Financial aid matching

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

This is pretty long, but here goes:
I applied and was admitted to three Ivy League schools and Stanford. I determined that Yale was the best fit for me, however its financial aid offer was not quite satisfactory. My family initially requested a review from all of the schools because none had taken into account a change in family circumstances. This review was approved everywhere, but Yale’s expected family contribution was still higher than the other schools.

My dad approached Yale about reconsidering their award “in light of offers from other Ivies,” (we were careful not to use the word “match”) and faxed the better financial aid awards. Yale refused to “match” any of these other offers, and stated that their expected family contribution would not go down no matter how many Ivy League financial aid letters we provided. It’s worth noting that my dad was unable to speak to the main director of financial aid, and instead met with whichever representative was available.

Yale’s response did not align with the CC posts I had read about Yale “matching” other schools’ offers. It also did not align with the main director’s language in an article posted only last December: http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2016/11/11/how-generous-is-generous-enough/.

My family was willing to pay the difference, and I will be enrolling at Yale next year. I doubt anything’s negotiable anymore, especially since I have already accepted Yale’s offer. However, my frustration and confusion have grown in the past few weeks. I’m not sure where we went wrong; Yale had seemed willing to match other Ivy League offers for students in previous years. I’m beginning to question my choice of choosing based on fit in spite of a difference of thousands in my family’s contribution. I’ve even begun to wonder if I should attempt to transfer during my freshman year.

Does anybody have an idea as to why Yale refused to match other Ivy offers? I don’t know what to do; I doubt it’s appropriate to contact the office about it, but I’m not sure if I made the right decision, to be honest.

2

I have nothing to offer in terms of understanding the FA, but each school is different. If you were my son or daughter, I’d advise you to focus on the fit that you initially felt. Appararently your family is supportive of your choice, so they must feel that it’s right.

I can’t advise on FA strategy; I really know nothing. But I can stress that fit matters tremendously.

Don’t let the FA tail wag the education dog.

Enjoy Yale!

3

Unlike some other ivy league schools, Yale INCLUDES home equity in their financial aid calculation, so often times Yale will be more expensive than a school like Harvard, which ignores home equity. Unfortunately, Yale cannot exclude home equity for one student, and not do it for the rest of the student body. Without knowing your family’s situation, that would be my guess as to why Yale couldn’t match another college’s offer. See: https://www.forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2015/07/31/forbes-best-colleges-the-secret-to-financial-aid-is-in-your-house/#c5ff4bc5fb33

But, as @IxnayBob suggested, don’t let the FA tail wag the education dog. Enjoy Yale!

4

Interestingly enough, for me at least, Yale was the cheapest out of the schools I got accepted to, 3 ish years ago. I didn’t get into Harvard, so I don’t know what I would have gotten, but compared to the finaid offers from the 6 other “Ivy leagues”, Yale was by far the cheapest.

Don’t regret this decision though - your parents are wonderful for supporting you, so take their support - work hard and do well. Make them proud. That will make it all worth it.