Financial aid at Tulane - Fallenchemist, can you please comment?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Tulane University
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<p>Hi All,</p>

<p>On collegeboard.com, Tulane's profile says that they meet 95% of need and 80% of it is grants as opposed to loans. Our family's EFC is $2300 - that's 23 HUNDRED dollars, not 23 thousand. BUT on Gibson so far the financial aid package is only $38,000 and that includes $23000 in merit aid so only $15000 is need-based aid. More than half of that is LOANS not grants.</p>

<p>How is this possible and how do I appeal it? We have true need - I would never have let my son apply if I'd known that 95%/80% wasn't true. He's heartbroken because he really wants to go to Tulane, but we can't afford over $20,000/year.</p>

<p>We already sent one appeal letter - does Tulane send out financial aid awards by mail or do we need to look for any revision online? </p>

<p>Now that we've sent a letter, is there anything else we can do?</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Unfortunately, those are averages, so some get more and some get less. My son was only offered loans beyond his merit award to makeup the difference between cost and EFC. Also, if $2300 is your FAFSA EFC, then Tulane (and other privates) probably have a higher EFC based on the Profile.</p>

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<p>Is it possible that the real unstated aim of the FinAid department is to get everyone to about $20,000 out-of-pocket per year? Of the $15,000 in need-based aid they’re giving us, about $10,000 is loans, so with that added, our out-of-pocket is much higher.</p>

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<p>Hi Joan - Unfortunately financial aid at the detail level is not my strongest area, but I think Mdndad has it right. What I would advise is setting up a telephone appointment with the FA person assigned to your family, and ask them to go through it with you line by line to see where the shortfall arises. The letter was a good thing, but IMO either a face-to-face (which of course is not possible for most people) or a phone meeting is needed to really understand why the decisions are what they are.</p>

<p>I know most schools are facing some real issues when it comes to FA, as budgets get really tight and now the situation with Federal aid is far from certain moving forward. How much this has affected Tulane I cannot say. I can say there is no “aim” to get everyone to $20K out-of-pocket, clearly many cannot afford that and some can afford the full cost. It is a somewhat complicated mix of variables that I think you will only have a chance of understanding if you can have that conversation with FA.</p>

<p>I wish you the best of luck, and please let us know if you find out any more. Any insight into this difficult subject is useful for future prospects.</p>

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<p>Joan- You cant believe everything you read on the Internet. That being said, there is some impression out in the world that Tulane gives a lot of aid. I don’t think that is true. In post Katrina, that may have been the case.</p>

<p>You should speak with your financial aid counselor. I was told that they look at your merit aid when giving you financial aid. Since your son was awarded a significant merit award, he probably received a smaller financial aid based award. At a minimum, based on your EFC, he should have received the standard subsidized and unsubsidized loans. Additionally, he should have received a Pell grant. The rest of the aid would be in the form of grants and federal work study.</p>

<p>The one thing they are good about is granting aid when you have multiple students in school.</p>

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<p>

I guess it depends on your definition of “a lot”. In sheer amount of merit aid + need-based grant aid, it is what I would consider a pretty huge number. Of course they take into account any merit award, why wouldn’t they? It is a true “discount” on the cost of attending, guaranteed for 4 years. Therefore the amount of need remaining is not the same as if there was no merit award.</p>

<p>Having said that, if Joan’s true EFC was $2,300 then it is certainly worth asking Tulane the question as to how they came up with both the amount of need-based FA they did, and why it was so heavy on loans. She has nothing to lose, and perhaps a lot to gain. And if they will not or cannot improve the package, then at least she might gain more understanding as to why it is what it is. Maybe that would be small consolation, I don’t know.</p>

<p>But Tulane doesn’t promise to meet 100% of need, and as Mdndad said the rest is an average. How they decide who gets more than 95% and who gets less is something only Tulane can answer, and it probably changes from time to time as circumstances change.</p>

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<p>Whenever you mention Tulane, the first thing people say is that they give a lot of aid. Yesterday, I just heard it again.</p>

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<p>Thank you all for sharing your insights. I will let you know what happens.</p>

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<p>The EFC number is not an actual $ amount. It’s a number that gets put into various formulas when calculating aid. Our EFC was similar to yours and we received $30k Scholarship and a total FA package of around $42k. I had been estimating having to get $20k in PLUS loans based on info we had received from other schools before receiving Tulane’s final package. Of the 6 schools DS was accepted at, the PLUS loan amount ranged from $18 - 20K. I was worried that Tulane would require more in parent contribution because the overall expense is higher but they stepped up and put themselves equal to all of the other schools, thankfully as they were DS’ top choice!</p>

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<p>I’m having the same issue as JoanB. My mom’s FAFSA EFC is about $2000, and my dad’s CSS EFC is $3000, but my mom’s CSS EFC is >$4000, even though she makes less than my dad. (BTW, my dad is giving ME $3,000 per year for living expenses and will not pay anything directly to any college, and that $3,000 is paid instead of child support.) My FA package from Tulane was a lot - about $51,000, but $9,000 of that is loans and $2,500 work study. $25,000 is merit.</p>

<p>So that leaves a $9,000 gap to pay, and also $36,000 in debt after 4 years. (So, realistically, it’s $18,000 per year)</p>

<p>I called their office today, and apparently there is NO need-based FA appeal system in place, my counselor was very stubborn about this. Even if the CSS estimates aren’t realistic, Tulane FA is apparently sticking to them like glue. There is a merit aid appeal system, but it’s unlikely that more will be awarded and in my case the max would be $2,000.</p>

<p>I know for a lot of families that would be a small gap and little debt to pay, but it’s too big for my family and I plan to go to med school. I’m going down to NOLA for Honors weekend in a few days, does anyone have any ideas how I could squeak out like $5,000 from them?</p>

<p>My other option is Brandeis, which I really do like (but I LOVE Tulane), and in short it would be about $12,500 per year (gap+loans). I’m appealing there because they do have a system in place for that.</p>

<p>Any thoughts?</p>

<p>Also, I would just like to say that the Tulane office of admission has been awesome, and so far the FA officers have been great too, but it’s frustrating that there’s no need-based appeals system.</p>

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<p>Out of my depth on this one, but I do want to ask if you happen to be a NMF?</p>

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<p>I’m just thinking they have English majors working their calculators or something.</p>

<p>For example, my FAFSA EFC is about $1000 (not $1000 in millions or billions, like one grand). However, their “institutional EFC” they calculated for me is about $14,000.</p>

<p>So I emailed my financial aid counselor. And she was all like OMG I AM SO SORRY KEVIN THIS IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS.</p>

<p>Therefore, we’re going to give you a NOLA scholarship of about $2000 to cover that hole of around $20,000.</p>

<p>So then I emailed her back and be all like “excuse me, how do you calculate the EFC?” They haven’t replied since.</p>

<p>I mean, I know New Orleans is known for their voodoo, but can we please abstain from that (and alcohol) when calculating these figures? </p>

<p>Derp.</p>

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<p>I am also frustrated by the minuscule amount of money awarded to my son ($8000 total, only $3000 of which is ‘free money’). Apparently they count my 401K against us. My 401k!! I’m a single (only) parent… I’m supposed to use my retirement money to fund my son’s college education??</p>

<p>He is hellbent on going and he does have life insurance money from his dad’s death (tied up in the courts right now), but it’s not enough to cover four years. That money did have an impact on our EFC, but only as it related to loans and work/study. The $3K was the same with or without his money.</p>

<p>On the other hand, he could have gone next door to Loyola who gave him over 50% of the tuition in scholarships. (and Loyola emails him every day as though they’d really love to have him. But he’s a rabid atheist and ‘touchdown Jesus’ turned him off. Wouldn’t even LOOK at the school when we were at Tulane in January.)</p>

<p>I really hope he gets his money’s worth (and a job that enables him to pay off those loans).</p>

<p>BTW, after I appealed the first set of numbers they gave us LESS.</p>

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<p>Our EFC was in the 6,000 range. My son received a $30,600 Tulane Scholarship, $9,000 in Federal loans, $2,500 Work Study. I’ll be taking out approx $20k in PLUS loans to cover the difference. More than I had planned on but the majority of the schools he was accepted at all came in at a similar package. It’s not ideal but Tulane is where he wants to be and I support that completely!</p>

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<p>The big scholarship bucks seem to have gone to people with high GPAs. My son had a 32 ACT but a so-so GPA. I think the ACT got him in, but the GPA killed the $$.</p>

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<p>I think it’s a combination of the two. My D had high GPA but only average ACT and did not receive any merit.</p>

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<p>I wonder if it is rather a question of timing, and not necessarily anything else. My son had a 32 ACT and solid grades (but not exceptional). His H.S. college counselor urged him to apply EA, and stated this is how one gets the most merit money. He applied EA, and got a $22,000 a year merit scholarship. If, on the other hand, my son had applied ED or RD, I would be willing to bet he’d get bupkis.</p>

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<p>hmmmm…I don’t know newtrierdad, my D also applied EA too and her only weak area was the ACT/SAT. I really think it’s a combination of the two things.</p>

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<p>My son applied EA also, so it wasn’t timing for us.</p>

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<p>mavitale & jaynebe: Sorry! I’m honestly stumped, then. Maybe the process is jarringly arbitrary, then, like much else that occurs in the college application process.</p>