I just received my financial aid package from Vandy, and it states that I receive about $56,000 in need-based grants, and my Academic Year Student Contribution (AYSC) is $2,300. Is that AYSC the same as my Expected Family Contribution? Is that all I have to pay?
I emailed the financial aid office but the answer wasn’t extremely clear, and I am confused because if you add $56,000 to $2,300, the $58,300 total is less than the Estimated Cost of Attendance at $66,000.
Any help at all is extremely appreciated!
The AYSC of $2300 is what they expect you to earn during the school year to put toward your expenses. So what it sounds like is that on top off the $2300 your family contribution would be around $7700.
@TheVandyMan Keep in mind the estimated COA includes items like travel, books and misc expenses. Your out of pocket costs may be more or less. The aid package sounds pretty good.
@planner03 @Work2Live Thank you both! I’ve dug a little deeper and it looks like the $2,300 is something I’m definitely going to have to pay, and then after that other costs may/will come up but that isn’t exactly known yet. I appreciate the help.
The “student contribution” is a little misleading. It’s not financial aid at all. That’s just the amount they believe a student could reasonably and and contribute to their own education in addition to whatever their parents are expected to pay.
So the cost of attendance is 66,000.
You received $56,000 in grants.
Your family is responsible for the other $10,000.
Vanderbilt calculated that your parents can afford to pay $6,700.
Vanderbilt believes you can earn/contribute $3,300.
Together this covers that $10,000.
It doesn’t change how you’re billed or anything. After the grant money has been distributed, you will be billed by Vandy for whatever is left. Whether or not you actually try to earn that $2000 and contribute it to your costs is entirely up to you and your family.
Also note that even though the “gap” is $10,000, you aren’t going to be billed for $10,000. Some of that cost of attendance is attributed to books, supplies, and living expenses which you pay separately. Over both semesters, you may be billed for a total of something like $6,000. Vanderbilt is just expecting that you’ll need another ~$4,000 to buy textbooks and soap and beer and such. They tend to over-estimate these expenses, which is good for you.
@Pancaked Definitely appreciate the response. That clears up a lot of the confusion. Thank you!
@TheVandyMan Did you qualify for federal work study? Vandy has a lot of on campus jobs for both work study and non work study.