Financial Aid for Continuing at Georgetown -- PROBLEMS

Paying for College
1

<p>I'm about to start my sophomore year at Georgetown, and I received my financial aid award letter yesterday. Last year, they gave me a WONDERFUL loan free, full cost of attendance met package. My financial situation has not changed AT ALL in the past twelve months, yet the package Georgetown is trying to push me into this year reduces my institutional scholarship by $2,000, adds $1,200 to my personal contribution, makes me take a $3,500 Stafford loan, and increases my work study by $200. In addition, cost of attendance has increased by about $2,500, which this package fails to account for. </p>

<p>This feels like a class bait-and-switch. I mean I thought they might try this, but not seriously enough to have a back up school in mind. It also doesn't help that they wait until the middle of July to send the packages, as opposed to April-ish for incoming freshman. </p>

<p>I emailed my financial aid advisor immediately, but won't hear back from him until Monday at earliest, though I'm going to follow this up with a phone call. </p>

<p>Has anyone else had this happen to them - at Georgetown or elsewhere? Is this common practice? Does anyone have any idea what else I could do if talking to the advisor doesn't help? </p>

<p>I'm really worried and it's killing me that I can't do anything about it over the weekend.</p>

<p>Thanks guys!</p>

<p>As a side note, I have maintained a 3.7 GPA, with no marks on my student record, so I can't imagine any legitimate reason they have for lowering my aid.</p>

<p>Also, the reason I mention the work study increase is because it's money I can't get at. I already have a work study job, and I can't only take one. Working the full hours possible at this job only earns me about half the money available.</p>

2

<p>Wow- that’s pretty low. I’ve always known Georgetown had bad financial aid (proven by the fact that they didn’t give me anything…) but this is ridiculous. </p>

<p>Are you sure your financial situation hasn’t changed AT ALL? No extra retirement savings, no new cars or houses or jobs, no other siblings just graduated from college? Tiny changes can affect financial aid, even if they shouldn’t.</p>

3

<p>Most colleges require a greater level of “self-help” from the student after the first year, on the assumption that older students are capable of generating somewhat higher summer earnings. Georgetown very clearly states this on their web site, so no “bait and switch” there: </p>

<p>

[Georgetown</a> University :: Office of Student Financial Services](<a href=“http://finaid.georgetown.edu/questpro.htm#quest10]Georgetown”>http://finaid.georgetown.edu/questpro.htm#quest10)</p>

<p>(I’d note that they have that in bold face type</p>

<p>You are probably eligible to take $4500 in a subsidized Stafford loan for your sophomore year, though your college only is asking you to take on $3500K. So that’s an extra $1000 ready cash right there. </p>

<p>If you are really short of cash, you are also eligible for a $2,000 unsubsidized Stafford – I don’t particularly recommend that, but it can be a good way to solve a short term cash flow problem if you are waiting for work-study earnings to start coming in.</p>

4

<p>I just did the math: you said that the cost of attendance has gone up by $2500 and your institutional grant has gone down by $2000. You didn’t say whether you had any other grant money, such as a Pell grant… but assuming that you don’t – then basically for the coming year you need to come up with $4500 more than you did last year.</p>

<p>To help you come up with that money, Georgetown has increased your work study allotment by $200 and suggests that you take a $3500 Stafford loan. Thats $3700, leaving $800, which is less than the additional $1200 they want from you (probably from expected summer earnings) </p>

<p>As I noted above, you probably are eligible for a $4500 stafford loan … so if we add that extra $1000 loan into the aid package, together with the increase of $200 in work study … you actually have MORE financial aid available for the coming year, assuming you are willing to contribute to your own education by working a few more hours and borrowing. (Assuming a pay rate of $8 an hour, the $200 increase is simply 25 extra hours of work).</p>

5

<p>I’m sure it was a shock, but it’s not really as bad as it seems. It sounds like you’re talking about having total loans of less than $5K after 2 years at a very good school. Compared to many students who have to take full Stafford, and sometimes other loans, every year it’s not unmanageable. Sounds like the $3500 (or $4500) is subsidized so you won’t be paying interest until 6 months after graduation either. </p>

<p>Maybe you can find a different work study job that would have more hours available, if you can handle that with your studies. You can repay Stafford loans anytime, and could do so from earnings or just save some of that money for next year. Are you working this summer? Perhaps summers will be the time to have 2 jobs! </p>

<p>Are there ways to trim your expenses at school? Smaller meal plan, used books, etc. can add up to a few thousand each year. RA’s generally get free room and a stipend. You get the idea - trim costs and/or increase income are the ways to keep debt down.</p>

6

<p>You are probably also eligible for an unsubsidized Stafford, since the total Stafford eligibility is $5500 fr/6500 soph, as long as the total of all your aid does not exceed the cost of attendance (the financial aid budget).</p>

7

<p>@sunshowers23
I’m positive that my situation hasn’t changed in any of those ways. Also, my EFC was exactly the same both years, according to FAFSA, though Georgetown does have its own “institutional” system for determining aid. </p>

<p>@calmom
Right before that, it says “If the family’s circumstances remain relatively constant over the four years of attendance, the total financial aid received should not change significantly.” I don’t particularly spite them adding a few dollars to my work study or my individual contribution. It’s the $2,000 cut to my scholarship, combined with $3,500 in loans when COA has gone up an additional $2,000 that I’m angry about.</p>

<p>The difference in what I pay (individual contribution and loans) last year vs. this year, not including expenses like books, food, and supplies, is about 10%. Surely they can’t claim my ability to earn has gone up that much? And what about next year? Do they “decide” I am able to earn 20% of the COA?</p>

<p>@sk8rmom
How are you figuring $5,000 after two years? I’m looking at it as $3,500*3 years, or $10,500, ASSUMING they don’t feel like raising the portion that is loans. Is this incorrect?</p>

<p>Trust me, I trim costs.</p>

8

<p>I think what sk8rmom is trying to point out to you is that many students would be thrilled to have less than $5000 in loans after two years no matter what the college. To come out of a school like Georgetown with just over $10,000 in loans (your estimate) is amazing in today’s world of higher education. </p>

<p>If you really don’t like it, you have another choice: don’t go back.</p>

9

<p>@rrah</p>

<p>I’m sorry, but I really don’t understand that kind of thinking. Last year it was $0 in loans. This year it looks like $10,000 in loans. Will it be $20,000 next year? </p>

<p>While the monetary expenditure is of course important to me, what about the principal of the thing? Last year, my financial aid advisor said I wouldn’t have to take out loans. Now apparently I do. It’s a matter of basic honesty. </p>

<p>I started this thread to inquire about other people having this problem and ideas for recourse, not to debate the relative merits of my financial aid package. Yes, I know I have a comparatively good package, but I didn’t get it with your “oh this is good enough I’ll settle down and pay it” attitude. I got it by rejecting my offer twice, and appealing, which it seems I will have to do again. </p>

<p>I just wanted to know if this was a common practice at my university or others and if anyone had any outside of the box ideas about how to deal with it.</p>

10

<p>I’m sorry, but I don’t see the problem in you having some loans in your name for YOUR college education. Georgetown is a MIGHTY expensive school and your loan situation is not a bad one at all.</p>

11

<p>Your cost of attendance will go up approximately 4 to 5% a year each year that you are at georgetown. To be 2 years in and have on 3500 of loans is putting you far ahead of the curve on what has been ~ 100k to attend Georgetown so far. I agree with others that you are blessed on only owe this amount of $$ for your education.</p>

<p>There was no bait and switch of your FA package. By the same token, no one is going to force you to take the package or to go back to georgetown if you find their FA package so egregious.</p>

12

<p>It sounds like you have been given an excellent FA package. You probably won’t find a lot of sympathy around here. A lot of people at lesser schools are going into debt a lot more. Some people are at state schools or even community colleges borrowing $10,000 or more a year.</p>

<p>If you don’t want to borrow the $3500 get a part-time job. You can make that amount working 10 hours a week for $7 an hour.</p>

13

<p>If you want to know if it’s happened to others try posting on the Georgetown forum…don’t expect alot of sympathy there either though. People here have tried to give you some ideas and perspective and you’re apparently just determined to be a victim. The economy is in very bad shape, endowments have also been hit pretty hard…in short, many students just have bigger problems than you do and it’s sad that many deserving kids won’t be able to afford college at all.</p>

14

<p>

Georgetown never promised you 4 years without loans — they promised to meet your need with a combination of grants, loans & work study. Last year, when you were a freshman, they very generously met your need with a grants & work study, without requiring a loan. This year, they have packaged the aid differently, including $3500 in a subsidized loan (meaning no payments and interest while you are school) and a very slight increase in work study. </p>

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<p>I guess you’re not majoring in math? You wrote in your opening post that Georgetown wants to to take a $3500 Stafford loan. $3500 is NOT the same as $10,000.</p>

<p>A couple of us pointed out to you that if you are short of cash, or don’t want to work extra hours, you are eligible up to $5500 in Stafford loans, with some of that being unsubsidized. That still is NOT the same as $10,000.</p>

<p>YOU wrote in your opening post that the COA for next year is +$2500 and your grant is -$2000 from last year. That means that you have to pay out $4500 more than last year.</p>

<p>That is NOT the same as a $10,000 loan. </p>

<p>Now I understand that YOU may have a shortfall in meeting your EFC that is beyond that – that is, if last year the EFC was $5000 and you had that money saved up in a college account, but this year the EFC is now $9500 and you have no savings left, you would have to come up with $9500 and maybe you think you need to borrow all of that – but that’s not a change on Georgetown’s part. Their financial aid information is very clear that they meet full need with a combination of grants, loans and work-study; AND that they expect the student contribution from summer earnings to increase somewhat over the 4 years-- which is the same as the financial aid policies of just about any other college.</p>

15

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<p>Yes, it’s very common for financial aid packages to vary somewhat from year to year. Some go up some go down. The wording is very clear, any financial aid package is good for the one year only.</p>

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<p>Your financial aid package changed somewhat, I don’t know if it rose to the level of significant.</p>

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<p>Really, you don’t understand that way of thinking? Your package isn’t just good enough, it’s really good. But instead of being appreciative of all you have been given you’re just focusing on what you didn’t get. That is an attitude that I don’t understand, although I see it often enough.</p>

16

<p>I like to think of “that way of thinking” as seeing the glass as half full. It makes life much more enjoyable.</p>

17

<p>I feel as though somehow you think you deserve more money, but you don’t. Almost every college’s financial aid website will say something about the change in financial aid from year to year, and Georgetown’s definitely does. </p>

<p>By all means appeal and argue with the financial aid office, as you have every right to appeal a financial aid package. Meet with your financial officer in person, or talk to him/her on the phone and make your argument. But if things don’t work out you really have no right to get angry at the university. There is no “creative” or “out of the box” way of fixing this problem, because all it boils down to is how much money Georgetown has left.</p>

<p>I go to Emory and my personal contribution just went up by $6000, and last year they gave me nearly a full ride. These things happen.</p>