Financial Aid Confusion

Paying for College
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<p>Hi Vballmom - I think she will end up at the same school that your son is going to, but I am just trying to see what I can do about these offers. Apparently I am a terrible negotiator, because it doesn’t seem like anyone is willing to discuss changing anything. </p>

<p>She has applied for several local scholarships and we are hopeful that she will receive some. I am not worried about the discretionary costs, since she will be very close to home at either of the 2 top schools she is considering. I can certainly help her with her misc fees - I just got confused about the COA - it varies hugely at each school. </p>

<p>I can’t count on summer earnings as she has never held down a job and she doesn’t drive, so she would be limited in the hours she could work. I know a lot of teenagers in the area can’t get work even though they are looking. </p>

<p>I am committed to making this work.</p>

<p>missem</p>

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<p>*I can’t add much to what the other posters have said besides confirming that the discretionary portion of costs (books, transportation, misc expenses) is largely under your control and is a place where your daughter can economize. *</p>

<p>I completely agree with the above and what Sybbie said.</p>

<p>I hope that your D can get the Cal Grant B for $1500, that should make a difference.</p>

<p>For the 2010/11 year the cost of tuition/fees/room/board is $45788. Their listed COA is $52,214.</p>

<p>If the cost of tuition, fees, room, and board is $45,788, that is your immediate concern (well, actually half of that for the first semester, plus books).</p>

<p>The tuition is covered. If you get the $1500 Cal Grant B, then balance of the room, board, fees, and books is what you should be immediately concerned about.</p>

<p>Can your D get a summer job to pay for books and maybe some of her fees?</p>

<p>How much can you contribute each year?</p>

<p>I think it’s possible to reduce the need for some of those loans just thru a summer job and mom’s contribution. Is that possible?</p>

<p>You don’t live that far from Whitter that transportation costs should be that high - unless your D keeps a car on campus and drives around a lot and drives home a lot. So, those costs should be her concern - paid out of her work/study. But, I wouldn’t want her to borrow money just for that.</p>

<p>So, would the following be possible…</p>

<p>tuition scholarship…$35,222
Cal Grant B…$1,500
summer job for books & some fees…$1,600
work/study for pocket money & gas money…$2,500
mom’s contribution…$4,000</p>

<h2>Sub Stafford…$3,500</h2>

<p>total…$49,222</p>

<p>$49,222</p>

<h2>$45,788 (tuition, fees, room, board)</h2>

<p>$2,534 left for books, transportation, personal.</p>

<p>Would the above be do-able? It gets rid of much of the loans. If you have to take a Plus loan to cover some of your part, it may be cheaper for you to take the $2k unsub Stafford and you pay that off…I think the rate is lower. </p>

<p>Edited to add.</p>

<p>I can’t count on summer earnings as she has never held down a job and she doesn’t drive</p>

<p>Hmmm…Since you are concerned about loans, then I think that it’s reasonable to expect her to work at something over the summer…even if it’s babysitting other people’s kids. Or taking care of neighbor’s pets. She may have never had a job before, but it’s probably time she started. </p>

<p>There may be jobs where the schedule is such that you could drop her off in the morning and pick her up on your way home. Or, a job that’s close enough that she could walk.</p>

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<p>To piggyback on m2ck’s post some kids get on campus jobs working for food services because it gets them free or discounted meals. I agree work through this one year at a time. By year 2 your daughter will know how to navigate through the process and what things are/arenot worth spending money on.</p>

<p>I agree she could look into babysitting and or tutoring kids over the summer. I remember one summer my daughter did dog walking/feeding pets for the neighbors who were on vacation (some paid her $25/day). I went with her early in the morning and the last walks in the evening, but she had a nice piece of change and recommendations from other neighbors.</p>

<p>I think with some creative and cost cutting ideas you can make this work.</p>

<p>all the best</p>

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<p>I agree she could look into babysitting and or tutoring kids over the summer. I remember one summer my daughter did dog walking/feeding pets for the neighbors who were on vacation (some paid her $25/day). I went with her early in the morning and the last walks in the evening, but she had a nice piece of change and recommendations from other neighbors.</p>

<p>What a great idea! Tutoring other kids! Your D can get the word out to younger high school kids or even jr high kids that she can tutor them over the summer in various subjects. </p>

<p>She might be able to find a family that needs a “daycare person” to watch their kids in summer and tutor them, too. She could make some good money doing that. </p>

<p>My kids tutor and love it! They find that it keeps concepts fresh in their minds. My older son hasn’t taken a chem class since AP Chem, but he’s tutored chem for the past 3 years and it’s all fresh in his mind. </p>

<p>I like the pet walking/sitting idea, too. Your D can make up some flyers and give them out to the community. </p>

<p>Miss Emily…there’s probably nothing wrong with your negotiating skills. Schools just expect families to pay for a good chunk of the education costs. They also expect kids to work summers and work part-time during the year to contribute, too. It’s called “self-help.”</p>

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<p>Thanks for the suggestions - I will encourage my daughter to think outside the box and try to make some money this summer. I think the problem is that I spent too much time on CC and it gave me a skewed view of financial aid. I also sincerely thought that my EFC would be considered by schools, hence the title of this thread.</p>

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<p>*I also sincerely thought that my EFC would be considered by schools, hence the title of this thread. *</p>

<p>I think that the acronym EFC needs to change because it confuses people. The sad thing is that the confusion becomes “clear” when it’s too late to apply elsewhere, etc.</p>

<p>EFC needs to be changed to something like Federal Aid Index - because really, it’s a federal number to determine federal aid. No one else has to really care much about it, except to help you get the entitled federal aid. The term EFC falsely implies that colleges charge on a “sliding scale” according to ability to pay…and that’s not true.</p>

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<p>CC actually gives a realistic picture of financial aid. Repeatedly the fact is shared that most schools utilize loans as part of the financial aid packages. Recommendations are frequently made to check collegeboard.com or find the common data set for each school to learn what average percent of need is met by schools. Of the 2 schools you’ve mentioned, Whittier’s ave. percent of need met is 89% while the other school’s was 50%!
Considering your EFC of 4722, your gap was right in line with what Whittier has been known to offer. Everyone should expect to pay their EFC as a minimum-that is emphasized frequently on CC.</p>

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<p>I always expected to pay the EFC, and have no problem doing so. However the schools in question want us to pay triple the EFC and my understanding based on what I had read on CC was that if my daughters stats were in the top of the applicant pool for a college that she could expect a better financial aid package than average. This did not happen for us. I am just trying to understand the process at this point. </p>

<p>It is very difficult to evaluate these financial aid offers, with inflated COA, workstudy, loans, grants, etc. I have been using a spreadsheet and have used the information that I have received on CC to better understand what we are looking at.</p>

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<p>*and my understanding based on what I had read on CC was that if my daughters stats were in the top of the applicant pool for a college that she could expect a better financial aid package than average. This did not happen for us. *</p>

<p>Actually, I bet your D got more from Whittier College than most. You have to include that full tuition scholarship. If she hadn’t gotten that, she might have been given - say - a $20k grant - and the rest would be loans and a gap. You can’t overlook the scholarship - it’s more than she likely would have been given in a grant.</p>

<p>Whittier College</p>

<h1>Average need-based scholarship or grant award: $12,698</h1>

<h1>Average non-need based aid: $16,474</h1>

<h1>Average indebtedness at graduation: $40,220</h1>

<p>and that debt doesn’t include parent loans…</p>

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<p>From OP on another thread:</p>

<p>"Actually, I AM willing to borrow that much to send my child to a private school, it has just been a shock in the last 2 weeks to get these financial aid offers. I really thought that since my daughter was at the top of their pool of applicants that they would offer more scholarship and grants. One school has actually offered her a really good deal, which will cost the two of us (my daughter and myself) under 10k per year, and if that is the best offer she will take it (it was one of her top three schools all along). "</p>

<p>This doesn’t sound bad. It doesn’t hurt to let your daughter have some skin in the game.</p>

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<p>Good point, mom2collegekids</p>

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<p>Colleges are going to pack the offer with what they have available in order to match the COA. Very few can offer the full COA, even if your child is in the top 5%.
Make sure that you know what type of grant it is offered. Does she have to live on campus? Is it renewable at the same amount? Is the grant/scholarship to be used only for tuition? My D’s grant can be applied to the whole bill however she wants, not just tuition. That way we can apply for credits at tax time.
Even though COA was estimated at 49k and she got a 39k grant, we have not needed to take any loans, because in reality there was only 7k left to pay to cover the rest of the R&B. The other items in the COA were the estimated part, and not necessarily what you will end up paying.
The first year I was not sure how much we would need so I took a 3k loan and I budgeted the rest in the Tuition Management system (a way to pay monthly without interest because it is through the school), so that amount + the college grant took care of the non estimated COA. D got WS, some HS scholarships and a Perkins. We ended up with a credit at the end of freshman year. D found a very cheap way to come home, the Bolt bus, buys her books used from other students or from Amazon, never had to pay more than 300 in any given year. I have had to pay bt 3k to 6500 a year, mostly thru the monthly payments. D has a great WS job, the same every year at the Media center. The school expects her to contribute every year, not part of the EFC, and her WS is paying for that. She has applied for summer work at the college and will make extra money that way. She had an internship the first year and will work this Summer. She will have to pay for Summer Housing and buy her own food. It will still be worthy, since she will make 2/3 more than the cost.
You need to figure out what the balance is for the college bill in each of the colleges, and that will be your immediate expense. The rest is workable as things progress. It would be best if the grant can be applied to the bill without restrictions that it must go to tuition only. That way you can get a tax break.</p>