<p>That's the new phrase - we can't have scholarship envy, because Stanford doesn't call them scholarships. I hope Stanford does "smooth out" the expected contribution for families above the cut-offs. Then maybe no one will feel FA envy. Except, of course, for grad students, internationals and students from previous years, which is thousands of people, actually.</p>
<p>Anyone know why the schools don't tell us exactly how they arrive at the amount we owe? Is it because they don't think we can possibly understand the complicated equation? Or don't they want us to know. I wish this whole thing were more transparent.</p>
<p>I am going nuts waiting for the FA package for my EA admitted son. Hope we don't have to wait for snail mail, but can access it online sooner.</p>
<p>Did you get a FA estimate with the early acceptance packet? I did and I just assumed that the finalized one will not deviate too much from the estimated one. Am I wrong?</p>
<p>Yes, we did get an estimated FA package, and it said we should be able to pay for everything - no grants. I think (hope) there will be a substantial change in our finalized package. For one thing, we did something that everyone had told us not to do -- from the beginning, we put college savings in our son's name. Previously (and at other schools) they would take a big share of the student's assets, so the strategy was to not have much in the student's name. We rejected that strategy, because we wanted to make sure that if our family had a financial debacle, no one would be able to touch that money.</p>
<p>Stanford used to take 30% of student assets, then last year took 25%, and now will be taking only 5%. We fully intended for the amount we saved for our son to be used for college -- and with the expense of room/board, fees, books, expenses, and travel (from midwest), most of it will be used. But my son should be getting some Stanford credit for the student part of the package.</p>
<p>Also, with the new $100K income/free tuition, our family may be getting free tuition -- if not this year, then for the next three as our assets are depleted to under the "typical" amount required for this enhancement. </p>
<p>I think that lots of FA packages will be reduced because of the recent enhancements.</p>
<p>My financial aid obsession is over now, and I have to say that our family is NOT feeling the envy. Stanford's new enhancements lived up to the claims for our household. In the Stanford Daily article that detailed the changes, they said "This formula will smooth out expected contributions so that those earning just above the respective cut-offs will not see a significant increase in expenses. " So true for us. And there were no loans in the package. I wish all students everywhere from middle income families could be treated the same way.</p>
<p>I am Stanford's biggest fan right now. We'll be paying what we would have paid for in-state flagship. The amount we have saved over the past 17 years should cover it and my son gets to go to Stanford! Life is better than good.</p>