.”</p>
<p>Another unique feature of Swarthmore’s financial aid is that it also offers full aid to international students, who cost more because the federal government does not provide loans. Many colleges give international students no aid whatsoever and “only go for full-pay internationals,” but Swarthmore has a high yield on international students because it offers generous aid.</p>
<p>Bock also spoke briefly about spreading the news about Swarthmore to low-income families. With eleven traveling admissions officers, “there are lots of places we just don’t get to,” but Bock insists that 25-33% of the high schools officers visit be under-represented high schools or schools with high proportions of under-represented students. There are also many creative ways to get to students, such as talking to counselors from community organizations and organizations that focus specifically on getting low-income students to go to college.</p>
<p>“Every year,” concluded Bock, “the seniors accuse us of admitting dumber, less socially active, and less committed students, but it’s not true, and we’re not trying to change the culture of Swarthmore. We’re just trying to get the word out to more people who never considered it but would fit in here.” Bock stressed the need to educate students about small liberal arts colleges in general. “We do it best, but we’re not the only ones who do it well. I’d rather see someone go to Williams or Bates or Pomona than go somewhere bigger.”</p>
<p>During the question-and-answer period, many interesting issues were raised. When reading applications of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, Bock stressed, “we have no cut-offs… in essays, we’re less concerned with polish than with ability to analyze.” He told the story of one student whose essay was better than all of his teacher recommendations combined. “The essay wasn’t very good,” remembered Bock, “but that said something powerful about his motivation.”</p>
<p>Questions were also raised about what happens when parents aren’t willing to pay and the middle-income group of students who can’t comfortably pay for Swarthmore but also don’t qualify for financial aid. While there’s much room for improvement, Swarthmore is getting better every year; Bock pointed proudly to the statistic that 41 out of 389 students in the class of 2009 are first-generation college students, and all of these U.S. citizens"</p>
<p>I am not a financial aid insider, but it seems like every calculator I’ve played around with comes up with an EFC for the family. If there is only one kid in college, the entire EFC is deemed available for that kid. If two are in college, the EFC is split evenly between the kids. For schools that meet full need (like Swarthmore), this would mean that financial aid would go up by approximately 50% of your EFC when your HS freshman son goes to college.</p>
<p>@oompaloompa64: Swarthmore eliminated institutional loans from its packages in 2007, which is worth considering when comparing with Kenyon, which I’m guessing has not. You may still need to take out the Stafford loans, of course. I don’t think it’s likely for the school to blow up EFC later. There is a formula–if circumstances don’t change, the aid won’t. Swarthmore does not want to screw its graduates over with debt–it wants them to have opportunities to take the jobs they want and donate later in life.</p>
<p>In response to the OP, I don’t think the idea is that a family is meant to spend $x on tuition each year, so with y students in college the family spends $x/y each. Having less students in college will probably cost less per year.</p>
<p>I am the middle child so I will always be in college with either one or both of my siblings. Hopefully that will keep my aid high.</p>
<p>The difference in financial resources between Swarthmore and Kenyon is so extreme that there really shouldn’t even be a decision to make unless Kenyon is paying you to attend. I don’t mean to be blunt or anything, but when the per student endowment and per student spending differences are that large, it falls into no brainer territory.</p>
<p>Per Student Endowment</p>
<p>Swarthmore $827,321
Kenyon $97,275</p>
<p>Per Student Operating budget</p>
<p>Swarthmore $80,286
Kenyon $47,782</p>
<p>I don’t mean to take anything away from Kenyon. It’s a fine small-endowment college, but the difference in resourses impacts every aspect of every program and every day – starting with student/faculty ratios. On the assumption that, roughly speaking, Swarthmore is managed as well as Kenyon, consider the resources available for an extra $33,000 per student per year.</p>
<p>Consider, for example, the Arabic programs at the two schools.</p>
<p>Kenyon offers two courses: beginning and intermediate Arabic. They have one part-time instructor, on campus two days a week and two days a week at Dennison. Half of the classes are taught by video conference from Dennison.</p>
<p>Swarthmore has three Arabic professors, offers three full years of instruction, plus half credit conversational courses at various levels, plus directed reading advanced courses plus a special major and special honors major.</p>
<p>I get that, interesteddad. And thank you for pointing that out. Those poor Episcopalian pastors/instuctors earlier in Kenyon’s history – when it was more closely tied to a faith tradition – may have been better at saving souls then in running endowments…lol.</p>
<p>I’m advising her to go with her gut/pray about this, as I was dropping her off @ a track meet this morning. Some things money cannot purchase, and that’s the care/passion given by instructors for their subject & students. Kenyon certainly does a great job on this end–as do the majority of LACs. That’s why this family went in this direction vs Ivy & Flagship State Schools. </p>
<p>I believe that if $ were no issue – and she has received attractive FA from both schools – Swarthmore would be her choice. </p>
<p>There must be many families in this very state throughout the country right now. I wish them all the best as the arrive a decision by May 1st…! :]</p>