Ok so I have received financial aid information from two colleges so far. One had a total cost approximately 20k greater than my EFC while the other one had a total cost approximately 10k greater than my EFC. Guess how much aid they each awarded me… 0. Are schools really this greedy with their aid money? The first one was an OOS state school, so I figured that could be it, but now my own state school just shafted me.
Why could this be? Also, could the fact that my FAFSA is just filled out with estimates affect it? Thanks
It is not greed and they are not shafting you, they just don’t have aid to give. MOST schools do not meet 100% of your need and many do not meet need at all beyond the federal Pell grant or state need based aid. If you don’t qualify for Pell grants (EFC above ~$5400), you don’t get any need based aid. You aren’t unlucky, you aren’t being treated any different than any other applicant.
Neither of my kids got any the first year even though their EFCs were $7000 and $30k less than the COA.
Did you run the net price calculators on each school’s website before applying? Your FAFSA EFC means little, it is mostly just for figuring out if you are eligible for federal aid like Pell grants. It is a mistake to think that the EFC is what you will actually pay for college.
A lot of state colleges don’t give very good financial aid to their own in-state students, and only a very small number give any to OOS students. Do you have an affordable safety?
My own state school is about as cheap as I could get. SLU gave me a bunch of scholarship, so that’s an option too, I wasn’t expecting anyone to meet EFC fully, but I guess I just can’t wrap my head around how they can go:
Total Cost: 40k
EFC: 20k
Aid Awarded: 0
Also @twoinanddone that is horrible. So I guess I’ll be going into debt with everyone else then, I’ll start prepping my bankruptcy paperwork.
You are reading it backwards. The EFC is the amount you are expected to pay. The MINIMUM you are expected to pay. So when you say you weren’t ‘expecting anyone to meet the EFC’ that is backward. YOU (and your family) meet the EFC.
If your EFC was $0, and the COA at the school was still $40k, you’d receive ~$6000 as a Pell grant, and the school might (but might not) give you some need based aid. It is likely you’d still have $20k or more of unmet need from a public school. Very few public schools meet the need of their students, and it’s not because of greed or the forms being filled out wrong, it’s just that that schools don’t have money to give.
If you have merit awards at other schools, consider them carefully.
Unless your parents are willing to borrow large amounts, you will not be able to.
You can only borrow 5500 which is probably already in your aid pkg.
forget bankruptcy…student loans aren’t dischargeable in bankruptcy.
I’m a little shocked by your word of “greedy”. When you don’t give your money away are you being greedy? When you don’t give away money you don’t have, are you being greedy.
How about this…is expecting a school to give YOU a lot of money greedy?
If anything, expecting a school to give you a lot of money is closer to being greedy.
Tell that to the Finns, who get free college. Something’s broken with this system.
Maybe the fault is with parents who had a baby 18 years ago and did not give any thought to the idea the child would need to go to college someday. You’ve also had the three summers during high school to save some money.
Also you will get the most accurate aid estimate from a school when your FAFSA or other FA forms reflect actual 2015 tax return information.
So the next step is getting those tax returns done and the FAFSA updated with the IRS data retrieval tool.
There are a number of schools which meet 100% of need, but many are small LAC. If money was an issue, and you had good stats (you don’t say) they may have been better options. Water under the bridge now.
Which universities have you applied to and what’s instate for you?What are your stats (GPA, test scores, AP/IB/DE classes)?
You need to get accurate numbers and complete the FAFSA as soon as possible. If the numbers are in the ballpark, then the colleges’ estimates probably aren’t far off.
From your other threads it appears that you home state is CT. Is that right? I’m sorry that your mom passed away just as you were starting high school. That must have been very difficult. The slight dip in your GPA (3.8 to 3.5) can be explained by your guidance counselor.
How old are your 2 siblings? Will they be in college when you are? Your EFC may be a little lower if you overlap. Do you have any affordable schools on your list? @mom2collegekids and @MYOS1634 can probably suggest schools where your 1310 CR + M SAT will get you some merit aid, but you may have to take a gap year. If you do, don’t take any college courses because it may make you ineligible for grants. (The best aid goes to freshmen.) How much can your dad pay per year?
Edited to add:
What is your dad saying about the packages you’ve received. Did he say they were too expensive?
Lehigh and Richmond give need based aid. I would try and get taxes done and aid forms updated as soon as possible.
Very sorry to hear that you lost your mom as freshman in high school.
From your earlier post, it sounds like your dad has been vague about how much he’ll pay. With the stresses that your family has recently endured, and the changes that have come, he may not be able to pay much which may explain his vagueness.
Unfortunately, you applied to several OOS publics that won’t give you much/any aid.
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but I guess I just can’t wrap my head around how they can go:
Total Cost: 40k
EFC: 20k
Aid Awarded: 0
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Sadly, you weren’t advised well. I wish students like you would post this FA forum long before spring of senior year. But, instead, they often post in Chances forums and similar where it’s the blind leading the blind and few ever discuss paying for college.
EFC is a federal number…nothing more. These schools are not owned or operated by the federal govt, therefore EFC means very little to them. They use it to see if you qualify for Pell grants (you don’t), work study, and loans. Many seem to think that a federal calculation somehow obligates a school to magically come up with money it doesn’t have just because the feds have created some calculation.
As for OOS publics…they charge high rates to OOS students because your family doesnt pay taxes there. Would it make a lot of sense to charge high OOS rates and then have to give you more money???
What is your weighted GPA?
What is your best Math + CR score from ONE sitting?
What is your major?
Please talk to your dad and find out how much he’ll spend each year on college. If he’s vague, then simply ask… will you pay $20k? If he says no, then ask, will you pay $15k? ask different amounts until you get a figure.
I doubt that your dad is going to cosign any loans for you to go to the school of your choice since you also have younger siblings and he’ll face the same with them.
We have almost as many high school seniors as Finland has people. It’s difficult to compare due to sheer numbers differences.
@mom2collegekids: OP’s best CR + M in one sitting was 1310. In another thread s/he said the unweighted GPA is 3.3, but the prep school adds .25 to it.
Ok, thanks everyone for chiming in.
First I’ll respond to the EFC thing. My meeting the EFC I meant meeting need, as in “You would need 20k of aid to come here if you contributed just your EFC, so here is 15”
Second, to @OspreyCV22 I could not disagree more strongly with you. Let’s pretend things didn’t get a little shaken up my freshman year and savings were still there, it still isn’t fair to ask parents (even over the course of 18 years) to save several times there annual income (especially for three kids). If you don’t think the price of a college education in America has spiraled out of control then I don’t know what to say to you. The high school job was the funniest bit. Let’s say I go to my in-state public with full pay. That’d be like 130k when it’s all said and done. Not sure how much of a dent my near-minimum wage high school job has put in that, but ok.
By the end of first semester my cumulative GPA is about a 3.58 weighted, and a 3.4something unweighted. I have a 1330 CR+M SAT, and my major will be biology.
What my dad told me is that he could contribute roughly 18k my freshman year, which would decrease as my siblings came into college as well. He is terrified of Parent Plus Loans (rightfully so) and so I’m not sure where the extra money will come from. I am very close to one of my aunts, and she’s always said she would help me with it, but I’ve never known how much she had in mind.
So there it is. I am still waiting to hear from Tulane and Lehigh who are both supposed to be generous with need-based aid, so we will see. If not, I am somewhat confident I could earn my way to merit scholarships at UCONN.
Is it fair for a student to ask his parent to pay extra for an OOS school when there is a less expensive one available in-state? If you want better funding for public Us to bring the price down then elect state officials that will do that.
@“Erin’s Dad”
Absolutely not if those parents do not have the financial means to do so without complicating their own situation. I was operating under the delusion that these OOS publics would offer me aid, which did not end up to be the case. That is not really what I am upset about, I can understand that. However, I can not understand UCONN’s decision. Considering that my parents have helped fund the operation of that school for nearly 20 years it does not seem right that they should be still on the hook for over 30k a year. And yes, I know that government is the key to solving issues like this, but most politicians seem apathetic on the issue. Those who aren’t are often labeled as socialists/communists, but that’s another issue altogether.
Anyway, just waitlisted at Tulane… so there goes that
$18k per year is very generous and it’s close to what I had in mind that parents save for their children. For a few dollars more you can afford an in state school. Your father is wise to avoid Parent Plus.
I think complaining that the cost of college is spiraling out of control and then attending a private college that costs $43,000 a year is disingenuous. Private colleges are expensive because there are many who can pay for them with little or no problem. It’s as simple as supply and demand. If you are sincere don’t feed the monster.