<p>Hi I am an international student admitted to Dartmouth and have recently received a financial aid package.</p>
<p>I was wondering what is the difference between "Student's Contribution" and "Employment (non Work Study)"?</p>
<p>I thought that in order for me to contribute, I must be employed? So where else does the money that goes towards the student's contribution come from other than employment?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>savings accounts, gifts from family, summer work, etc.</p>
<p>I’m an international student too! But my FA package includes neither “Student’s Contribution” nor “Employment”??</p>
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<p>The student contribution is how much the school expects you to pay. This is based on your income, assets or money from a summer job.</p>
<p>Employment - is another form of work-study. You will get this money from working an on-campus job.</p>
<p>This has nothing to do with the post, but I was pretty disappointed in my D financial aid package. My family was expected to contribute $3000+ to Dartmouth, but only $600 to Yale.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>hey ephemeral, out of curiosity, was the 3000+ figure the high estimate, or the low estimate (or both XD)?</p>
<p>^ It was the low estimate, actually. I think it was only pending confirmation that my sister is still in college. The high estimate was about $4500, and this doesn’t include work-study or summer earnings expectations. My family can’t afford to pay that much; I would have left college with quite a bit of debt.</p>
<p>How did you guys get the FA? Does it come in the mail?</p>
<p>Each student has an EFC regardless of the income thresholds. Even if your family makes under 75k, while you would have free tuition the student contribution, is not exactly what you are paying to the college, it would be monies that you need for books, sundry items,traveling back and forth home on vacation/holidays, start-up costs attending college, etc. Most of the time your student contribution would come from your summer earnings.</p>
<p>IF your EFC was 3000, once you subtract yoiur student contribution you would get the amount that your family was expected to contribute to your education.</p>
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<p>Yale states the following:</p>
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<p>Keep in mind that the schools have 2 different FA policies, so you are not exactly comparing apples to apples. Yale’s FA threshold goes up to 200k, for which a family would pay 10%. A Dartmouth family with an income of 200k would most likely be paying full freight.</p>
<p>I did not mean to say–at all–that Dartmouth is not generous with financial aid. They are extremely generous. Perhaps the information was presented to me in a different way than Yale’s package, and that is why it appeared higher? I am going to take a second look and i’ll let you know what I found out.</p>
<p>yeah my efc was about 3000-4000 too. my parents make under 60k and my student contribution was like all that i have in the bank right now. haha i should be better with my money. its really generous and i really think that if i end up going here, my parents will find a way to pay for it. its the best financial package that i’ve received so far except for my safety school where ill have to pay like 1000.</p>
<p>My daughter got a likely letter on 2/14, but without the official acceptance package, how did all of you get FA info? Thanks.</p>
<p>So “Student Contribution” = Money you have earned before going to Dartmouth
And “Employment” = Money you will earn while working on campus at Dartmouth?</p>
<p>
And/or money you earn working during your off-terms.</p>
<p>@ivymom</p>
<p>i received a “likely” financial aid letter that told us what we could expect to see when the official letter arrives.</p>
<p>Is there a minimum “Student Contribution” at Dartmouth?</p>
<p>Dartmouth’s philosophy is that the student should be a stakeholder and an active participant in the financing of their education so each student regardless of parental income has a student contribution (nothing wrong with a student having some skin in the game)</p>
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<p>^Thanks for that. Employment during enrolled terms is usually on weekends right? How long each week are you expected to work?</p>
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Depends entirely on you and the department you’re working with. However, I think most departments will expect you to work at least partially during the school week as well. Typically you can expect anything between 4 and 15 to 20 hours a week. You generally sort out the specifics with whoever’s in charge of the shift schedule at your workplace.</p>
<p>I think that the difference in financial aid for different colleges makes sense. Each financial aid policy is different, and different schools have different resources ($/endowment size) Which is probably why Yale and harvard can raise their ceilings to more than 200k</p>