Hi all. So, as predicted, our efc for our son’s second year at Drexel has dropped from 43k this year to 28k his sophomore year. I told the financial aid office this would be the case (our 2020 was financially wonky for LOTS of reasons) last summer during a formal appeal and they denied us nonetheless. 43k is bananas on our salaries but with each of us working two part time jobs (six jobs total between my husband and I) we managed to save it and pay. Barely.
Drexel’s position is you only get one financial aid appeal which we have already exhausted. But 15k is a huge difference. My question is, is this something they will consider independently and rework his merit (3.9 his first quarter, grades not a problem) or is this something we will have to fight for?
Anyone with any experience with a big drop in efc from one year to the next, I’d love to hear your experience. Thanks in advance!
Federal regulations now require that schools review student requests for professional judgment. However, schools can choose not to do reviews for purposes of awarding their own aid. Your EFC is high enough that a review for federal aid purposes would not yield additional aid. The school is not obligated to review for purposes of awarding their own aid. You can ask, of course.
His merit aid award was based on his academic stats at the time of his application. Because his academic stats at the time of his application to college have not changed, his merit aid award should not change.
My S20 was accepted to Drexel and we had a microscopic EFC. Though they awarded my son both merit and need based aid, Drexel did not come close to matching our EFC or our actual Financial Need. We knew going into the application cycle that Drexel had a reputation for not coming close to meeting the financial need for financially needy applicants. In the end, Drexel did nothing to make me decide that reputation was unwarranted. My son ended up attending a different university that met our financial need, and all is well.
My guess is Drexel will not automatically reconsider and award increased financial aid. You will need to notify them to make them aware of your need. Even then, I expect Drexel will not meet your new extra need.
Unless Drexel does things differently…your financials really have nothing to do with a merit award. Merit awards are based on academic achievement, not financials.
OP- what are you fighting for? You appealed, they answered, they won’t allow a second appeal. If you are going to ask for a review of the merit package, just keep your expectations realistic… You might be able to negotiate/ask for an extra 5K (might… no guarantees) but an extra 15K in merit aid sounds hefty for Drexel…
Maybe it was just a coincidence that he received almost the exact amount in merit that was our unmet need, I guess. Really every school that he applied to come back with enough merit that we would pay ~40k. It matched up with our efc almost to the dollar, at all nine schools that accepted him. There was no outlier that would be substantially more or less. What are the odds.
So your calculated family contribution has gone down…but you are hoping the school will give you more money?
I’m not sure I understand that reasoning.
And even so…as you know from the first year. Drexel does not meet full financial need. The FAFSA says your family contribution is calculated as less than last year….I doubt Drexel will give you more money.
I know nothing about Drexel financial aid except that they don’t meet full need for all accepted students.
Perhaps someone can clarify. I can understand why there would be only one appeal per year…no reconsiderations on appeals already made. BUT family finances can and do change from year to year and sometimes abruptly. Are you sure this is only one appeal ever….or is it one appeal per year?
Also, you haven’t even received your financial aid package for the upcoming academic year…so what exactly are you appealing now?
I know there is a theory out there that somehow schools get to your EFC with their merit offers, but that has not been our experience. We were looking for purely merit aid, not need based. None of the schools our kids have applied to promise to meet full need.
With D20 - there was a difference of $2-8k (per year) between her highest and lowest merit offers. That led to a difference of almost $12k between her highest and lowest cost school (COA was different at each school which also effected totals).
With D23 - so far there has been a difference of $4k between her highest and lowest merit offers (2 acceptances so far this admission season). Again, with the COA differential between the two schools - one comes out almost $10k more per year.
And @beebee3 did your student’s merit aid change when costs of the college went up…or you had a change in financial circumstances? Usually merit stays the same. The exception being that when it’s a tuition scholarship, and tuition goes up, the scholarship usually does too.
Ahhh, yes D20 and D23 merit stays the same every year (at all the schools they are/were accepted to). It doesn’t change, unless they don’t maintain the GPA needed to keep the award…in which case, it would go away.
COA does/has increased every year. So next year, we will probably be paying (all in) about $10-12k more than when D20 started - still waiting for next year’s numbers to be released.
I’m actually not seeing anything on Drexel’s website that states only one appeal is allowed. Forms | Drexel Central. I wonder if OP is referring to the fact that you can only appeal once for the same appeal … that is, if your appeal is turned down, you can’t appeal the appeal. That’s standard. But if something occurred that was a change in circumstances, you can appeal (the 23-24 form is already on their website). It’s quite possible it won’t result in more aid, but you won’t know if you don’t try.
And again…financial aid packages for returning students have not come out yet. So…what is there to appeal now?
And lastly, this student has a merit award…and that is a great place to be when your family has fluctuating financials. Merit aid won’t change unless the student doesn’t meet the required GPA to keep it.
Yes, he has the $5500 loan this year and will take the max next year. He is only doing one coop, fall and winter of his junior year. That means that next year, we will pay for four straight quarters — fall, winter, spring and summer.
Also to clarify, since you have asked, there is nothing to appeal now. I never said there was. I asked: “is this something they will consider independently and rework his merit (3.9 his first quarter, grades not a problem) or is this something we will have to fight for?” I was simply wondering what we could expect.
Fwiw, he receives $15k in academic merit and a Drexel grant of $15,600, which is based on financial need. He also won $7500 in outside scholarships this year, $4500 of which will renew all four years if he maintains a decent gpa. Between the three of us, we can continue to make it work. But it sure would be nice to drop a part-time job (or two).
@Maplemel Since your son received need based aid his first year (which seems to have brought down the COA to your EFC) - it sounds like Drexel did actually meet your individual son’s full need? If I’m misunderstanding, please let me know.
If I do understand your last post, Drexel may very well increase the grant aid amount with the increased need seen on this year’s financial aid forms - but I don’t think merit aid would ever been readjusted. Or they might shrug and say they don’t have more money to give. Definitely worth looking into.
However, I also want to just give a heads up about your multiple jobs. Since you took on more jobs to pay for this year at Drexel, your EFC may very well increase when this year’s income hits the financial aid forms (if your income increased, your financial need often times decreases as far as colleges are concerned). That might be something to try to figure out so you aren’t hit with a nasty surprise in a later year.
A quick question…when I was looking at the Drexel website, it said that financial aid (both grants and scholarships) are not available during coops. Is that figured into your calculations? I am assuming Drexel therefor pro-rates both scholarships and grant aid during years when a student is participating in a coop (if student coops for 1/2 the year - their grants and scholarships are also halved)?
Correct. You receive nothing while on co-op; on the flip side, you’re not paying any tuition, while also earning a paycheck. However he is currently in a major that does not have great coops. So it won’t be as profitable for him as it often is for others.
As to your other point, yes, we are prepared to take a hit his junior year based on our 2022 income. However, because his junior year is only half a year of tuition thanks to the coop, it’s a good year for it to happen. By the time we get around to his senior year his younger brother will be a freshman in college and at that point I think we will change our names and flee the country lol