Hey everyone! I received a likely letter in mid February and now another one containing an estimate of my financial aid award. I have a question: “Family contribution” is divided into “Parent contribution”, “Student contribution” and “Student assets”. My student contribution says “0”, so I´m a little bit confused because I thought everyone on financial aid had to contribute with something over the summer. Of course there is also the term-time job (which is $2850) but that´s a separate thing and does not count as “student contribution”, right? Thanks in advance!
That contribution is usually for living expenses, books, etc. If it says zero, they don’t expect you to earn anything over the summer but do expect you to work the school year. Of course you will probably work. Getting ready for college is an expensive proposition. The student contribution rarely goes to Yale directly. The parents pay their contribution (through whatever means they use: 10 month payment plan, 2 payments, lump sum, etc) and the school adds in their aid. Remember, Yale does not require students to take out any loans and you will graduate loan free.
In the end, if you have any questions, either you or your parents should call the Financial Aid Office. They will clearly explain everything to you for your individual situation.
Welcome to Yale!! Boola Boola!!!
Oh, great. Thanks! One more thing: if another university offers me more aid than Yale does, how could I appeal to the financial aid office? Do I simply send them an email stating which university beats their offer and for how much? Yale is definitely my first choice, but not if it ends up being more expensive for my family…
(sorry if my questions are kind of basic and obvious, I´m international and my parents have no idea about any of this).
@123whatever, as I understand it, if the other university offering a better financial aid package is a peer institution (eg, HPMS), It might help you in asking for a reconsideration.
My son got into Stanford with significantly more financial aid—enough more that if Yale doesn’t increase its (already good) offer, he will choose Stanford. Does anyone have experience negotiating aid with Yale and any information on how much more aid they might grant? Do they typically match a peer institution’s offer?
Yes, Yale will reevaluate a student’s financial aid if a peer institution, such as Stanford, has offered more money. Be prepared to fax Stanford’s FA letter to Yale and keep in mind that Yale will usually only reevaluate the parent contribution portion of the FA package as they firmly believe all student’s on FA should contribute to their education. In addition, you should ask for Yale to give you a “side letter” stating that if the family’s income remains the same, the student will receive the same percentage of aid in their sophomore, junior and senior years. Without a side letter, your student will receive the same percentage of aid that the FA office originally offered.
@gibby Thanks—that “side letter” is a really important point! We’re still waiting to hear from two Ivys, but after that we’ll ask Yale if they can reevaluate our aid. Fingers crossed!
Gibby - just for clarification, Stanford is not bound to need only financial aid as is Yale and the other Ivy’s. It would seem that there is little justification for Yale not to match Harvard or Princeton but that may not be the case with Stanford. Another reason for a divergent award is that Yale counts home equity in their formula but some peer schools do not. If you live in an expensive paid off home Yale may come in with a lower FA award than the others which they should stand by but may not.
Very interesting, @YaleGradandDad. We’ll see what happens—it’ll be interesting if my son gets into the other Ivys and their awards are similar to Yale’s.
As I have stated on other threads, I sent in an appeal of my D’s financial aid package and got a significant reduction when I provided information on my current financial situation. You must remember that the original financial aid award is based upon a tax return(s) that may be up to two years old. Financial situations change. In our instance, my DH retired and though the tax return we sent in didn’t reflect that, our current financial situation did. Nothing beats a failure but a try. Though since it is the parents contribution that will be affected, they really should be the ones making the argument and can probably make a much better one than a student can.
Good luck.
^^ I agree. Parents should be ones calling the financial aid office – not students – and asking for a reevaluation.
Thanks, @Tperry1982 and @gibby. We’ll see what happens after my son hears from his remaining schools tomorrow.