FAFSA question for you.
Daughter at Cornell. The FAFSA has given our family contribution amount the past two years and Cornell has made us pay much more.
They say they are one of the schools that meets the financial needs of the student. She has her loan, but the gap is not filled by Cornell, we thought the school would make up the gap with grants/scholarships because of the financial need documented on the FAFSA?
I would like to appeal this. Lmk your wisdom. Thank you
Cornell requires the CSS Profile as a financial aid application form. This form takes a much deeper dive into your finances than the FAFSA. Your FAFSA SAI has absolutely nothing to do with what you pay at Cornell. It’s the data on the Profile that matters.
@ucbalumnus do you know if Cornell uses home equity and if so, how much?
Many or most of the colleges that claim to “meet need” have their own definition of “need” that is not necessarily based on the FAFSA EFC or SAI. Claims to “meet need” are mostly just marketing because of the discretion that colleges have over the definition of “need”.
To get an estimate of financial aid at any given college before applying, use the college’s net price calculator.
Based on https://finaid.cornell.edu/cost-attend/financial-aid-initiatives , home equity is included in parental assets for Cornell’s calculation of financial aid.
@Tassonemom the FAFSA does NOT consider primary home equity at all. Cornell DOES use some portion of home equity in their equation for determining need based aid.
Also, any chance you are self employed or own a business? If so, this could affect need based aid as well. Many deductions allowed by the IRS for tax purposes are not allowed for financial aid purposes and are added back in as income.
Begin by plugging your financial information into Cornell’s calculator: Financial Aid Calculator | Financial Aid. If your financial aid package differs from your results, contact the financial aid office to ask about it. They are the only ones who can tell you why there is a difference. Whether or not there is a basis for appeal depends on what you find out.
Is your D entering junior year at Cornell this fall? Has your financial situation recently changed? Your original post makes me think that your D has been at Cornell & you are just now asking about her aid, so I’m trying to determine if something is different now than it was in the past.
The net price calculators are typically set up for incoming freshmen…not returning students. But since Cornell meets full need…the results should be a decent estimate anyway.
If NO to all of these, the try the NPC.
I will add, if you are asking if you can appeal what you paid out of pocket for Cornell for the first two years, I believe it’s too late for that. Both of those academic years have ended.
And lastly….did you complete the CSS Profile each of your daughter’s first two years? If not, that explains the issue.
Generally, Cornell only requires CSS Profile (Plus FAFSA of course) when a student applies as an incoming freshman (or first time applicant). After that, only FAFSA is required (again, generally…Cornell does reserve the right to ask for any info they want to disburse their money).
Links below:
https://finaid.cornell.edu/apply-aid/current-students-applying-or-renewing-aid
Cornell absolutely has a rep for not being as generous as some other peer schools, although I will say they have been generous over the years in other ways, like listening to/granting more money upon appeal, and in granting NCP waivers (all IME of course).
Hoping the OP will answer whether the Profile was completed…and also the other questions posed.
Really, primary home equity could have an impact as could self employed business deductions, or ownership of a business. These things are not well represented on the FAFSA but are on the Profile.
Is the federally funded Direct Loan the only aid your student received from Cornell? This would be a required aid form by just completing the FAFSA. BUT if the Profile was not completed, there would be zero dollars in institutional grant money awarded if you were deemed eligible for need based aid based on the Profile.
So…did you complete the CSS Profile when your student was an incoming freshman? Or anytime?
As of 2021, Cornell capped home equity at 1.2x of income according to this resource (the only resource I know of). Home equity impact can be confirmed on the NPC, by running the NPC with and without home equity.
Home equity source: 2021 Home equity final worksheet for website.pdf - Google Drive
Yes. We filled that out too. So you are saying even though the FAFSA says one amount, the college looks at the other profile?
The FAFSA really is only used to determine federally funded forms of need based aid when the Profile is also required.
The Profile gathers much more information about your financials than the FAFSA does.
Could you answer my other questions?
In just about all cases, your FAFSA SAI should be viewed as the MINIMUM you will be expected to pay for college each year.
Actually BOTH
The financial aid calculator matches FAFSA and our financial situation has changed due to having less equity in our home now, than we did when she was a freshman
We were only asked to do the CS profile before freshman year
Yes business owner
Took equity out of house after pervious business took a hit and shut down
Sorry- forgot other questions:)
Married, only husband working due to fam health situation
No money abroad, 1 residence that now had equity taken out
Thank you so much for your wisdom and time, I so appreciate it!
Financial aid is based on prior prior year income, and assets as of the date of filing.
How did your primary residence lose equity. In the last two years, most gained.
If your income was reduced considerably, you should have filed a special circumstances consideration. I’m not sure you can do that at all for academic years in the past.
But complete a Profile this year…if your 2021 income is way lower (2021 is what is used for 2023-2024 academic year aid). You can also contact the financial aid office about this.
Yes Cornell uses the CSS profile to determine what they expect a family to pay.
Cornell only uses FAFSA to understand if the student qualifies for a Pell grant, and other federal financial aid programs. All students who fill out fafsa qualify for the federal direct student loans ($27K max during undergrad for most students).
Have you run the Cornell NPC? That is set to approximate what the CSS Profile expected family contribution would be…did that match the aid package your D received in her first or second year?
The NPC should be reasonably accurate if none of the issues in thumper’s above post apply.
If your financial situation is not accurately reflected on the FAFSA, you should file a special circumstances review request. Here is the link: Special Circumstances | Financial Aid. There is no guarantee that filing the appeal will result in additional aid for next year, but it might. You won’t know if you don’t try. (Even if it’s approved & you get additional aid, you won’t get anything for the past - but you might get something for next year.)
Exactly! Cornell’s FA website, linked above, clearly says a returning student can file a CSS if their financial situation changed since their first year. At this point, I would call Cornell FA office, talk to a director, and ask if they want you to file the special circumstances form or an updated CSS Profile (if you are talking about for 2023-2024).
If you current financials are not accurately reflected on the Profile…because that is what Cornell uses to determine your eligibility for institutional need based aid. Get that new Profile filed now.