<p>Family member has Fordham in the mix of schools he's been accepted to and is considering. However it is the only school requiring FAFSA to issue the merit package. The family knows they will not qualify for need based aid, and have no interest in providing private financial info. However the student would like to know what his merit package would be to help decide re/ whether to attend. Everyone in the family likes the school. But they will definitely be considering $$ heavily as part of the decision process. (They are well off but not wildly well off - in what I consider the donut hole of college finances - where you have enough $ not to qualify for need based aid but if you use your savings you won't have any retirement left!)</p>
<p>So - my question is how common is it for schools to require FAFSA for fin aid and how would you converse with your young adult about this? </p>
<p>Also please direct me to a thread like this if it's been discussed already. Thanks.</p>
<p>I don’t believe it’s super-common for schools to ask for the FAFSA for merit aid, but it’s not super-rare. How’s that for a squishy answer? There’s nothing much to discuss: if the family wants their kid to be eligible for Fordham’s merit aid, they need to fill out the FAFSA. Many families that aren’t eligible for need-based aid submit the FAFSA just for Stafford loan eligibility, without even the carrot of a school requiring the FAFSA for merit aid.</p>
<p>We fill out the FAFSA every year and only receive merit aid. “Converse with the young adult”? My husband fills it out and signs our son’s name in the electronic signature. The stupidest thing about college finances is the sham that kids are paying for it, when in fact, they usually aren’t, or at least not the biggest chunk.</p>
<p>If a college demands the FAFSA for merit aid, I say it is a sign that their merit decisions are not truly based only on merit, but rather used as a tool of their need-based aid program.</p>
<p>To me, it’s one more insult to families who aren’t going to qualify for need-based aid, particularly those families who are just beyond that magic line.</p>
<p>Skyhook my feelings exactly! If only the kid weren’t lovin’ the school and so immersed in the college process that he just really really really would like to know…! If it were me I’d tell 'em to take a flying leap but it’s not me, lol. In in my secret silent self it seems like another way for the church to look under your panties ooooh did i just say that? I’m sure it’ll be blotted out but really that’s where my mind went with it all. Glad it’s not my youngster deciding! We try so hard as parents to leave the process up to the kids but it’s the $$$$$$$ that create 9/10 of the drama in the end. Bleargh.</p>
<p>I don’t see what the big deal is about letting a school know one’s finances. It’s not as if they are going to go on the internet and post them for the whole world to see. </p>
<p>I just don’t get it. When you apply for a mortgage look at the financial info one has to submit to the bank. I cannot believe their is anyone who won’t take a mortgage if the need one because the bank asks for you financial information. </p>
<p>There are also several cases on this board (mine included) where a student was offered substantially more money (grants, not loans) than the EFC suggested we would receive. </p>
<p>I never had to give the bank my tax returns. I just have to show enough assets to make the loan recoverable should mortgage payments stop. Apples and oranges.</p>
<p>I don’t like disclosing my personal finances, or my private medical information, but I particularly don’t like it if I am asked to do it <strong>for no good reason</strong>.</p>
<p>If my child supposedly qualifies for a merit award based on their accomplishments, what does my income have to do with it??</p>
<p>It would be like going to the doctor and having to take your clothes off in front of the receptionist and the janitor!! </p>
<p>I’m okay being insulted. My kids have each gotten merit aid of $15,000 + a year. Private colleges know that middle class people cannot really afford what the EFC says they can afford. Call it a Presidential scholarship, an Executive Grant, whatever, as long as it’s not a loan, that’s fine with me.</p>
<p>We do not come within sniffing distance of need based aid. My D’s school required us to file the FAFSA all 4 years. I have provided it to every school my S has been accepted to. Its just part of the game. Each has had great merit results.</p>
<p>My kids do not complete the FAFSA. I do. If a decision is going to based on my income, I fill out the form. When the kids a reconsidered on their own, they can fill out the form.</p>
<p>I don’t know how common it is, but my kids’ university required the FAFSA for any financial aid, merit or need based. We did not converse with the kids at all about it - just did it.</p>
<p>We’re in the donut hole, too. My D was accepted to Fordham 2 years ago with an amazing financial aid package. They gave her one of their name scholarships and they created need that we didn’t really have.</p>
<p>I had to do the FAFSA for Fordham as well (S got excellent merit money from them, BTW, and our EFC is well over $60,000 so we knew no need based aid anywhere). One rationale I have read is that for a school that is this expensive, it is remotely possible that someone who thinks they do not qualify for need-based aid actually does. Apparently a good portion of need-based aid may come from a different source (government?) while the school itself has to pony up the merit aid. So, before they spend their own precious merit money, they require the FAFSA to ensure that the family indeed does not qualify for need-based aid. And sorry to be mean about it, but if you are asking them for money (in reality, asking them to reduce their tuition), I think they are entitled to ask you to jump through a few hoops. If you don’t want to do that, fine, just be prepared to pay full freight.</p>
<p>Word, I am continually baffled by ppl who think it is mean to hold a healthy debate. I wouldn’t have posted here if I didn’t want to hear from people who might see this differently! You have provided a logic for this that we did not see and I really appreciate hearing your perspective. There is not a mean word in anything you wrote IMHO. Thanks for all your replies - learning mucho w/ every one!</p>
I couldn’t disagree more, but I do see your perspective. As others have posted, it is just part of what has to be done. I “believe” the schools do it to make sure students don’t leave potential funding on the table (Pell, etc), particularly when so many families are not well educated in college finances. We had to fill out the FAFSA for a NMF merit scholarship for DD1. There was NO need based component. It was worth it to me to fill out since it was worth $34K/year for four years. We only had to fill it out the one time. Well worth the time.</p>
<p>The state of FL makes Bright Futures applicants file the FAFSA even though FL’s Bright Futures program does not have a need based component. As others have said I don’t think that there is a rule that usually applies when it comes to FAFSA and merit based aid.</p>
<p>Villanova required the FAFSA, CSC, tax returns, and first born for ‘merit aid’. D was accepted EA in December, and did not hear back until the end of March regarding merit aid. We do not qualify for financial aid; therefore, she received no merit aid, except for th $27K per semester Villanova Parent loans. I think that this is common with Catholic colleges. Had we known the practice, she would not have applied.</p>
<p>She is a happy student at a college that gave her true merit aid.</p>
<p>A number of schools have scholarships that have been designated, by the donor, as scholarships that are to be awarded to meritorious and needy students. They may have others that are straight-up merit. I believe GWU has some of each, and the former offer quite a bit more money than the latter.</p>
<p>I don’t know why they can’t say “we could consider you for more of our scholarships if you submit your FAFSA and we calculate that you have demonstrated need, but if you don’t complete the FAFSA we can only consider you for those scholarships that have no need component.”</p>
<p>Yes, Hugcheck, some schools require FAFSA for merit aid. What’s nice, is that now that you have the FAFSA on file, if you or your student want to take out federal loans it’s right there. My son decided last month that he wanted a Stafford loan, because he felt he had to quit his job and also knows he wont’ be working as much this summer and a great opportunity for travel arose. He has everything on schedule in terms of payments and budget, and actually a loan was originally in the picture but he got this job and figured he would work extra this summer. Also, he needed a root canal and a crown when a filling fell out and the tooth wall cracked and wanted his familiar dentist to do it. SO he came home unscheduled a couple of times. We had filed the FAFSA which made things move a lot faster in getting the loan money, but even then he just got it.</p>
<p>Some outside scholarships also want FAFSA filed. Then reason being that they want to make sure the student and family is vetted by the process. Not only are the finances examined in order to get that EFC, so are certain other statuses for the family. Young men have to be registered for the draft and everyone has to be a US citizen and who they are saying they are. Sounds minor, but sometimes it isn’t. </p>
<p>Congratulations in your student getting into Fordham and qualifying for Merit money. I love that school!</p>
There’s nothing much to discuss: if the family wants their kid to be eligible for Fordham’s merit aid, they need to fill out the FAFSA. Many families that aren’t eligible for need-based aid submit the FAFSA just for Stafford loan eligibility, without even the carrot of a school requiring the FAFSA for merit aid.</p>
Private colleges know that middle class people cannot really afford what the EFC says they can afford. Call it a Presidential scholarship, an Executive Grant, whatever, as long as it’s not a loan, that’s fine with me.</p>