<p>Checked today and it looks like it was posted yesterday.</p>
<p>Mine just says they received it
…Do you have other info?</p>
<p>Where on the portal was it posted?</p>
<p>are all of you early acceptances? my son is regular decision and we haven’t heard anything, and his portal hasn’t changed.</p>
<p>@sparksfly
On the portal, under the tab “Required Steps” and then go to the box titled “Financial Aid Requirements” and that is where mine says my FAFSA was received.
@gosimoes - I’m EA, not sure about everyone else.</p>
<p>gosimoes: yes, D is EA.
I clicked around and now things have changed but start here:<br>
click on tab “Required Steps”
look down center column to Financial Aid Status
select 2011-12, submit
Read “You have been awarded financial aid which totals $55,086.”
click on “awarded”
new screen, click on “Award Overview” tab
scroll down to FA Award</p>
<p>That should get you there.
For us, they “awarded” up to the full COA with various loans.</p>
<p>Oh, ok. The only thing I have on there is my merit scholarship. They have my EFC stuff already up there, so I guess I just have to wait to see what else they give me for need based.</p>
<p>Once I get to submit 2011-12, nothing is listed (no award)
Does this mean they just haven’t done mine yet or I didn’t get any aid?</p>
<p>I think it means they haven’t posted it yet. I would think they offer everyone loans. The page shows a breakdown of the COA calculation, has our need calculation (COA - EFC), and the financial aid award offered. The total award in our case = COA. There’s a grant, but as I said earlier, it’s a lot of loan money. Now that I look at it though, the loans are all federal and I know you’re from Canada. I’m not sure what they do for international students.</p>
<p>Ughhhh why does it have to be so expensive??? I got a grant, but my parents still have a $35,000 loan thing. I can go to a public school for cheaper without any loans.</p>
<p>Sparksfly: I agree! Although I do like to think that the price reflects the quality of education you receive at a private institution. I haven’t heard from USD yet, so I’m crossing my fingers for (a) acceptance, and (b) generous financial aid! By the way…I like your screen name!</p>
<p>Yeah, I guess it does reflect the education, but I don’t want to pay for that and I don’t want my parents to pay for that. I think I’m just gonna go to public school. Oh well…and I’m glad to know you like my username!! haha.</p>
<p>so I applied regular, on the financial aid they have listed a scholarship but nothing else. Does that mean my financial aid package is still processing?</p>
<p>^^^ I can’t answer that for sure but I think they offer everyone (US) the Stafford loans, listed as Fed Direct Subsidized Loan $3500 and Fed Direct Unsubsidized Loan $2000, if you qualify for at least $5K in aid. So since the COA is ~$55K, if your EFC is less than $50K, you should see this. If it’s not there, then maybe you’re not done yet.</p>
<p>Another possibility is that if your need is say $10K and you’re offered a $15K scholarship, then they’ve met your need and may not offer anything else. Merit aid is usually subtracted from need before need-based aid is offered. Sometimes it can cancel out your need. Kinda stinks that you can’t get double since you earned the merit aid by working hard, but to the university, it’s all their money (scholarships and institutional grants), just has a different name.</p>
<p>Okay thanks!</p>
<p>Midwstmom,</p>
<p>My daughter was also offered a grant along with a large amount of loans. I am very grateful for the grant, as it makes USD more attainable for us, but I have a question I wondered if you could answer? The grant is for 2011-2012. How do we know if we will get it every year? If you don’t know that, how can you budget affordability? The merit scholarships offered at other schools were for 4 years, and I understand that USD is offering us a need based grant. Any input???</p>
<p>KeeterMom: I think I read that the grants are renewable if the gpa is kept up and that the amt. freshman year is the maximum for later years, i.e., won’t go higher.</p>
<p>My daughter is just finishing up her sophomore year and her aid package for next year was just posted. She has both a merit scholarship and a USD grant. The grant went down just slightly the second year, mainly, I think, because our EFC went up. Next year they are offering her a smaller grant because she is moving off campus (I believe scholarships and grants can be used to offset campus housing but not off campus housing, so they will limit the total of scholarships and grants to tuition and fees if you do not live in the dorms.) Overall, her aid package has remained relatively stable and all the changes have been easy for me to understand. I think generally if your EFC remains fairly consistant you can expect your aid package to do the same.</p>
<p>I do know that when this D started at USD, her older sister’s grant at another university went way up. (two kids in college causes your EFC to drop) so at least some schools will adjust grants upward if your situation changes. It might be worth a phone call to the financial aid office to ask.</p>
<p>Thanks saltlakemom. It’s helpful to hear how it pans out from someone already in college for sophomore year. I assume your D is very happy with her choice of USD.</p>
<p>Thank you MidwstMom.</p>