<p>S. has been accepted to four schools, three have sent aid packages. One school gave merit,grant, no loans to cover tuition ( generous I think). Paperwork says if future years are similar financial aid will be similar. It stated that the merit portion was replacing loans. My question is, in subsequent years is this most likely to continue, or will loans creep into the picture and reduce grant aid? I like the idea of S. graduating without debt if possible. If anyone has F/A experience with the following schools I'd appreciate it. Evergreen, Hampshire, Reed and Whitman. Thanks!</p>
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<p>Do you think they’re lying to you?! I’d tend to believe them if they’re willing to put it in writing like that! </p>
<p>I don’t have any experience with them but you might see if there’s a forum here on CC for any, or repost with the school(s) name in the header, maybe on the Parent’s forum. You can also look here, which shows the aid given for returning students and see if there looks like a significant difference (allowing for the fact that some freshman do lose their merit aid the first year):</p>
<p>[Student</a> Aid on the Web](<a href=“http://www.studentaid2.ed.gov/gotocollege/campustour/]Student”>http://www.studentaid2.ed.gov/gotocollege/campustour/)</p>
<p>Evergreen is a state school and Washington State has a big budget crisis. Tuition increases for next year are being debated…they will probably be somewhere between 7-14%. Higher education is going to take a hit, but until the state budget is finalized it’s hard to know how much.</p>