We have received a number of financial aid offers. For next year, I have two kids in college. That will be the case for two years and then I will only have one in college for two years. Has anyone ever asked a college what the award would have been if we had had only one kid in college? I guess I can use the net price calculator, but would prefer something more exact. If every year considered totally independent of previous years?
Thanks for any input. I imagine I’ll call some colleges but thought I’d check with people here first.
It can be hard to get a straight answer because if it One Child the first year, then the school could be trying to get the child to enroll, so a better pkg. Changing to One Child junior year can mean that the school has no incentive to give a better pkg because the student is already there.
I think trying the NPC is the best bet.
Was any aid federal grant aid?
My son is considering 3 colleges at this point. One college is giving merit aid+fed loan, one college is giving need based aid+fed loan. The third college we hear from Thursday and will probably be need based+fed loan.
The merit aid shouldn’t change if you have more than one in. The need based aid probably would, but it is hard to know how much. If you used the NPC for this year and it was fairly accurate for the package you got, try it with two in college and see what you get. If the NPC was not accurate, I don’t think there is much you can do to estimate it. Your federal EFC will likely be half, but that doesn’t get you much if it was over $10k this year.
You need to contact each financial aid office to ask about their policies. I assume these are private schools. We found variances between schools. Some basically guarantee that what you get in year 1 is what you’ll get the next 3 years - others will decrease aid for fewer in school but not increase aid for more in school - still others will not decrease aid for fewer in school but might increase for more in school - you get the picture.
S turned down a school because they wouldn’t put in writing that his grant would not decrease after his sister left school - they “said” it wouldn’t, but we couldn’t take the chance. D got a HUGE boost in her aid when her brother started school. It just all depends on the school.
You mentioned “financial aid offers” which, to me, sound like need based pkgs. Is any of the aid strictly merit? If so, then that shouldn’t change. If it’s all need based, then… ???
Is this a school that promises to meet need?
Another concern can be if the aid your child is receiving is due to being below a certain EFC. Some schools will give FSEOG grants to a 0 EFC student, but not one whose EFC is higher.
As mentioned, I think some schools are stricter about it. I have two in, and one just wants you to let them know if there is a sibling in college at the same time while the other one requires a signed form from the sibling’s registrar, mailed back by the registrar indicating the sibling is actually enrolled. This form has to be filled out at the beginning of fall semester every year.
I always try to generalize questions, but sometimes I think it helps when I put some specifics. The schools in questions are:
- University of Michigan - Offering around $10K in need-based aid
- Case Western - Offering about $30K in merit aid
- Cornell (if admitted. Applied to a few other Ivys as well) - Guessing about $30K in need-based aid
I’m trying to better understand 1 and 3, where the aid may get cut in half for two years. At these numbers, we’re still talking about paying, on average for the 4 years, between $30K and $50K.
I think Case will stay the same since it is merit. Michigan is hard to judge because it is public and aid is hard to get. Cornell I think will increase when you have two in.
My opinion, which means nothing when you are paying the bill.
UM need based aid will vary by year - I would bet on that. They do meet need - but if need is decreased, then so are the awards. Cornell may be different, since it is a private school. You may want to post on the Cornell forum to see what people say. I know a young man who thought their aid policies were terribly unfair, and he has no good things to say … but that is only one of thousands, so posting on their forum may be helpful.
I have read good and bad things about Cornell aid. I’ll be finding out if he gets in and the package soon enough, so trying not to even worry about that yet. I still find it unbelievable that the timing of the kids in college affects how much you pay. My kid is considering a gap year. That means one less year of being in school together with the sibling, which in turns means money out of my pocket.
Maybe offer him an internship or travel as a junior when it will not matter.
Are you in New York? Have you applied for state aid?
I do live in NY but my son did not get into Cornell. So now he’s deciding between a few choices:
- UMich - Average cost will be about $51K (taken into consideration getting less need based aid when 1 in college)
- Case Western - Cost will be about $31K
There are some other options:
3) University of Virginia - similar cost to Michigan and he like Michigan better.
4) University of Miami - $28K
Case and Miami are merit awards.
He likes UMich best. However, I do find it hard to justify the cost difference.
Anyone have any experience negotiating with UMich?
@privateID Are you aware that UMich’s cost increases a good bit when the student reaches “junior status” of 55 credits (even when counting AP credits, so it could be by sophomore year)? How many AP credits will your son have?
Is your son an eng’g major? If so, the tuition is higher for that as well, I believe.
OOS tuition alone for eng’g is
44k up to 55 credits (including AP)
51k 56 credits or more
Then add $15k-17k for room, board, books, fees, etc. I had no idea UMich was now this expensive OOS. Seems like they’re jacking up OOS costs to help fund other’s FA.
No, I wasn’t aware. Thanks. Just looked that up. Appears to be another $3K per year. That brings the average cost to $52.5K for UMich. I did plan alot for college (saved enough for $30K for each of my 3 children. I figure a Stafford loan will be part of the process if we choose Michigan. I’ll need to figure out the rest (hopeful can negotiate a bit with UMich).
My son is potentially coming in with many AP credits (had 3 5’s last year and is taking another 4 AP classes this year). In fact, he is considering doing a gap year (he will take classes and volunteer) where he could get even more credit.
I shouldn’t think that this would be hard to understand as far as need-based aid is concerned. More kids in school at one time = higher college expenses = more need. Less kids in school at one time = lower college expenses = less need.
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he is considering doing a gap year (he will take classes and volunteer) whe
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What??? He can’t take classes while on a gap year. That ruins his incoming freshman status. He’d have to reapply as a transfer, and likely would get no aid.
Is your son an eng’g major or is he premed? His earlier interest in JHU suggests one or the other.
I’ve done this before with my older child. They defer a year from college. No need to reapply. Of course, the school needs to agree. This is not just taking a year off. It’s a leadership program where they take classes and volunteer. You are correct that aid would get recalculated. For now, I’m assuming any package would be similar. That may not be a good assumption. The gap year is just a thought right now. If it doesn’t work out, he’ll live.
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had 3 5’s last year and is taking another 4 AP c
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Depending on if those are science APs or whatever, your son could be coming in with 40+ credits. My kids both had 7 APs and they came in with 45 credits. If your son comes in with 40+, he’ll hit 55 credits by second semester of freshman year.
Maybe part of this equation is that he finishes school in 3 years. He got a 5 in CALC BC and others.
At this point, I’m trying to figure out if Michigan is willing to negotiate and what’s the best way to proceed to do that.