<p>Excluding major life changes (job loss, additional child in college, etc.), does a family's EFC increase a bit each year and the college's aid to the student stay the same or decrease?
Merit aid, so long as the student meets the requirement (i.e. certain GPA, service, etc.) will not go down, correct?
However, if you are relying on financial aid then you really cannot be sure that you will get the same amount from year to year even if your salary stays about the same or increases just a bit, is that correct?</p>
<p>Are there ever circumstances where colleges get someone in the door freshman year and then substantially reduce financial aid the following year(s) even if a student's/parent's income has not gone up?</p>
<p>We've been told to put merit aid offers first as financial aid offers may well change from year to year, and I am wondering if anyone has experienced this unfortunate and unexpected change.</p>
<p>EFC is an index. If inputs don’t change, neither will the EFC. However, I think you’re asking if the bottom line (what you pay OOP each year) will change. It probably will, and I would have to say it will rarely change in your favor if there are no changes in family circumstances.</p>
<p>For instance, a merit award in the amount of X dollars is likely to be static. Tuition and other directly billed expenses will increase slightly each year, leaving a slightly larger amount to pay. This may be offset by the increase in available direct loans. A student whose scholarship is a percentage of tuition may see less increase. </p>
<p>Many schools that list a student contribution will raise that amount annually. </p>
<p>I suppose there are schools that reduce aid following freshman year, hopefully jot many. </p>
<p>CoA will likely to increase every year though. Some schools like UIUC would lock the tuition for 4 years, but other expenses will still increase. In addition, many schools have higher tuition rate for advanced students too. On the other hand, there are also major/program/department specific scholarships that are available to sophomore or higher after they declared a major.</p>
<p>I don’t know if there is any statistical study out there that can tell you if that is a generality that holds up over all.</p>
<p>Many school do expect the student to contribute more towards his/her own costs and would set aid formulas up that way. That often includes some of the most generous schools. Also costs for upper class housing tends to be higher than that for freshmen as many of the units are suites and apartment style arrangements. If a student an take a lesser food plan and make meals themselves more cheaply that could offset some of the costs. If a school has inexpensive off campus housing easily available, that can also affect costs the other way. But tuition and housing as supplied by the schools tend to go up each year as does tuition/fees. </p>
<p>Also, the formulas can change. There were changes in some of the protection allowances in the FAFSA formula itself that meant some got lower and higher EFCs depending on individual circumstances even with all things being equal. </p>