<p>Did a FA office offer to show you what your package would probably look like in years 2-4?</p>
<p>Good question.</p>
<p>I’ve wondered if some people’s packages aren’t as generous in following years - even if income stays the same. </p>
<p>Could a school blame the economy for giving smaller grants in subsequent years.</p>
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<p>They are not at many schools. That is a fact. If you have a subscription to USNEWS, it shows this clearly. I am sure other sites show this info as well.</p>
<p>For example, my son is looking at one school that meets 81% of need freshman year, but only 74% after freshman year on average. I would like to see how that package would look for him in years 2-4. I do not need it to the last cent, and these percentages are averages, but I would like to have a ballpark figure, and a worst case scenario laid out for us. Since merit aid was such that it brought the sticker down quite a bit, I’d like to compare that package in year 3 to one at pricier school that meets an average of 88% of need, for example. Also, some schools will give better aid packages to a student that has higher stats, than one that has lower stats. I am wondering how college gpa would factor into FA packages in years 2-4, if at all (assuming the minimum requirement of 2.0, or whatever it is, is met of course).</p>
<p>Sort of. After my son had accepted the offer he did, I was volunteering at an event with another parent (we both coached quiz teams) and she told me a financial aid horror story about my son’s college. She told me that one of the students she mentored had accepted a similar offer from the same school, but the school had reduced the offer the second year. In order to continue to attend, the student’s family had sold their house, moved to another part of the state, etc, doom and destruction, all that. </p>
<p>I became so anxious about it that I wrote the head of FA at the school and asked if that was possible, what would happen in the future. I got back, in email, an assurance that unless my financial situation changed substantially (and she even gave me a dollar figure about what “substantially” would be in this context) that my son’s package would stay the same. In fact, they adjust it up annually for tuition and cost of living increases. </p>
<p>I later spoke to the student from the horror story. She told me the doom-saying parent had gotten it wrong, that her family’s financial situation had changed and that had affected the financials, that they had sold their home for other reasons, and that the financial office had worked with her to ensure she still was able to attend.</p>
<p>For example, my son is looking at one school that meets 81% of need freshman year, but only 74% after freshman year on average.</p>
<p>I think it’s almost dishonest for schools to do that, because what’s the point of comparing FA packages if the following years might get shorted? </p>
<p>I realize that schools may figure that kids can take larger Stafford loans during their later years, but that’s not much at all.</p>
<p>trin, thanks for that information.</p>
<p>mom2college, I am not even counting the increased Staffords taht they can borrow, bc that is counted as meeting need. I am looking at the increased gap btn. year 1and years 2,3 , and 4. </p>
<p>Well, the whole thing makes me feel like I am buying a very expensive airline seat for 4 years and I don’t know the exact price before boarding (even when income and assets are equal for all 4 years). Oh, and who knows if we deplane in 4 years, or 5 years? Forget 6 years!! I keep telling our student that he is to get out within 4 years.</p>
<p>Northeastmom: Ooo, I agree about the 4 years. I have made it clear to my children over and over that the downside of generous aid is that it has a time limit. Other classmates may be able to afford having a bad semester, but there is no way we would ever be able to afford even one semester without the financial aid.</p>