<p>Didnt want to hijack somone else's thread so am asking separately.</p>
<p>My son just got his Financial Aid award for Purdue (OOS). </p>
<p>It shows total cost of $40,000. EFC of $20,000 and Need of $20,000. </p>
<p>However, the FA package is Stafford Loans and Fed Parent Plus loan for the entire $40,000. So basically the entire cost is our responsibility. So why bother wasting my time on the FASFA if I have to come up with 100% of the cost anyway? Seems like "Need" is all BS.</p>
<p>Not every school puts together the same FA packages, but you happened to get one where they only meet need with loans. I, too, thought things would be different in FA packages and never realized the wide differences between packages and schools. I didn’t realize some commit to meeting 100% of need and some don’t. Naively I thought my EFC would be the gap between aid/cost everywhere my D applied. Now I’ve learned a lot and will fortunately know better for my younger 2 and while we were very fortunate her #1 choice was also an affordable state option, we would have done many things differently if I had known more about FA.</p>
<p>As to the FAFSA - you have to complete it to be eligible for student loans and also many schools require it to be considered for merit as well as additional aid. So while it didn’t seem to help you in this situation it is important for most schools to process FA apps.</p>
<p>You may not have luck with Purdue but you may want to call and ask, especially on what you will likely see in years 2-4. Hopefully you have affordable options to consider if Purdue doesn’t budge!</p>
<p>applying to an out of state public you usually don’t get much need based aid, if you don’t get the merit awards you basically out of luck. With an EFC of $20,000 you would get substantial aid at some privates. But you are likely to get at least $5500 in STaffords at most colleges.</p>
<p>Anyone who completes a FAFSA can take out a Stafford loan. </p>
<p>Purdue does not guarantee to meet full financial need. Most schools do not guarantee to meet full financial need. Most public universities use the FAFSA for the dispersal of federally funded need based aid. That aid is given to students with much lower EFCs than yours. Institutional aid from public universities is usually reserved for two groups…instate students with financial need, and/or students who qualify for school defined merit aid.</p>
<p>First of all, EFC is a FEDERAL number. Colleges and states are under no obligation to do ANYTHING with that except determine if you’re eligible for federal funds/aid. The federal gov’t devised that system. It has no knowledge of or power over what the colleges have to give away.</p>
<p>Secondly, public schools don’t usually have a treasure chest of money to give away - even to their own in-state students whose costs are less.</p>
<p>Thirdly, you applied to an OOS public. Public schools have to give their money first to in-state students. OOS publics charge OOS rates for a reason…you don’t pay taxes in that state. </p>
<p>WHAT would be the point of charging OOS rates if the schools just covered them with aid???</p>
<p>And…if you were an instate student, wouldn’t you be annoyed as heck that your instate school was giving (likely taxpayer) money to an OOS student while your own aid package has loans and gaps in it?</p>
<p>If a family cannot afford to pay the OOS costs for an OOS public, and there’s no assurance/likelyhood of a merit scholarship (that likely comes from non-tax-payer funding), then they should avoid OOS publics.</p>
<p>So why bother wasting my time on the FASFA if I have to come up with 100% of the cost anyway? Seems like “Need” is all BS.</p>
<p>The cost of schooling is not on a sliding scale. That is a misunderstanding.</p>
<p>“Need” is defined as the difference between the COA (cost of attendance) and the EFC (expected family contribution), which is exactly what Purdue told you. $40K - $20K = $20 K.</p>
<p>Nowhere that I can find does Purdue say it will meet 100% of a student’s “need” – much less guarantee that any financial aid would be in the form of grants/scholarships. To be honest,you’re lucky that they came up with a financial plan that does cover the entire COA. Most schools do not do that; instead, they “gap” students, leaving their families to figure out how to come up with the entire amount needed.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, out-of-state applicants at at the very bottom of the list to receive need-based aid at a public school like Purdue, and apparently your son did not qualify for any merit aid there. Hopefully, he has acceptances at some other more affordable schools that he likes.</p>
<p>And filling out the FAFSA was not a waste of time, as you need it to qualify for Federally-funded aid programs like Stafford loans (which do carry below-market rates).</p>
<p>Unfortunately many people seem to have the idea that all schools will or have to meet their need. It is rarely the case. Only a very few schools promise to meet full need without loans. They tend to be the hardest schools to be admitted to and are also usually hugely wealthy schools that have the money to promise to meet full need. A few more promise to meet full need but include loans. The vase majority of schools do not promise to meet full need at all and will include loans and a gap in their aid. Very few State Us promise to meet full need for even their instate students, let alone out of state students. Most high need students can not get full need met at even 4 year State Us unless they also have high stats and get merit aid. My daughter has a 0 EFC and the maximum federal aid available including maximum student loans would not meet the cost of her instate university if she did not also have a good merit scholarship (no need involved) that waives all her tuition plus include an additional cash amount. We would probably have had unacceptable amounts of loans at an OOS college.</p>
<p>I don’t know how this message that all need will be met everywhere is getting relayed to people. Is it high school counselors? The colleges themselves? Wishful thinking? Is it just that people hear of the Harvards and Yales and think that every school is as rich and generous?</p>
<p>Swimcatsmom, I’ve said it at least once on these forums…I think the problem is the EFC Expected Family Contribution…it’s a totally misleading term and needs to go away. Perhaps FAE (Federal Aid Estimate) or FAC (Federal Aid Calculation) but Expected Family Contribution…doesn’t quite say what it is. First time I heard it I, too, assumed that all colleges would package up son 1 (at a FAFSA college) and that is what I would pay out of pocket. It didn’t take much to figure out how untrue that name is, but I think it’s a huge part of the problem. The second is the “marketing” language on almost all college websites. They make claims like “we’ll make college affordable for you and your family”, “your family will pay 10% of your income”, “we’ll meet your need with a combination of x, y, z.” Everything is named and written to give most families a certain impression.</p>
No, they do not HAVE to give their money “first” to in-state students. If they did, there would not be any money left for OOS students. How and who state schools “give” their money to is based on many factors including residency.</p>
<p>MFC…Minimum Family Contribution…in reality the EFC is a minimum of what you will be expected to pay.</p>
<p>I’ve said this before…to be quite honest, your EFC is not as important as what your family says they can and will contribute. If your family can contribute less than your EFC…you need to know that. If your family can contribute more than your EFC…you need to know that. If your family cannot contribute a nickel to your college education…you need to know that.</p>
<p>After you have your mind wrapped around the finances you can better craft a list of schools to apply to. If you want to…certainly you CAN apply to schools that are financially more expensive than your family can afford…but it would have to be with the understanding that financial aid would need to be such that you could attend.</p>
<p>I think the problem is the EFC Expected Family Contribution…it’s a totally misleading term and needs to go away. Perhaps FAE (Federal Aid Estimate) or FAC (Federal Aid Calculation)</p>
<p>ABSOLUTELY!!! I totally agree. The problem with the acronym EFC is that some people think that that’s what colleges will expect them to pay…as if colleges can afford to have a sliding scale for costs.</p>
<p>The bottom line is this …(and forgive me if this sounds harsh)…but in the OP’s situation, is it really reasonable to expect a public to come up with $80k for a non-tax-paying student, when it doesn’t even do that for its own students? And, where is that $80k (or even $40k) supposed to come from?</p>
<p>*Public schools have to give their money first to in-state students. *</p>
<p>* No, they do not HAVE to give their money “first” to in-state students.*</p>
<p>I probably should have tempered my words to something like…Public schools have a certain obligation to try to help their in-state students first when using tax payer money. However, if they use donor money, they can do whatever the heck they want with it. The problem, of course, many schools don’t have that much donor money to use for OOS students. And, with the limited amount they have, they might target OOS kids with high stats who might also have need.</p>
<p>But the fact remains…what’s the point of charging OOS rates if schools are just going to cover them all with free aid?</p>
<p>Because they can charge that amount to lower stat students, or students from neighboring states who do not otherwise meet their enrollment goals. Some state schools actually will give very good aid to OOS kids, even if they are not tippy-top in stats. But these are generally schools that are serious about diversity and/or have a strong commitment to low income/first gen/URM, etc. It’s often the school, not the state, that makes the difference!</p>
<p>I heard that the only two schools who claim to meet full-need even for Out of state students were University of Virginia and North Carolina - Chapel Hill, but I bet there are others who provide great aid (like University of Alabama with National Merit scholars, etc.)</p>
<p>*Some state schools actually will give very good aid to OOS kids, even if they are not tippy-top in stats. But these are generally schools that are serious about diversity and/or have a strong commitment to low income/first gen/URM, etc. It’s often the school, not the state, that makes the difference! *</p>
<p>Well, there may be some state schools that do this, but some others are restricted from doing so and must use donor funds for such projects. And, since those funds are very limited, they usually can’t be given to OOS kids who don’t have high stats or some other need for the school. Schools aren’t charities. They give their money to those who help them look good. </p>
<p>But, my point remains the same. Students cannot apply to OOS publics and just assume that the state school is going to meet their need. “Need” for OOS students can be as much as $10-40k per year ($40k-120k total). Sure a public might be able to do that for a few select kids that fit diversity needs or whatever, but if a school has 20%+ OOS kids, the school cannot afford to be handing out that kind of money to each OOS kid. Especially, in tougher economic times.</p>
<p>*I heard that the only two schools who claim to meet full-need even for Out of state students were University of Virginia and North Carolina - Chapel Hill, but I bet there are others who provide great aid (like University of Alabama with National Merit scholars, etc.) *</p>
<p>I’ve seen some UVa packages this year, and I don’t consider meeting need with large loans as “meeting need.” Any school can do that. NYU does that and we criticize them for it. </p>
<p>As for schools like Alabama… Those scholarships don’t really fall under the “financial aid” category, since they aren’t based on need. Bama has donor funds that allows it to give OOS kids with high stats or national merit status good scholarships. </p>
<p>I don’t know what the OP’s child’s stats are, but if high enough, he would have been given generous merit from Bama. But, if his stats weren’t high enough, his aid package would probably have looked like Purdue’s (unless he was from maybe an unusual state or perhaps a URM).</p>
<p>I never said that they did it without loans, I just said that they claimed to meet full-need, which to me just means that there isn’t a gap between the school’s agreed-upon EFC and the value of the aid package. It might not be a good deal depending on the family’s circumstances, but that’s not that much different from other Out of State Publics that will pile on the loans and still leave you a huge gap that you have to fill yourself, presumably by turning tricks or robbing gas stations with a toy gun.</p>
Great. Now that you’ve posted this idea I’m sure we are going to see the above listed under “financial aid” for some of these colleges. Summer employment?</p>