<p>How are the financial aid packages at nova? it seems that there are very few merit scholarships too. Can any comment on the overall package they received compared to other schools? is the financial aid NYU-level terrible??</p>
<p>Nova has been known for being somewhat stingy but a lot of people here have received good financial packages. I don’t know anything about NYU but the package is similar to other top catholic schools, BC, HC, Fordham and Gtown…a lot of the schools offer need based-i believe Holy Cross is 90% need based. Villanova I think is 80-85% need based.</p>
<p>My D received substantial merit scholarships from every school that she applied to, except for Villanova. We do not qualify for financial aid, and the majority of their merit scholarships are need based. She was accepted EA in December, but did not find out the results of her aid until the end of March. Four months is a very long time to wait to find out that she received no scholarship.</p>
<p>She is attending her first choice school, with a nice true merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Our family has been very satisfied with the FA packages from Villanova the past 2 years. My son was not awarded a merit scholarship either year. We now have just one in college, are solidly middle-class and one parent is self-employed.</p>
<p>Freshman year, the gap between the Villanova FA award and our FAFSA EFC was less than $3000. The FA award included $5500 in subsidized Stafford loans, work study and $20,000+ in Villanova Grant. Sophomore year, there was no gap and FA included $4500 in subsidized Stafford loans, $2000 unsubsidized loans, work study and Villanova grants; the total package did not gap us at all.</p>
<p>We were very pleasantly surprised that the need-based FA both years met all need.</p>