I’m a senior and I’m highly considering applying to Colgate ED, but I’m worried about the financial aid package. My calculated EFC is about $18,000 and the College Net Price calculator calculates that I would be predicted to pay $36k-42k annually. I’ve heard that Colgate meets 100% demonstrated financial need with no loans for families making less than $125k annually.
I was wondering how generous do you think Colgate will be if I were to apply ED and if it’s worth the risk. I don’t want my parents to pay more than $36k (my state school annual cost) annually. And from y’alls personal experience with Colgate, how much aid did you get and was it good compared to other universities? Please include experiences with appealing financial aid (if you have). Thank you
Try contacting their financial aid department and asking if they will do an early financial estimate – basically you submit your financial details to them and they give you their best estimate of what a financial aid package would look like should you be admitted. It’s no guarantee but it can help give you a better sense of whether or not binding ED will be workable for you or whether you’re better off casting a wider net and comparing financial aid from different schools to which you’re admitted. Good luck!
My daughter is a freshman at Colgate. I was a little worried at the beginning when she told me she applied to Colgate as well as to other 6-7 schools both private and public universities here in NY. I knew how private colleges will cost more compared to public ones. We were relying on merit scholarship for her since graduated with highest honors. She applied to Colombia(didn’t get accepted), NYU (wait listed), RIT, RPI, Clarkson, Colgate , SUNY Stonybrook and SUNY Binghamton which she got accepted to all. With the exception of SUNY Binghamton, she received good financial packages from all mentioned schools. Colgate is at the top with the highest COA at 75K/year!!! After we received all her FA I put everything in a spreadsheet for comparison. Although Colgate came out as having the highest COA they offered the best FA for us with the least amount of out of pocket even better than SUNY. Our EFC is a little high too and we fall under the 125K/year income. Colgate does NOT offer merit scholarship only a combination of grants, loans and federal work study which what my daughter has. Her FA totaled a little over 60K. The difference is our out of pocket which will cover her room and board, books and miscellaneous fees. One good thing with Colgate beginning next year 2020 they will remove federal loans on their FA. My understanding is they will increase the grants. Personal loans is still an option as well as FWS program. Check their website for the bicentennial initiative. They also have a calculator that you can use to estimate your COA. Good luck!!!
Thank for the advice. I’ve calculated my NPC a few times on the Collegeboard calculator, but I think they changed it this month because of their no-loan initiatives. Will surely email the office of FA. Thank you
Sounds like Colgate gave your daughter a solid FA package! I have heard about the new financial aid policies, but I definitely need to do more research on the bicentennial initiative and no loan policy. Thank you for the advice and I’m wishing your daughter the best for the school year.
