EFC went down, will it matter?

<p>To make a long story short, a very honest mistake caused the EFC I submitted to decrease from 26,000 to 18,000. On top of the established scholarships and loans, I received $2,200 in grant assistance based on my 26K EFC (very expensive Jesuit school). We informed them of the mistake and they said they will re-issue a new package based on the new EFC so obviously I will find out this information in a week or so, but the suspense is killing me; can I expect to receive significantly more grant assistance considering that our need just increased somewhat dramatically? The school is not affordable as is with the $2,200 award, but if our EFC actually was 26,000 I would agree that it is a reasonable amount. I don't expect the school to increase the grant by $8,000, but can I expect them to at least do half of that? I'm just unfamiliar with how grant assistance awards work.</p>

<p>By the way, the school’s tuition is $37,000 with room and board around $10,000.</p>

<p>It’s impossible to say. Some schools just don’t meet need and if they’ve given you all they plan to give you, they won’t give you more. A lot of the schools that guarantee to meet need use PROFILE and it would depend on how this error affects their expected contribution formulas. If the school is ND, BC or GTU, or C of HC, there is a good chance that some adjustment is made. Fordham tends to give merit awards and then the loans and work study, so it would not likely change their award. How close is the school in meeting the FAFSA EFC as incorrectly given?</p>

<p>From what I can tell, they actually almost met the incorrect EFC in full. After subtracting my scholarships (ignoring loans here), it will cost about $28,000 for room/board and tuition. The actual EFC was along the lines of 25,700, so the 2,200 was pretty close to all. Of course, that’s likely because 2,200 is such a small amount to them. Our need will be about 10,000 now, so I’m just hoping it’s okay to anticipate some extra money. I’ve read that they meet about 70% at this school, but the source wasn’t reliable. </p>

<p>On a separate note, I will be paying $14,000 in aviation fees my first year (by the way, I should mention that the school is SLU), and from what I can tell that isn’t taken into account at all. It’s the aviation fees that are keeping me out of this school right now.</p>

<p>My friend’s son had nearly full fin aid when he studied aviation , and he could not get those paid.</p>

<p>It is by far the most expensive undergraduate major, but in the big picture it’s similar to the debt doctors and lawyers take on in graduate school. I am not willing to compromise it for anything, especially considering I have several options that are much more affordable than SLU.</p>

<p>Give me the name of the school…your grades and test scores when you applied. i can compare them to historical offers and tell you if they are giving you a good offer or not.</p>

<p>Did you visit this school and register for the guided tour? Have you applied to other schools?</p>

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<p>The OP may, for privacy reasons, for privacy reasons, not wish to disclose this information.</p>

<p>As someone currently in the aviation industry, I’d advise you to be VERY cautious about incurring any substantial debt during your training. You very likely WILL NOT be able to walk out the door with your diploma and step into a decent paying job, and probably not for several years at least. Commuter airline requirements for hours, etc. are going up as a result of the Colgan crash in Buffalo. You also won’t be able to meet the experience requirements to meet insurance minimums which would allow you to fly for most charter air operations. Many new aviation grads are limited to flight instruction or something similar initially, then possibly freight dogging for several years before more lucrative opportunities come available. </p>

<p>If you’ve got connections in the industry you might be able to expedite the process some, but I wouldn’t count on being able to comfortably afford any substantial loan payments anytime soon after graduation, certainly not med/law school type debt. I’ve got a co-worker who is 12 years out of flight school and still struggling to make headway on his loans. Having a plan is great, but you’ll be surprised how often life gets in the way and messes up a great plan. Good luck…and fly safe. :)</p>

<p>Re post 7, anyone can do this looking at averages provided in the school Common Data Set.</p>

<p>The OP should NOT feel he has to name the school either here or in a PM to a stranger when the OP can read the Common Data Set himself.</p>

<p>My friend’s son has been out of school for 10 years and is not making a whole lot of money in, yes, his dream job as a pilot for a major airline. He worked for very little money for a number of years, and even now with the way the airlines have restructured, his pay is not what the older pilots got or are getting, though even their pay structures are being drastically changed. You don’t make what the pilots used to make, do bear that in mind, and any medical issue can render you disabled from flying. </p>

<p>He loves his job, but he also had very little in the way of loans and help from parents to pay it off. </p>

<p>There is no telling what a school that does not guarantee to meet need will do. You have to wait and see what they come up with. You might want to find out who your admissions officer was, call and thank the person, and ask what the best thing to do is in terms of discussing your aid package. If you can find out who will be working on your account at Fin AId, you can talk to them and let them know about the flight expenses and other things. I don’t think they will subsidized those costs, am nearly certain of that, but chatting with the officer and becoming more personal rather than numbers and letters on a page might make a difference. That you have a mistake that is being remedied is a good entry into inquiring about your award. Make sure you thank the person for how well your initial package was in terms of what the EFC was, and make sure you lay out all the facts there.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>Six years ago when my son was accepted at SLU, they did not take the additional flight school fees into consideration when awarding financial aid. This was also the case at two other schools he applied to. SLU was pretty accurate meeting need (FAFSA EFC need) on the standard tuition/room & board/fees, although a portion of his merit aid was restricted to campus-based room & board and could not be used on off-campus housing, so keep that in mind as well.</p>