I have a questions regarding grants for financial aid at UMich. My parents have a salary that is <20,000 (7 kids, 2 in college). Michigan recently awarded me a scholarship that will cover the cost for full tuition (not including room and board). Will this have any effect on how much they will give me for grants, or do they not take scholarships into consideration? When I ran the net price calculator, it said that they will give me approximately $14,000. Will they lower it because of the scholarship, or would it be the same either way?
Are you in-state and living at home? If not living at home, and in-state they should meet your COA need based on FAFSA and on College Profile. Do your know your FAFSA expected family contribution (EFC) yet? If you are out of state, you’ll need to wait until you see your aid package and see how it’s structured. My guess is the scholarship won’t change but your entire COA need may or may not be met. If you are out of state make sure you have a financial safety as a fall back just in case you are gapped too much to attend.
@momofthreeboys I am in state. I guess my question is, do they ever give financial aid packages without work study or loans? My EFC is 0 and all I’ll need to bassically get a full ride would be about $10,000 in grant money. Will they actually give me 10k in grant, or will they give me like 8k from grants and 2k for work study?
Most likely it will be a combination of things - your scholarship, loans, work-study, Pell grant if you qualify (and if your EFC is zero you probably would) and if you still have need another scholarship or grant. Try to save as much as you can from work (now or) this summer. Work-study will give you change in your pocket, but you won’t be paid until you work and you’ll have to track the job down so you’ll need some cash for books and on-line access fees depending on your major and stuff until you get your first paycheck. I don’t have any knowledge about whether they package kids up without the federal loans. Perhaps someone else will know that.
Michigan isn’t a “no loans” university but if you are low income, the vast majority of your aid will be in the form of grants and scholarships. You’ll have a work-study job–easy money–and a subsidised loan. From past experience, you’ll get about $3000 in loans.
Michigan is not a “no loan” school, however, it is also one of the few that pledged to reduce student debts. Although we have a much higher income and my D received less than a full tuition scholarship, she has no loan in freshmen year. In the initial FA package, there was a few thousands in loan and work study, but they replaced them with grant in the end. For sophomore year, the CoA is ~$2000 more and two of the scholarships my D received were not renewable. And yet, she only see a few hundreds in loan and $2500 work study. We are still paying the EFC though. So in your case with such a low income and a full tuition scholarship, I would be surprised if you are not getting substantial amount in grant.
This cannot be correct. Are you on public assistance?
@TomSrOfBoston What is public assistance? How can it not be correct?
@TomSrOfBoston My brother receives SS - disability income but I read that it is not necessary to report it ($700 a month).
What do you guys mean it isn’t a no loans university?
I guess the real question I am trying to ask is if they ever give financial aid without work-study or loans? Like, if I get a full tuition scholarship and I only have $4,000 left to pay, will they give me $4,000 in grants. Or, will they give me $1,000 in grants and $3,000 for work-study?
It can be either way. As I said above, my D has no loan or work study in her freshmen year but just scholarships and grant, but we need to pay EFC. In your case, your EFC is 0.
AcceptableName - you are correct that SSDI needn’t be reported on the FAFSA. (SSI benefits must be reported). If your source of income is SSDI, you will receive excellent financial aid. The university has special funds for low income families.
@excanuck99 Is SSDI reported on the CSS profile?
Yes, but I wouldn’t sweat it. By definition you cannot be working and receive SSDI, so it isn’t going to affect your eligibility for financial aid.
@AcceptableName Some prestigious and well-endowed universities (HYP, uChicago, Columbia… Some others that I’m probably not aware of…) tout policies that their financial aid packages meet 100% of “demonstrated need” without issuing loans. Some wealthy families still pay full price, but many other families get considerable amounts of grant aid, usually along with a work-study package. Though Michigan’s endowment is up there with many of them (I believe it exceeds uChicago’s and Columbia’s raw endowment size) the large size of the university (meaning the funds would be stretched thinner, it has less money per student than those universities), among other factors, holds Michigan back from offering a similar policy.
That is what is meant when talking about “no loan” universities.
Not that with a couple exceptions, “no loans” are restriction to those families with very high financial need. And a growing number of “need blind” colleges and becoming “need sensitive”, i.e. Smith, MHC, Williams, Wesleyan etc.