<p>My D applied for FA for 2007-8. (lower) circumstances reflected on 2006 tax forms and again in expectations for 2007. The school's online worksheet and FAFSA EFC all indicated significant need. Today's bill showed $0 aid, just a very small loan. Any suggestions when talking to the FA office?</p>
<p>If school worksheet showed significant need, there should have at least been an unsubsidized Stafford Loan in the aid package. She should have been able to take out $3500 freshman year. She would have had to fill out paperwork to generate the loan, though, in order to have it deducted from your tuition bill. If she got Federal Work Study, you won't see that deducted from the bill. That is earn-as-you-go; she has to apply for the job at school. </p>
<p>Did you ever receive a financial aid award letter? Was grant aid listed on it? Depending on the school, there might not be any grant aid available. It also could be that you missed the priority date for completing your school financial aid file & so weren't awarded any. Some schools have a strict cutoff & they award all their grant aid to those whose files are complete by that date.</p>
<p>It is still worth calling & explaining your situation to the financial aid office. Some schools will keep an amount of money for discretionary situations. </p>
<p>It is really important to file early & make sure everything is complete. Make sure to apply for a loan if you are offered it & need it.</p>
<p>Bottom line is, if you are eligible for a Stafford Laon that you didn't get, you'll need to apply for it. If no grant aid is available to you, you may have to borrow ... PLUS loans are available, or you could look into other types of loans (private, home equity, etc.). Search forums for ideas.</p>
<p>I just noticed that your D is at Wes. They have excellent need-based aid. Definitely call them & talk to them!! They do meet 100% of need, based on institutional methodology. Maybe there was a mistake.</p>
<p>We made it a point to get all materials in early. The online bill shows a subsidized Stafford loan of about $5k for the year. Since she's a senior already, that's really not much help. I'm hoping there was a mistake. We have ridiculously low AGI but high assets - maybe the formula has changed.</p>
<p>Wesleyan guarantees to meet 100% of EFC.- As they use the PROFILE, FAFSA EFC is not the only information looked at.</p>
<p>Has your EFC changed from previous years?
Each year students are eligible for higher Stafford loans, but that wouldn't change the EFC, just the way it is met.</p>
<p>Did she earn a lot from a summer job? While workstudy is viewed as part of financial aid, summer work will be counted as income.</p>
<p>If your assets are * really* high, they may expect you to use some of that for college. Retirement accounts aren't looked at ( except in the year that money is added), but if you have a lot of home equity, that will be expected to be used.</p>
<p>Did you run your info through the institutional methodology calculator (finaid.org has one)? That will give you a rough idea of the EFC (although schools fine-tune that according to their own policies). Try that so you have a clue what it is when you talk to the financial aid people at Wes. Also, if you have the info you used last year when you applied, put that into the calculator ... see if you get a radically lower number than you get with this year's. It's good to have an idea what numbers they are looking at when you talk to them. You can be prepared with an explanation. Hope it works out well for you!</p>
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We have ridiculously low AGI but high assets - maybe the formula has changed.
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<p>I agree with EK's statement Wesleyan guarantees to meet 100% of EFC.- As they use the PROFILE, FAFSA EFC is not the only information looked at. If your assets are really high, they may expect you to use some of that for college. </p>
<p>While your FAFSA efc may be really low, keep in mind that the only thing the FAFSA really does is qualify you for federal aid (pell, seog and stafford loans).
Since you state that you have high assets and this was also reflected on the CSS profile (and maybe in your tax statements) this is the reason behind the aid package that you received. </p>
<p>If these assets are in the form of home equity, rental properties, stocks, bonds or other things that can be liquidated, Wes probably thinks that you can afford to pay tution if you liquidate or draw on these assets (whether or not you may want to or if you are in a postition where you are able to is a different story).</p>
<p>Although you may be "cash poor" with a limited income, it is highly unlikely that Wes is going to increase your aid if they believe that you have vast asets that you can draw from.</p>
<p>did you file both the FAFSA and the CSS profile?</p>
<p>"We have ridiculously low AGI but high assets"</p>
<p>"(lower) circumstances reflected on 2006 tax forms and again in expectations for 2007"</p>
<p>did you get any aid in prior years?</p>
<p>Yes, both CSS and FAFSA. We applied freshman year, when our AGI was still reasonably high and were not surprised when we got no aid. We did not apply for soph and jr years. Now with 2 in college, very low AGI and FAFSA calculated need, we were hoping for significant aid. I understand that CSS, unlike FAFSA, includes home equity but it's still very dissappointing. Home equity loans require future income to make payments on the loan.</p>
<p>At most schools having two students in college will get you a lower EFC.</p>
<p>However- if your EFC before was say $40,000, two students wont necessarily halve it, because they don't split the portion that is self help, just the parents contribution & each school does it differently.</p>
<p>Apparently at some schools it is harder to get aid for subsequent years, if you haven't been receiving it all along.</p>
<p>How much aid is your other childs school giving?
Even though you were able to make payments to Wesleyan for three years without aid, having another child in college, does add a big expense to your budget.
It may be worth contacting the 1st school and showing them the other offer. Perhaps your other childs school is considering things Wesleyan isn't.</p>