<p>According to Harvard's new financial aid initiative, families with incomes above $120,000 and below $180,000 and with assets typical for these income levels will be asked to pay 10 percent of their incomes. </p>
<p>If you are an accepted student with a family income in this range, did this ring true for your family? Did you find it to be a fairly straight 10%?</p>
<p>Yes...and we're ecstatic about it =)
my mom has to pay less than half for me than what she had to pay for my sister five years ago</p>
<p>Congratulations!</p>
<p>If you don't mind my asking, did your mom find the package to be based on her adjusted gross income?</p>
<p>For students already enrolled have no idea how the new financial aid package will impact them. Do students enrolling this year who will receive financial aid now what typical amount of assets are?</p>
<p>I actually have no idea what adjusted gross income is...lol but i think the number was less than her actual salary? so...possibly a yes?</p>
<p>DocT, you might want to just call the financial aid office about that.</p>
<p>just about, but due to extenuating circumstances we might need to see it be a little less.</p>
<p>Thetacheese: That's okay. Adjusted gross income basically is what one's taxable income is after deductions and other income are factored in. </p>
<p>I'm glad that you got such a good package. Congratulations again!</p>
<p>I did call the financial aid office back in January and they were very evasive. I guess I really won't know until - June.</p>
<p>What do aid packages look for income brackets around 200-250k? Also, do they look at assets etc? Because my family has a house in San Diego that we're renting for less than our mortgage due to the slow market, so we have a negative cash flow atm that's really hurting our funds.</p>
<p>Our D is in and got her aid notice. I suspect there is considerable variability/flexibility in how the aid is determined, however generous though it may be. Also, when I called the F Aid Office a few months ago--I was told the % is based on "Total Income"--so for example, tax-deferred contributions to retirement accts would count, etc. As it turned out for us, we were asked to contribute the exact amount that we had indicated we could pay on the CSS PROFILE--which actually was about 2K higher than the 10% of income--but much, much, much less than any FAFSA and/or PROFILE calculation.</p>
<p>They look at everything and as I've mentioned in earlier posts, the methodology is quite opaque. The 180k figure is not a hard cutoff.</p>
<p>I, too, called right after the new initiative was announced and I was given a round-about answer regarding AGI vs gross income: We consider everything, but please let us know if you have any special circumstances.</p>
<p>My parents made a little over 100k this past year, however our EFC was slighty over the 10% rule for 120k-180k income brackets. Wouldn't you think that the EFC would be LESS for families making under 120k?</p>
<p>If anyone knows what the policy is for families under 120k (but over 100k), please let me know because we are thinking of appealing the financial aid, in order to lower our EFC. And even if we get the money in loans, it doesn't matter because the scholarships I have received will eliminate the loans. I just don't want the money I am getting through scholarships to be reabsorbed by Harvard and taken away from my grant money awarded.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Hi Eason, well, every financial aid package is individually assessed, so it is different for every family. Remember though, your scholarships will NEVER take away from your parents' contribution. That will always stay the same no matter how many scholarships you receive. It will first lower your student contribution term-time and summer, and then your aid. Your parental contribution will never change, and usually, you have to have a good reason to appeal. Perhaps your parents have more than the typical assets for a family who makes little above 100k.</p>
<p>^^ That's not true. If you get enough scholarship to cover grants + student contribution+ anything else, then after that, it goes towards parent contribution. Hehe, that would require a lot of scholarship!! But I'm sure it's possible, esp for like, Intel winners or something crazy....</p>
<p>Hi lalaloo6, I think you are unfortunately mistaken.</p>
<p>This is taken straight from the "Understanding Your Aid" Booklet that accompanies the admitted students packet for students who have received a financial aid package:</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Frequently Asked Question: Can my
outside award be used to reduce my
parent contribution? </p>
<p>Answer: No. Harvard is committed
to meeting the full demonstrated
need of each student through a
combination of term-time work and
need-based scholarship. Federal
and institutional guidelines limit
the total amount of financial aid that
students can receive from all sources
to ensure that total aid does not
exceed need. Since outside awards
are additional resources that help meet your need, they cannot
be used to reduce your expected
parent contribution.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>Yeah, it makes me feel better about not applying to many scholarships...the most scholarship money you can use to reduce your costs, depending on your financial situation, is about 5000 or so I think (more for the laptop refund)</p>
<p>I guess it doesn't hurt to try. There are new financial circumstances within my family, so trying never hurts. I'll have my mom call and see what they say. Because my brother just started attending private school last year, and I am not sure if that was clearly stated in my finaid forms, and my dad moved to California (I live in New York). We claimed married at the time the financial aid forms were filed, but in reality, they are basically separated living on opposite sides of the country. I mean, they won't take away financial aid already given, will they?</p>
<p>They would be able to help you out better than an anonymous message board, that's for sure. Everything that is stated on this board (except for that excerpt that I made from the "Understanding Your Aid" Booklet from Harvard itself) is pure conjecture. None of us know your family situation!</p>