Follow up on Financial aid adjustments

Parents Forum
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<p>Follow up on School financial aid at Sons school</p>

<p>He was initially offered a package of
28,000 grant
3,500 in loans
2,500 in work study
14.000 EFC (this was 2K over the fafsa so not to bad)</p>

<p>Son is NMF and when he finally picked this school he sent in the commitment deposit and let National merit know it was his first choice. I was nervous as to how they would treat the scholarship since he had already committed</p>

<p>Well new package just arrived:</p>

<p>14,000 Grant
1,000 NMF scholarship school sponsored
17,500 Presidential scholarship
1,500 Workstudy
14,000 EFC</p>

<p>I was hoping it would eliminate the Work study as well as the loan. They did totally take out the loan and reduced the work study so I guess I can't complain.</p>

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<p>Looks great!!!! :)</p>

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<p>drizzit, I don't understand why the school adjusted everything. Is that how it works?</p>

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<p>Wouldn't the need based grant be better for you than the scholarship? The scholarship probably has strings attached like maintaining a certain GPA to be renewed. This may not be a problem at a school that is generous overall and meets 100% of need, but it certainly would worry me at lots of schools.</p>

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<p>I found the readjusting interesting as well Lurk. I knew that all NMF who apply here are awarded the Presidential or .5 tuition scholarship so I expected some change. I was hoping the Work study would go away as well.</p>

<p>In my wildest dreams I was hoping to cut into the EFC LOL </p>

<p>I thought about that scholarship requirement as well Suze but the requirement is 3.0 to maintain the scholarship so that seems doable.</p>

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<p>We had some differing packages at the schools my Ds are attending, and I thought scholarships were far preferrable to grants over the long haul, as I have no idea how the EFC will change with increased income. My, as well as their income will probably increase in coming years, and I'm scared of playing catch up to an ever increasing EFC over 4 years.</p>

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<p>That's a good point if you think your income will go up. I think right now in this Country more people's incomes are going down. So if your family's income is not on the rise, what's best?</p>

<p>It's just kind of interesting to me that merit aid might not be wanted if you have a low EFC. I've never thought about it before, but why would you want money with any strings compared to need based $$? There are colleges known for being most generous first year and then cutting college aid. I'd be nervous about it if the school doesn't meet 100% of need. Can you decline merit $$?</p>

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<p>Another thing to watch out for is that many schools (including those that meet 100% need) increase the amount given in loans as the student progresses through school. Stafford Loans start out with a maximum of $3500 for freshman, increases to $4500 for sophomores and junior and seniors have a maximum of $5500 -- so students that qualify usually have increasing stafford loans in their packages. Some schools also reserve Perkins Loans for juniors and seniors to replace grant money.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that work-study and loans also meet need. In addition -- some schools have a high expectation of summer earnings from students as they progress through school.</p>

<p>for my student, I would rather he get scholarships (as long as the GPA needed to keep them is reasonable) than need-based aid.</p>

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<p>Scholarship is definitely preferable. If for some reason you lose the scholarship, your EFC will kick in. Of course, they are in no way obligated to replace it with a grant, but they might, especially because the second package still includes a grant! My eldest received a need-based grant, along with a letter stating that they would meet need (by their definition) with grant all four years. And some schools also have a sliding scholarship -- one school (can't remember which) that offered my D a scholarship included info that if her GPA fell below a 3.0 but above a 2.0, then she would receive a lesser amount.</p>

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<p>Binx, I understand that they are not obligated to replace merit money with a grant, but what do you mean by this:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Of course, they are in no way obligated to replace it with a grant, but they might, especially because the second package still includes a grant!

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I think that the letter they wrote to your D about conserving some of the scholarship $ with a 2.0 or better, is interesting. I have never seen a letter like that. Did they specify the exact amount of the scholarship reduction? At least it is up front, and honest, but my guess is that if the reduction in $ shows 25,000+ difference over the following 3 years, my guess is that it scares many students away. At least it is not a mystery anymore, and spelled out in an up front way for the family.</p>

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<p>Does your school say that the "work/study" expectation can be waived, resulting in more payback required of your S following college?</p>

<p>If so, then he can choose whether he'd rather work in the hours during school, over the summers, or not work at all and just have more on his shoulders after college.</p>

<p>And...why shouldn't he work when so many others are helping him so much?</p>

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<p>northeastmom -- In the OP, the first list ("before") contains a $28,000 grant. In the second list ("after"), that amount was reduced to a $14,000 grant -- but it is still a need-based grant (I assume). What I meant was, since they are already "in the mode" to offer a grant for need, rather than a loan, then if the need should increase (which it will, if student loses his scholarship), then I'm thinking they may be predisposed to increase the grant.</p>

<p>Scholarships are often all four years depending on certain criteria. But grants tend to be need-based, and are therefore re-configured each year, based on your new income tax filing. So I would be inclined to go with the "known" scholarship, which is probably a four year deal, rather than the big grant that is need-based and can disappear if somebody changes the numbers in the formula.</p>

<p>I'm making some assumptions here - that the scholarship is 4 years, with reachable criteria. That the grant is need-based. That the school would be inclined to adjust the grant according to need, since they seem to be using the grant rather liberally. All these things require a reading of the fine print.</p>

<p>I can't remember which school offered the adjustment of the scholarship, but yes, it was a definite amount. (All the non-chosen college stuff is in a drawer in the guest room, and we have a house guest at the moment, so I can't check.) But I thought it was nice to have a second level of scholarship if the student didn't maintain the required GPA. At most schools, you just lose it.</p>

<p>Speaking of scholarships, I saw the list of schools still taking applications. I was surprised by a few on the list that said no to freshmen and transfers, but yes to financial aid and housing. What's up with that? For instance, I saw Davidson (NC) on there. Does that mean if my kid was going to Davidson, and I wasn't happy with her aid package, I could appeal and have some hope?</p>

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<p>binx, thanks for clarifying. As far as your question about Davidson, I have no idea as to what that means.</p>