<p>How is Vassar with financial aid? Some liberal arts schools are known for having a very small middle-class population...giving ample assistance to lower classes and having a large population of upper class individuals that can pay without aid. Does any one have comments on assistance for an upper middle class family? </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman this year at Vassar, and from what I can see, Vassar works straight off of the FAFSA determination of what the family can afford to contribute towards college expenses. Based on our FAFSA filing, we were supposed to be able to afford $X for Vassar, and the difference between $x and the full cost of tuition, room and board, fees, etc. was met by a combination of a Vassar scholarship, non-subsidized student loan and student employment (work study). Note that the College went to a "need-blind" acceptance system this year.</p>
<p>The FAFSA is somewhat painful to fill out, and I wonder how people who aren't used to government forms cope with the complexity. In our case the amount that FAFSA determined we would be able to pay towards Vassar expenses was more than we could comfortably handle, which happens when people have a lot of debt (not relevant to FAFSA). We happen to have another daughter in college, and this is highly relevant for FAFSA purposes. The bottom line is that we have to make do with the burden, but I certainly feel that Vassar "filled in" the gap based on the determined need under FAFSA and gave us an attractive package. We are an upper middle class family and would probably not qualify for financial aid, other than the fact that we have 2 daughters in college at the same time!</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Many of my friends from "Upper-middle class families" and I will here define this as families in which one or both parents are professionals with graduate degrees but for whom 1/5 of a million dollars for a school is just not a reality . . . received generous financial aid packages BUT you will most certainly also be dealing with between 10-25gs of debt when you graduate.</p>
<p>My daughter is a Junior at VC this year and it has only been possible because of the generous financial aid we have recieved. I don't want to mis-lead anyone... it's still very expensive, but at least it's possible. As a senior in HS she applied at 9 schools and was accepted at 8. At all 8 we filled out the finaincial aid forms and were sent offers. Vassar's was the most by dollar amount, and was about the same as one other school percentage wise. No other schools were close. That being said, if she had not wanted to go to VC, the offer wouldn't have mattered... the school still must be a good fit. In that respect, the only school that was as high on her list as Vassar, was the only school that didn't accept her, so it was an easy decision. </p>
<p>One thing that has been very good about the financial aid, is that it has increased each year by basically the same amount that tuition has increased, so that our net cost has stayed stable! There are a number of Universities who have the reputation of giving good first year offers and having them drop in subsequent years, so that is very important to research!</p>
<p>Beyond the finaid issue, I'd like to say what a wonderfull experience her college years have been so far. VC isn't for everyone; no place is, but for her, we couldn't have asked for a better experience. She's been involved as a class officer, on one of the college teams, and is now doing her JYA (Junior Year Abroad). She's made wonderful friends (who love coming to visit on spring break as we live in CA) and has shown incredible growth and confidence that I just don't think would have been as forthcoming if she stayed near home. Anyway, could me as one who thinks the world of VC!</p>
<p>Oh... to complete the picture... although the vast majority of the finaid is by way of a Vassar Scholarship, my daugher also does work study and will leave VC with about $10-12K in loans.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman at VC this year and I have to say that the college was very generous with financial aid. </p>
<p>The package she was given included Perkins loan, Stafford loan and workstudy. The family contribution was on target with the EFC calcuations. The remainder was made up in "Vassar scholarship". This made her attendance at VC possible. </p>
<p>Our only concern is that the amount of aid does not change significantly in subsequent years. We do have a S in college at this time and we realize that once he graduates the VC will recalculated the EFC. </p>
<p>Every applicant has a different financial situation is different but this has been our experience and we very happy that she can attend VC.</p>