<p>"I find it odd that people ^^^ can feel so negatively about paying for a top-notch education. "</p>
<p>Well this may be news to you, but not everyone can afford 220K for their kids college.</p>
<p>It’s simple math. Our choices are basically tuition-free at our large state universities (MSU and UMich) due to in-state tuition and very good merit scholarships or a FA package from RHIT that would require our family to pay (read: borrow) $20,000+ per year. Michigan is a top-notch engineering school; therefore, it’s a no-brainer for us. We are extremely thankful our son will be getting a top-notch education for a bargain.</p>
<p>My son received the same financial aid offer several others have mentioned here–$17K scholarship, $5K grant, etc. No doubt Rose-Hulman is a great school, but in spite of our savings, we can’t swing the balance either unless we and/or our son shoulder some very big debt. He’s going with University of Delaware, where he was offered a generous full ride–tuition and fees, room and board, books and enrichment stipend! Any future chemical engineering majors without unlimited resources might want to put UD on your short list, as it is considered a “public Ivy,” ranks in the top 10 nationally for this particular major, and offers the possibility of significant merit scholarships for strong, well-rounded applicants. Of course, my son was also swayed by the fact that unlike at Rose-Hulman, he will actually be outnumbered by girls at UD. :)</p>
<p>ok, last friday I called Financial aid office because my son hadnt recieved his letter yet. The lady that answered the ph said it had been mailed out over a week ago & went to ask could she give the info out over the ph. Now I told her not to worry about it 7 just send another one or could they email to address in his files, that way it wouldnt be any conflict of interest. Anyway she comes back & proceeds to tell me what his package consisted of. He had a pretty nice scholarship, but it still left around $19000+ to come up with. I aske her about the other scholarships he had applied for with the school & she said he DID NOT GET THEM. So we end the conv with if you havent recieved the package by tuesday call back to have another sent out. I called to today…This time I was told his package had been held because he was being consider for other scholarships and that he had recieved one of them for $8000 & his letter had been mailed out today. So with a little excitement building I asked the right question…Did it change his package as far as his other scholarship they had given him? She said she couldnt see what it had been but could tell me what it was now…They had reduced the other by $8000, so we are still in the same place even thou he went thru the process of applying for the extra aid & got it. Now I now colleges practice such methods, but the mess up here is that at I probably should never have been told about it in the first ph call. Also I dont think its fair that the students apply for whats considered additional aid & it reduce what they supposely earned to start with. My son & I also remember during our visit that we were told they never reduce the aid given if they earned additional…Comments, What should we do? I believe I will call tommorow to get a explaination.</p>
<p>Sorry about the confusion you ended up having, LNBOOGIE. To clarify, RHIT only stacks outside scholarships. Rose-Hulman scholarships (named or unnamed) all come from the same pool of money. Some students receive the added prestige of a named scholarship. Others don’t.</p>
<p>Where the confusion from your visit seems to have come in is where we discuss outside scholarships: those from businesses, foundations, and other non-Rose-Hulman organizations. What many colleges also do is reduce their scholarship offer by the amount received in an outside scholarship. So even applying for outside scholarships creates a “zero benefit”. Rose-Hulman will not do this. We will stack and stack and stack as many of those as possible. We are able to because they all come from separate funding sources.</p>
<p>That doesn’t take the sting away that was caused by the confusion, but that seems to be the root cause of the situation. I hope that helps give you a better understanding of the situation.</p>
<p>Now you just need to make sure your son is getting an internship or co-op each year. Students will earn $4-6K in an internship and $8-12K in a six month co-op (longer the co-op term, the more money earned). Over 80% of companies provide housing stipends on top of the salary so your son could “bank” all that salary with the intention of taking on a greater ownership stake in his next year.</p>
<p>Other parts of that 19K left over include $2500 for the laptop: a charge that is only incurred the freshman year (so years 2-4 won’t have that charge) as well as $1500 for spending money. Spending money is not a billed charge, meaning you do NOT have to incur this cost. There are PLENTY of things to do on or off campus that don’t cost money–let alone $500 every three months. If your son is smart with his social activities, he could cut another $1500 out of the cost. All of a sudden, Year 1 looks like 19K for mom and dad to cover, but Years 2-4 become much, MUCH less.</p>
<p>Financial aid HAS to put a package together that covers every conceivable cost. As shown, the end cost for Mom and Dad should not come to the amount given on the award letter, if you do things right.</p>
<p>If all that is clear as mud, feel free to call or PM me.</p>
<p>Jared Goulding
Assistant Director of Admissions
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology</p>