First time here. Found this Forum on Google.
Hoping this question hasn’t been asked here but I did a search and couldn’t find similar thread (if not please point out where).
I am in a situation where my employer offer 50% off ONLY Tuition to it’s employees dependant children. Son got accepted to few Colleges with a variety of Need-base and/or Merit Scholarship. Almost all mention in their FA package to report any additional outside Awards/Grants/Scholarships ! does that mean they would reduce their FA package based on what my employer will give ? e.g. if tuition is 60K, my employer would pay 30K. If my FA package, say $25K, this way my cost would be 60-(30+25)= $5K (of course not including room/food/fees etc…) !!! does this seem right ? Would they reduce that 25K saying that I am getting a $30K aid from outside ? Anyone with such experience or similar ?
1 Like
Tagging CC’s FA expert @kelsmom.
1 Like
The answer is: it depends. Each school has its own policies. Your best bet is to contact the each school to find out how they will treat your situation.
1 Like
So basically have to negotiate back-n-forth !?
NO you aren’t negotiating back and forth. You need to contact the college(s) and find out their policy on this employer tuition remission. This will vary from college to college.
So find out what the policies for your kid’s colleges are!
1 Like
I’m going to tag @momsearcheng who has some kind of employer tuition reimbursement also. Maybe she has some info about this.
But it can end up as a negotiation, no ? For instance, taking the example I provided, they can easily say “oh so we are taking your need base aid of 20K, cause you can afford a 30k by that remission”. Which would not be anywhere near my EFC, or COA.
There is NO negotiating this. The colleges have policies on how they deal with these types of things.
-
Some colleges will allow all awards up to the cost of attendance to be used.
-
Some colleges will reduce need based aid because with a 1/2 tuition award your actual need is less. This is NOT uniform at all colleges. If they do reduce need based aid, the vast majority of colleges start by reducing self help awards like loans and work study first.
BUT you need to find out how an employer tuition remission is considered by YOUR kid’s colleges.
1 Like
I am just worried that if I mention it to them, they may take the aid away, or some part of it. In one instance, a college is offering almost 38K out of 60K tuition, but when I apply the remission (in this case it will not be 50% of tuition, employer caps tuition the remission to 22K), I should get full coverage on the Tuition side of things.
But College can take the 38K ? saying that employer gives you 30K , so we will give you only 8K to . It’s tough to run scenarios, but I guess it’s best I talk to the College. It’s a catch 22 scenario.
You need to ask if this is an outside award that is required to be reported to the college. Since it’s an employer tuition remission, maybe it’s not.
But if the college requires that you report this…you will need to report this.
Remember, you need to be very honest about financial aid, and money and anything the college requests. You can’t just decide NOT to tell the college if the college requires this to be reported.
But maybe this is not considered an outside scholarship…you need to find out what the college policy is…and then adhere to it.
@kelsmom
I am not required to use the Employer aid. I have a choice not to apply for that 50%. But if I do, employer wants to know what the College is awarding in Grants/Merit/Aid and whether it applies to full bill or only Tuition . While on the other side, all the colleges we are accepted to , require to report outside Aid such as this 50% employer aid regardless if it’s a schoalrship/award or even a Gift. So complicated !!!
Just do what the colleges ask you to do. It sounds like the tuition remission is an option. I’m not sure what to tell you…but I would definitely reach out to the colleges about this.
Thank you . Sounds like it’s the best option.
I am just hoping someone who has/had a similar situation reads this tread and share their experience.
1 Like
And that’s why I tagged @momsearcheng who has some kind of employer benefit also.
I send you private message.
Have you checked the websites for the schools your S is considering? Sometimes they will say if they allow for stacking of outside awards. You can also call the FA office and just generically ask the question without giving your name.
Some schools though do not allow for stacking and will reduce the amount of aid so you will need to weigh what saves you the most money, the school’s aid package or your employer tuition reimbursement.
1 Like
If the employer requires the tuition remission to be used for tuition only, and if they require the school to provide information regarding whether financial aid awards are for tuition only, it’s quite possible that the employer would reduce their award if the school offered you a tuition restricted scholarship and/or grant that was more than half tuition. For example, let’s say that the school awarded a three quarter tuition scholarship. The employer would most likely reduce their payment to one quarter tuition, since they stipulate that they are assisting with tuition only.
The school will be aware of the employer payment if you choose to apply for it, because the employer requires the financial aid form to be completed by the school.
As @thumper1 explained, each school has its own policies regarding outside aid. The treatment of outside scholarships is not negotiable, because schools have to adhere to the policies that they have in place. It’s not really that complicated, because the school will be able to tell you exactly how they will handle it. If you don’t tell them now, they will just deal it later. The outcome will be the same, but you will have wasted time worrying.
Almost all the Schoola have language like this “If you receive outside aid, you have to report it. And it will affect your Fin Aid”. But they don’t say how it will affect ! reduction, cancellation, or totally just forgive. I guess I will have to call !
And this is why you need to contact financial aid at the college(s) because now that your student is an accepted student, they will be very willing to explain their policies and how this would affect any need based aid your kiddo received.
I will add…if your student received MERIT aid, having this outside award will likely not affect merit aid amounts. BUT you have to ask.
I tried to add to my post…
If your kiddo received MERIT aid, this outside award will likely not be affected.
BUT you have to ask.