I have two kids attending the same top-ranked private university (different years). They both have need-based financial aids, however, my older kid has large amount of aid money, more than twice of my younger one’s. Is this supposed to be right? Should they receive similar amounts of aids? It will be more helpful to me if my younger one’s aids can be increased some. I don’t understand the methods the university used to decide their financial aids. I will love to know other family’s experience on this and appreciate any advice.
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Is the financial aid need based or merit based? It sounds like maybe your older child has merit aid (maybe the younger one does, too, just not as much). If not, it’s possible that the earnings and assets of your younger child are greater than those of your older child, meaning that the younger would qualify for less need based aid. It’s also possible that the school had a particular financial aid model in place with your older child, with the promise that it wouldn’t change for that group of students … but newer students might not benefit from that particular aid policy.
Will depend on the school - some are more generous than others both need and merit.
It also will depend on the sticker price of the school.
Edit - I missed the “same” school. Sorry.
Does one have merit?
Thank you very much for your input. It makes sense. However, both of my children are dependent students, they do not have their own incomes and personal assets. My job income and home value increased some, but not significantly. Before my younger child started the college, my older one used to have a similar number of aids as my younger one has now. It looks like the so-called sibling discount has all gone to my older kid. Is this still possible right?
It is worth a call to the financial aid office. There is a possibility the college does it this way so when the older one graduates the younger one stays about the same amount as you have been paying for them.
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I agree - call the financial aid office. It’s always best to get your answers directly from the source.
Does this college guarantee to meet full need for all students? Also, are you an international student?
Yes, it does. No, we are US citizens.
Did you check the financial aid forms you submitted for each student to make sure there isn’t an error on the one who is receiving less aid? Or the other one? IOW, are the figures the same. Is it possible you added an extra zero someplace…or made some other error?
Did you have an IRA/TSA rollover that was correctly noted on one form and not the other?
Contact the college financial aid office and inquire…and do it ASAP. You should have noticed this difference when both students received their financial aid awards. It’s possible an error was made on the other end.
Thank you so much! I noticed the difference and have been inquiring about it. What I was told is the profile we submitted for the younger child is stronger than the older one’s submitted three years earlier. I have not noticed any error in the forms we submitted. Our home value, mortgage amount, retirement account did change some, but are not that significant to convince me that one child’s financial condition is far stronger than the other. I am so frustrated and don’t know what I can do to make them redistribute the aid between my two children. My older one does not need that much aid he has, and my younger one definitely need more help financially.
Is your older child still attending the same college?
I’m a little confused. Are you saying your older kid submitted a Profile three years ago and never has needed to update it?
The equity in your primary residence has increased. The amount you are contributing to tax deferred retirement accounts is added back in as income so if that has increased, that would add more to your costs. Your mortgage amount doesn’t matter…it’s the equity in your home.
But really…could you explain how your first kid has never needed to update his Profile?
You have your first kid’s Profile. Are the numbers on it the same? If not, that’s part of the issue you are seeing.
Yes
And has the older child ever updated their Profile?
Yes, the CSS profile only need be submitted once in the year when my kid applied for the college. The FAFSA need be submitted every year, however, I don’t think FAFSA asks about home equity and retirement account.
The FAFSA DOES ask about the contributions you make annually to your retirement accounts. Not the balances IN them.
Are these actual retirement accounts like TSA or IRA or 401K? Or are they just accounts you have designated for retirement.
Any chance you are self employed?
Why can’t you just adjust the amount the family is paying for Kid 1 to reflect less need- and direct it to Kid 2 who is getting less aid? What am I missing?
If one child cannot use all the aid awarded to him, the university took away the remaining amount.
What does this mean? Did your kid have aid that exceeded the cost of attendance?
My older one can graduate early. He has a few classes left, which will not make him a full-time student unless he is taking classes to explore new interest or add a minor.