<p>I was told by a admission person at olaf in a recent visit that olaf requires the css profile completed when applying ED. I was further told that the output of the css profile is very similar to the output of the FAFSA come beginning of the year. </p>
<p>I am very new to the search process (I am a parent), and wondered whether financial status of the family, and the familiy's ability to pay for college, plays a role in college's acceptance decision process or not.</p>
<p>If you are new to the mysteries of the college financial aid process, here are two key words to look for:
1) Need-based aid - means only what you are determined to need in the complex calculus using the info gathered in CSS, FAFSA, etc.
2) Need-blind admission - means that admissions are made without regard to need for financial aid. </p>
<p>Here is a quote from what the St Olaf website for the Financial Aid office, which seems to be current. Note that there is some evidence from old student newspaper articles that they looked at moving away from need-blind admissions. Check with admissions to ensure they remain need blind. </p>
<p>Need-Based Financial Aid
Determining Need</p>
<p>*St. Olaf is a need-blind institution, which means that a student's ability or inability to pay the full cost of an education has no impact whatsoever on his or her chance of admission. At the same time, St. Olaf guarantees to meet full demonstrated financial need of every student.</p>
<p>Need at St. Olaf is the difference between the cost of one year at St. Olaf and the amount we believe you and your family can contribute to your education. We determine how much you and your family can contribute by assessing the information you submit on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) and the CSS Profile.</p>
<p>Your parents' financial situation and the amount you and your parents would be expected to contribute to your education are reviewed annually. The size of your family and the number of family members in college are also factors in the calculation. Your family's contribution is not necessarily expected to come from monthly cash flow. For many families, contributions are financed over time.</p>
<p>After we have determined your level of financial need, we will provide a financial aid package that might include all or some of the following forms of aid: gift assistance (scholarships and grants), loans and student work on campus.
*</p>
<p>We were judged to have "slight" need at St. Olaf and other schools. My D received merit and music scholarship offers from St. Olaf, which eliminated that "need". St. Olaf was the only school that offered her a work-study option. They also offered us another loan, apart from the usual federal ones. </p>
<p>Ultimately, she chose to go to another school which gave her more merit.</p>
<p>However, I don't think her need or lack of it had anything to do with her admission, other than they tried to make St. Olaf attractive to us despite the high price tag. Our experience here and elsewhere (she is our 3rd and last kid to go to college, so we've been down this road a few times) is that the admissions department doesn't receive the financial info -- that goes to the financial aid office. And those two sides might talk a bit, but only so that the financial aid department can be working on packages for students who are actually getting admitted, rather than wasting time on students who are getting rejected. And so the financial aid department is aware of any merit money being offered, which of course, affects the level of need.</p>
<p>The downside of the early Profile at St. Olaf was that we had to file an amendment later on, but that was easy enough. </p>
<p>One thing parents tend to lose sight of is that when determining need, schools aren't looking at what you have right now as much as they are looking at your ability to take out loans, etc. Similar to buying a house -- the bank doesn't look at if you can afford to pay cash this week for the house you want -- They look at how your income can support this level of debt over time. Many parents wrongly assume "need" is cost of college minus savings, and therefore are shocked at what they are expected to pay.</p>
<p>While St. Olaf is not inexpensive, they are FAR from charging in the top bracket, with total costs of around $40,000 a year. Many of the comparable Liberal Arts Colleges have cranked their posted rates up as high as $46,000 to $48,000 - so by comparison, St. Olaf can seem a relative bargain. Plus, they are willing to give some level of Merit-based aid, which the most selective LACs (Amherst, Williams, Vassar, Carleton) will not offer. Note also that Carleton, just across town, has an annual total cost of about $45,000.
But however you look at it, it is still a lot of money. </p>
<h2>Here are their charges for 2007-2008: </h2>
<p>St. Olaf College - 20072008 academic year
Comprehensive Fee:</p>
<pre><code>Tuition: $30,600
Room and board: $7,900
Total: $38,500
</code></pre>
<p>Estimated Expenses:</p>
<pre><code>Books: $900
Personal Expenses: $850
Estimated Total: $40,250
</code></pre>