<p>How much aid have you got from MHC in aggregate; could you post here?</p>
<p>well MHC students recieve more than $38,000 in average</p>
<p>I received a total award of $47,000 but that includes mount holyoke work and global international loan as well. I was kinda shocked to see the loan which is about $3500 a year . I didn't know that loans would be a part of financial aid package but here it comes and I am totally unprepared. But it seems they give loans to most of the international students. So,be prepared. My family has to contribute $2500.</p>
<p>collegegirlee you can expect that loan to increase in amount each year. This is directly from MHC's website for int'l students receiving financial aid (it also pertains to non-int'l students)...</p>
<p>Mount Holyoke College Loan
This institutionally funded loan is awarded to students demonstrating financial need and has an 8% interest rate, which accrues when repayment begins six months after graduation or when the student ceases to be enrolled at least half-time. The packaged loan amount increases approximately $1000-$2,000 each year, because the College believes students - as the chief beneficiary of their education - should assume increasingly greater responsibility for the cost of Mount Holyoke.</p>
<p>yeah I had read that before too</p>
<p>Do you happen to know what exactly Collegeboard refers to when saying:
"Average need-based loan: $2,659"</p>
<p>$3500 is already far above $2,659, and the amount will increase by $1000 to $2000 every year...</p>
<p>Perhaps not everyone receives 3500$ in loan. Depending upon need, some people might get less loans. I asked for a lot of aid so, they probably increased my loan amount.</p>
<p>which is kind of weird imo
other top schools give kids with more need less loans because the loan will be much more of a burden for a family with little income</p>
<p>loans are actually not meant to be paid by the family but by the student herself after she graduates so that she can feel responsible for her education. I think that if you have to pay at least a bit from your own pocket later on, you will feel much more motivated to do the best in college.</p>
<p>My daughter received a wonderful financial aid package from Mount Holyoke --for her first year. Before my daughter accepted MHC's offer, we asked several questions about what would happen in future years and provided detailed information about how we thought our home would appreciate, anticipated cost-of-living increases to salaries, etc. -- everything we could think of.... </p>
<p>What we were told never seemed to come into play for second year financial aid. My daughter's grant money was halved for her sophomore year. We learned of cuts of $10,000 or more in grants that happened to five other students that she knew personally -- and we assume, many more students had similar, nasty surprises. We can only assume that something bad happened to MHC's endowment.</p>
<p>We appealed in writing three times to Mt. Holyoke -- they didn't always return phone calls or keep "telephone appointments." Even after appeals, what we were told on the phone by Financial Aid officers never translated into actual numbers. Some grant money was restored after several months of persistent work -- but not enough for my daughter to return. She matriculated to her second choice school for her sophomore year -- and is receiving a decent financial aid package, but unfortunately, not the full-ride that she would have received the first time through. </p>
<p>This was not simply a case of Federal loans increasing and thereby reducing the grant portion of the aid package. The cut seemed more like a "bait-and-switch" tactic -- especially since it didn't seem like we were the only family that experience this.</p>
<p>This was our personal experience. Perhaps others had quite different experiences and continue to receive generous grants. I am not looking to debate MHC's policies -- merely passing along a warning, based on what happened to our family. It is not something I would want another young womand to go through.</p>
<p>
[quote]
loans are actually not meant to be paid by the family but by the student herself after she graduates so that she can feel responsible for her education.
[/quote]
I know, but imagine you leave school with $25K of debt, and for some reason you cannot get a job, get a chronic disease... and your family has to pay the loan back for you. If your family just makes 30K a year, 25K are a huge sum. If your family earns 70K however, the loan is manageable.
Princeton, Rice, Penn and Wellesley have such policies, and most likely some others do as well.</p>
<p>I understand, barlum, what you mean . I thought about it too but I can't miss a college just because I have to pay some loan. Hopefully, I get a good job after I graduate.</p>
<p>Shocked to hear aid policies of MHC though I continue to assume MHC as my first choice school. I hope that I'd be able to manage things but don't really know how will it's going to be and don't think I'd b able payback to MHC against the loan (huge sum at the end of graduation year, isn't it?)...don't really know what's more secret about MHC. Someone plz help me!!! Where really is MHC's decent package -- has anyone got upto full scholarship package <which doesn't="" have="" to="" be="" payback="" and="" does="" not="" include="" work-study="" thing=""> ??? </which></p>
<p>The problem must be comparatively more severe in the case of int'l students (I arbritrate).</p>
<p>Any policies, if you know about MHC, plz try posting them.</p>
<p>doubt it, they will include work-study and loan (even if a bit) just to make you feel responsible for your education.</p>
<p>I read it in a small booklet that was sent to me along with my package</p>
<p>Every student is expected to contribute to her own education. Thus, if you are on financial aid, sign up for work study, because it is pocket money, but you can use it to pay for your spring bill. Loans and work study are given to you to make you responsible for your education; it's no "secret", as you claim. It's a much nicer introduction to the real world, and the real world sucks sometimes.</p>
<p>"It's a much nicer introduction to the real world, and the real world sucks sometimes."
nicely put mtholyoke2010</p>
<p>What are the loan repayment policies of MHC? plz explain more about 8% interest rate-- Does loan include a sort of consideration in case one is unable to payback in the severe cases like insolvency or so, for eg?</p>
<p>If you're unable to pay back, your loan is defaulted, and that ruins your credit line. Nobody will ever want to let you have a credit card, mortgage, or any other loan after defaulting on a student loan.</p>
<p>Student loans are one of the few items that do not go away even in the case of filing bankruptcy.</p>