<p>I received an excellent offer of financial aid at Pomona. However, I'm somewhat concerned about reviews of the school's FA I've found online.</p>
<p>My main concern is that Pomona provides a strong initial offer of financial aid to lure in students and then subsequently cuts increasingly more of that aid each academic year. This is substantiated by this review and by the comments posted in response.</p>
<p>Too</a> good to be true? - Pomona College - Epinions.com</p>
<p>(Yes, I do realize that it was written ten years ago...) If anyone could confirm that this is not the case (or otherwise) it would be immensely appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>One thing that might be counted as evidence against this happening presently is the fact that Pomona no longer offers loans, only grants. Now, there’s still the possibility of them simply reducing the amount of grants received each year, but the cited article cannot really point to whether or not this would happen. Hopefully a current student will reply with more info on that (I’m a prospective too).</p>
<p>I have no inside knowledge as to the operations of Pomona financial aid. However as the one who pays the Pomona bills the amount of financial aid given to my son went up from the freshman to sophmore year. You have to use your assets to pay the bill in year one therefore you have less assets in year two all other things being equal. Also the fees go up each year. As an aside the letter we recieved about the fees for next year from President Oxtoby said the fee increase for 2010-2011 was the smallest increase in 45 years, if I remember correctly. If the assets of your family go up due to something such as an income increase, don’t I wish, of course you should expect to pay more. My wife was in a group meeting a year ago with the then head of financial aid and she said they were very accomodating. She also said a group of parents were there who were demanding more aid. They did not want to listen to the reason behing the amount they were given. They were not successful. Like most things in life when you want something it is probably best to be nice to the people in a position to help you and not just yell at them.</p>
<p>If Pomona habitually undercut aid in subsequent years, I would guess their retention and graduation rates would fall. As it is, I recall reading that they are very high.</p>
<p>I have nothing but good things to say about the Pomona FA office. Both of my children are at Pomona, and every year the FA office has carefully reviewed our financial aid needs and has upped the awards. I would not worry if I were you. They are fair and square, and very easy to deal with.</p>
<p>The you review you cited is 10 years old. As a Pomona senior who has been more than satisfied with her financial aid these past four years - and has seen plenty of frank discussions of financial aid among other students here - this review stands as an anomaly. I got much more aid here as a freshman than at other schools to which I was admitted, and the amount of my grant only rose every year. Plus they eliminated loans. From my experience and that of those I have known here, the worry you present does not play out in reality here.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses! It’s good to see that these concerns were unfounded.</p>