Financial Aid Appeal

Colleges and Universities A-Z Fordham University
1

<p>Hi, I've already committed to Fordham (obviously), so I was wondering if a financial aid appeal is possible at this point. The school has offered me a total package (including my TAP and Fed. Loans) of 3OK - which is a fairly big chunk. But with an estimated cost of 5O+ K a year (and increases every year), that's 2O+ K for my family to pay.</p>

<p>My parents only makes 2OK a year.
I'm in a 4-person family, with a younger brother and we are both dependents.
So, it is quite impossible for them to pay that much - or even a fourth of the cost. </p>

<p>Can I ask for more aid? How should I go about it?</p>

<p>If I write them a letter, what information should I include and who should I address it to?</p>

2

<p>explain your situation to the financial office
i would call first</p>

3

<p>Okay - so I call them, explain my situation and ...?
Is there any information I should be sure to mention?
And questions I should ask?
Grants / scholarships I can inquire them about?</p>

4

<p>mention everything you said in that first post - how much your parents make, how much they can contribute, how much fordham gave.. etc.
and ask any questions you might have</p>

5

<p>It is not possible that they will end up giving me less than the initial offer, though, correct?</p>

6

<p>lol that would be harsh
no they wouldnt do that</p>

7

<p>Would it be better for me to write the letter or my parents?</p>

8

<p>I'm curious as to why someone would apply to a $47,000/yr college (also expect increases each year) when parents make $20,000/yr.? It's only the "poor" (because of being offered enormous financial aid packages) and the wealthy that can afford the tuition/costs of many of the top tiered colleges. The rest of the population has to choose whether to re-mortgage their homes in order to pay tuition/costs or tell their kids to get themselves into deep financial debt with enormous loans. If you can't come up with $20,000/yr to attend Fordham while others are shelling out $47,000/yr then perhaps you should have taken that into consideration before applying. Any other opinions out there on this subject?</p>

9

<p>To answer nysmile's question: Because this is America. Why would you begrudge Guess Again the chance to apply to Fordham simply because his parents only make $20K/year? If he has the stats, let him apply and see how far merit awards and a financial aid package can get him. I'm actually surprised you didn't get a better package, Guess, the first time around. Has your parents' income changed since you did the FAFSA?</p>

<p>If you got merit awards from other schools COMPARABLE to Fordham, send a copy of the award letter. That's been known to work! ;). Call the admissions office and they will tell you the process, as there is a system for this. You'll probably be asked to fax the info. Wouldn't hurt for your parents to write a letter explaining their financial situation. You, too, should write a SEPARATE letter outlining how will contribute to the cost of your Fordham education (summer employment, work-study, perhaps a part time job, etc.). Stress again how much you're looking forward to attending in the fall, and outline specific ways you anticipate becoming a vital part of the Fordham community; eg. marching band, intramural sports, Mimes and Mummers, WFUV, writing for the RAM, Bronx Community service projects, etc.</p>

<p>I'm thinking the time to have appealed your award, though, would have been before the May 1 deadline, but it's still worth a shot now. </p>

<p>nysmile: From the situation Guess Again laid out in his post, I think you're jumping to conclusions when you state that only the poor and wealthy can hope the cover the tuition at a school like Fordham. Clearly, even though his parents only make $20K/year, he's having as hard a time as most students coming up with the tuition money. Clearly, his parents low income didn't help him a whole lot. Whether it's middle- and upper-middle class parents mortgaging their homes, or Guess Again himself taking out large loans, most families incur some serious debt to attend these schools. How reasonable is it to expect most families to come up with $20K/ year, much less $47??</p>

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<p>20k a year each, or 20k total?</p>

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<p>How reasonable is it to expect most families to come up with $20K/ year, much less $47??</p>

<p>That's sort of my point. With a decent financial aid plan ("for low income students"), it's more possible to go to these schools than for the average 2 working parent family living/working on Long Island. For those that are shut out from qualifying for need based aid, often times the merit scholarships offered just aren't enough to make it possible to attend. There is a huge section of America that although their kids have the stats and accomplishments to attend these top tiered schools, they can't attend unless they are willing to find themselves in a $120,000+ debt when they get out. But yet, others are able to attend because their parents fall into the "low income" category and receive large financial aid awards. Why do you think so many bright kids are looking to get into SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Geneseo, SUNY etc.? It's not because they don't have the stats to get into top tiered private universities and Ivy's. Often times it's because they are shut out of that window salary of receiving need based financial aid.</p>

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<p>@ PMcMScot:</p>

<p>I have fairly high stats - I fall within the top 10% of my graduating class, I'm taking a rigorous course load with every course being an advanced class, with five years of an "advanced" track language, several arts classes, and I'll be graduating with six APs ( AP World - 4, AP US History - 4, AP Language & Comp. - the only 5 five out of the 70+ people that took it in my school that year; AP Calc BC, AP Lit., and AP US Gov. is what I'm taking this year).</p>

<p>My SATS were 1390 / 2050.
I took two SAT IIs:
Math II - 710
Literature - 700.</p>

13

<p>wow that sucks. i didn't know tuition is now at 50k. like the OP i've been getting the same financial aid. i think that's a bit exaggerated. my parents don't make much either.</p>

<p>i think what may be throwing it off is the fact that the schools includes estimates for books and traveling expenses. it's a bunch of BS because if you buy books online used you save a lot of money.</p>

<p>from what i gather: tuition will be $31,800 and room and board will be $14,465. a total of $46,265. it makes a difference.</p>

<p>anyways some advice i would consider because i was in a very similar situation.
-apply for scholarships. anything helps at this point.
-try to get jobs on campus. there are many jobs available to students on campus. look out for them. it'll help.
-another thing my mom and I have worked out, is that she's agreed to take her tax refunds from every year and puts it away in a savings account until the bill from the school comes up. it's been working nicely so far.
-the school also has a 10-month payment plan option which works good. i use that as well. if at the very least it may save you time to come up with the money and not having to take out ridiculous loans.</p>

<p>if it weren't for the fact that i got a scholarship recently, i'd be screwed. i won't lie, that scholarship saved my butt this year. it was like $5k. the rest i've had to come up with up front. it's worked out thus far. with all the jobs i have on campus, i feel good that i can actually help my parents pay off some things. it's helped out a lot.</p>

<p>you most likely won't get more financial aid but it doesn't hurt to try i suppose (giving them reasons as to how badly you want to go to fordham won't work, been there and done that, not to mention it's Financial Aid you're fighting for, not Admissions since you're already in). at this point you have to prove that your parents are barely getting by with what they make and/or that your family is under very excruciating circumstances.</p>

<p>if all fails you may have to consider perhaps living off campus after freshman year which will be considerably cheaper than living on campus. you will also have to start working during summers and saving up to pay the school some cash up front and avoid having to take out bigger loans than you'd have to otherwise.</p>

<p>did you get a room grant by the way?</p>

<p>btw consider yourself lucky. i've spoken to people in the financial aid dept. and they've told me that they've had students who have had to pay for school all through loans ALL 4 years. that's AT LEAST $120,000 over 4 years. I know a friend who has taken out $60,000 so far. Some of these students are either insane, or pretty damn clueless. Clearly not rich as they wouldn't take out loans if that were the case.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

14

<p>Hi, Guess Again,
I guess I wasn't clear enough. My suggestions weren't to help you get more financial aid (though that's worth a shot, I suppose). What I was suggesting is that, if you got offers for merit scholarships from COMPARABLE schools, fax copies of the award letters to Fordham, along with letters from you and your parents containing the info I outlined in the my first post.</p>

<p>Like I said, this has been known to work! ;). You're looking for a merit award, not more financial aid. I don't work in the admissions office, but your stats look good to me. The key, though, is to be able to show Fordham that other schools accepted you and offered you a scholarship based on your stats. They're not going to give you $10K, but they may give you something that will make the effort worth your while. Any merit award you might get will be renewable all four years with a minimum GPA. Call Admissions and tell them what you want to do. If you don't get an answer from them, ask to speak to the admissions officer.</p>

<p>Before you get your hopes to high, though, you need to know that you that you would have had a much better chance at pulling this off if you had appealed to Fordham prior to the May 1 deadline. Then, you would have had more leverage because you could have "played" each school's offer against the others. Now, you're already committed to Fordham, which could work against you.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

15

<p>@PMsMScot: Thanks for the advice.
Unfortunately, my financial aid package wasn't finished until April 29th or so.
They, apparently, needed extra documents and neglected to notify me of it until only mere days before the May 1st deadline, so I rushed everything there via fax.</p>

<p>If I make an appointment with a financial aid officer / go to meet with one, would that be better / worse than just mailing the letters?</p>

<p>@BP-TheGuy88: Thankyou, that helps to know. I'll look into the payment plan.
About the room grant - what is this room grant you speak of and how can I apply for one?</p>

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<p>BP-TheGuy88, is Tuition really that!</p>

<p>to be honest with you, i am completely confused about the exact tuition.</p>

<p>On this website it says 34k (Tuition</a> Charges)</p>

<p>but when they sent my financial aid , the booklet said it was 35,257. So i planned for the worse price lol.</p>

<p>So if anyone has any idea that would be nice.</p>

<p>sorry for invading your post Guess Again</p>

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<p>You can make an appt to talk to the fin aid director. There are kids who turned down Fordham that were offered merit money. Ask if there is any way you can be eligible for any of that. Do you live close enough to commute? If you do and commute, they take a nice chunk off of the tuition. You also can save money by bagging a lunch that way, and your award is pretty close to covering tuition only.</p>

<p>I also suggest working. Now and then many, many hours over the summer. You can also see if you are eligible for work study during the school year, and if they will award it to you. If not, there are many work opportunities there, and you should be able to come up with something.</p>

<p>I am very concerned about you taking a lot in loans. Did you plan out how you were going to take care of this gap when you accepted the offer. With your family in a tight financial situation, it is really putting you in a corner to take so much in loans.</p>

18

<p>Ask Financial Aid if you would be eligible for a Room Grant. A room grant is basically 5k they give you. I got it after commuting because I had a commuter Metro Grant (which is for in-state residents who commute to any school). Once I started dorming they made the Metro Grant into a Room Grant which is available to anyone who dorms on campus. I think you have to ask them though as not everyone may get it.</p>

<p>I don't think Fordham is 50k just yet. Last year they were at about 44 to 45. I know they increase tuition a bit each year and rooming as well, but not enough that it adds up to 5k to 6k more.</p>

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<p>@ eccentricme: No problem. Feel free to invade if the information is pertinent to you. ;D</p>

<p>@ cptofthehouse: I see. The financial aid director you say? So not just any financial aid officer will do, but the financial aid director? I'm actually going to see them tomorrow, so I don't think I can manage to make an appointment by then since the office is closed by now and I have school in the morning tomorrow.</p>

<p>But I'll ask about whether or not there is any way I can be eligible for the merit aid offered to students who have turned down admission.</p>

<p>The summer job suggestion is also appreciated - it's a good idea!</p>

<p>@ BP-TheGuy88: I will definitely ask about a room grant! That would help so much, if I could snag that 5K. </p>

<p>Their estimated cost is 5OK, but if I'm really frugal (which I am), I should be able to stay below that cost line.</p>