<p>The whole merit money thing is quite a shock to most people with really bright kids. However, it does seem to me that most of the colleges that offer big athletic scholarships, also have some money for those kids. One problem is that often the very brightest kids aspire to go to the top ten–or so–schools and those schools don’t give out money unless you don’t have any.</p>
<p>Back in the early 80s
My best friend growing up was accepted to Smith…
…yet the Fin aid was not there for her
despite her being the second college student -1 yr behind an older sister,
with 5 children at home (one with special needs)
and he dad had been out of work for more than a yr with medical circumstances.
She ended up at the state school for a yr and transferred to Notre Dame her soph yr. But it was a bitter pill to swallow after her hard work and acceptance.</p>
<p>The shock is to realize that the fin calculator
(which evidently has formula problems and errors (according to finaid website) basically looks at income and takes a 1/3 for education but doesn’t always consider what portion of that dollar is left…
Real estate varies from region to region
Circumstances have changed for many in the last 2 yrs
Meaning as self emplyed, and in our state, we get hit for alot and we have no retirement…the calcualtor includes cash put into a SEP --because it assumes you would spend before saving… </p>
<p>With the economy as is–many families are eeking by–</p>
<p>For any family wish any cash on hand (we are all supposed to have 6-9 mos of reserves according the financial counselors) many of these policies discourage and penalize thriftiness and savings…I have seen other threads of equally shocked families who have put cash aside according to fin couseling policies etc</p>
<p>I feel for families who took out loans against their homes to finance education and are now “up-side down” since the real estate values have tanked.</p>
<p>We are going to meet with an accountant/estate planner who has experience with funding education, taxes etc to at least understand what belongs in what category for the fafsa sicne as a sole owner of a small business certain things are not included, but corp structure determines some other things to be included.</p>
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<p>Many schools that give athletic scholarships don’t offer merit. Since the number/amount of athletic scholarships a school can give is controlled by the NCAA, there aren’t certain schools that give “big” athletic scholarships. Schools are told (by the NCAA) the number of “heads” that they can give athletic scholarships to per sport.</p>
<p>However, what may be true is this… Schools that have financially successful football and/or basketball teams may have strong alumni that are endowing merit scholarships. In the case of Alabama - which does give a lot of merit $$ - those scholarships are underwritten by alumni (as I’ve been told).</p>
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<p>I agree that self employed are at a disadvantage for financial aid.
But while you are quite correct at saying financial circumstances have changed- theyhave also changed for the colleges.
Endowments are down, donations are down, expectations are up as well as applications- so many schools that might wish to be need blind are need aware.</p>
<p>It also doesn’t matter at many schools if your EFC is $50,000 or $5,000. Your aid offer will be a Stafford loan and the only difference will be if it is subsidized or not.</p>
<p>( the women’s college also now have very good merit and need based aid- I know several students who did not expect much aid elsewhere who recieved very nice offers)</p>
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<p>Emeraldkity…</p>
<p>Good point… I don’t think many realize that. Many schools literally have no money of their own to give. They can only “offer” whatever the fed or state is handing out. And if the income exceeds those grant limits, then all they can offer is loans.</p>
<p>'rentof2, I understand what you are saying. Our lowest income kids are often best-served by living away from home. Many times, the environment on campus supports studying more than the environment at home. We equity package, with the intent of giving a combination of government and institutional grants that, added to the EFC, will cover average tuition. For a 0 EFC student, the $5500 in Stafford loans is not enough to pay for on-campus room & board. Parents will apply for a PLUS, knowing they will be turned down. This gives the 0 EFC kids enough in Stafford to cover housing … but it also gives them big loans. On the other hand, the kids whose EFCs are Pell eligible but not 0 need to cover housing costs AND the EFC amount. Then there are those who qualify only for loans but whose parents really cannot afford the EFC. It breaks my heart to see kids who really want to go away to school but who just plain cannot (unless they want to borrow ridiculous amounts of money … assuming they even can get approved for private loans).</p>
<p>Yet I don’t know how to “fix” it. Believe me, the federal government is giving away a LOT of money in need based aid. In addition, they are guaranteeing a lot of loans, many of which I honestly believe will never be repaid in full (y’all know my prediction that student loans will be the next great bail out, right?). </p>
<p>I know that I chose my college many years ago because I could afford it. I might have been able to go to an elite school, but I didn’t have an elite bank account (and my parents couldn’t help me). My alma mater is no longer inexpensive (it was owned by GM but is now private). I am pretty sure that if I were a senior in high school today, given the same family scenario, I would be attending the state U down the road and living at home … while working at McDonald’s to earn money (my high school job). I would be disappointed for sure. Knowing that my time away from home in college helped me to be who I am today, I would have missed out on so much. But my friend from high school went to that U and worked at McDonald’s … and she now has a great job & a wonderful life. So it can work out in the end. That is what we really have to focus on with kids. We need to help them understand that there is more than one path to happiness, and sometimes we have to take a different path than we want to take … but it can still work out in the end.</p>
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<p>Oh yes, we got one of those too: $1000 grant + $23,000 loans. Luckily I didn’t jump to the conclusion that colleges are monolithic in the way they structure aid packages. </p>
<p>The fact remains that there are colleges which are VERY generous with scholarships and grants. Are they in the minority? Yes. But they are out there. IMO it is just flat wrong to discourage an applicant from even exploring the possibility, as you seem to do in post #10 above. </p>
<p>OP: Even if you come to the conclusion that you won’t be eligible for need-based aid, go ahead and complete FAFSA anyway. Some colleges require it for merit-based aid as well.</p>