And they aren’t making me have any student contributes or any parent contributes
Huh? You are being left with a bill. You have not yet shown us 100% of costs are covered by the schools, far from it.
Don’t be confused by “0 EFC.” The simple math does not add up to no student or parent cost.
The State school offers 5800 and 8k?
22.5 - 14 = 8.5. You take the 5500 freshman student loan and work.
But notice: you are contributing. They did not offer you 22.5.
OP this is very confusing. Other posters are trying to help you but it is difficult to even understand your situation. ANY LOANS and any GAP are, in fact, expected to be paid by you and your family, whether now or eventually.
People with a lot of experience seem willing to help you but you need to give more info in order for them to have a full picture.
could you write an appeal for more aid? my college didn’t meet my efc and so it was advised by an admissions rep to write an appeal since in April more money is available since that’s when people start committing and colleges get a better idea of what their finances look like.
I would get in contact with your admissions rep (this would be with your smaller private school) and see if you can get more aid from them, then you wouldn’t have to borrow so much.
I think the smaller school seems to be a better fit for you, so I hope you can get more aid.
That doesn’t really mean anything. Colleges routinely gap low income students.
Having a 0 EFC for Pell only means you qualify for the full Pell grant (~$5800). That’s it.
A zero EFC only means you qualify for Pell. Average aid packages don’t mean anything; all that matters to you is what you’re expected to pay.
You were awarded a $32k grant over 4 years by the private college. Divide that by 4. So that $32k grant over 4 years is only $8k/year.
If you work summers you can probably rsise ~$3k.
That makes your available resources for the private school $5800 (Pell) + $8k (grant) + $3k (work earnings) = ~$17k. Since the COA (cost of attendance) is $48k, your *net cost/i is $31k → ($48k-$17k).
You can only borrow the federal student loan (~$5500/year). That means you’ve been gapped ~$26k/year -->($31k-$5500).
This makes no sense. Is $22k the total cost of attendance if you dorm?
If so, your net here is $22k -$5800 Pell - $3k work earnings = $13k.
If you take the ~$5500 federal student loan, you still need $7500/year.
Can your parents contribute anything? If not, I don’t think either college is affordable.
You said in another thread that you’re from WA state. Is there a college you can commute to from home?
Sorry for being confusing. When I say that they’re not making me pay right now. Obviously they’re letting me take out loans right now that I would eventually have to pay off.
As far as the state school goes: the 8,688 is the TUITION part of the fee. After adding expenses like transportation, room and board, books and supplies and other items it the price is $22,482.
I got my information from “Big Future” which is a college board site. College board contacts the school in order to get statistics like how much aid is awarded on average.
The schools are CWU and SMU, both located in Washington State.
Do you have a financial aid package from the colleges? If so, please post them here.
Your net cost at the private school appears to be ~$100k; the net cost at the public appears to be ~$52k. You can’t borrow more than $27k total. Where will you get the rest?
Can you commute to either school?
Okay, St Martin’s and Central Washington U. We’re getting somewhere.
Neither meets full need.
In other words, they don’t care your EFC is 0.
Now, do you have YOUR PERSONAL FA package?
Can you copy/paste it here?
It’s irrelevant how much aid was award to matriculating students. Those with lousy aid pkgs didn’t enroll, so their stats weren’t reported.
I suggest that until this student provides real info…such as what exactly he’s been awarded, we stop posting. He can either provide the info, or not. It took 24 posts and a lot of wasted time to get the names of the schools…we still don’t know what he’s been awarded.
I’m not looking for aid advice. I’m looking for advice about deciding on the school. What things do I look for on making a decision? And other info about that. It is April. I have eliminated other schools and it is down to these two. I don’t feel like I should have to put my personal financial aid information to post full of strangers because my aid has already been awarded and between my family and the aid staff I have ways of paying for them and other outside scholarships awarded. Yes, I mentioned not wanting to be in debt but the base of my question was mainly about choosing the school.
Now, what I’m asking is for someone who is enrolled in college now to explain how they chose the school they currently attend when it’s down to two schools. What were red flags? How did you know you were making the right choice. I mentioned before that I was sort of flip flopping between the two and was having a hard time deciding.
I appreciate everyone taking time and responding it really helped a lot. I have a college career support representative that I’m exclusively working with and as far as paying goes between scholarships and sports, it’s handled.
Now, like I said before, how did you/your student decide which school to go to when it came down to two schools.
You should look at the money first. And we can help you figure out if it is truly affordable. It isn’t “your” financial info (we aren’t asking for your account numbers!). It is the package that the colleges have awarded you in grants, loans, etc. We have seen literally thousands of different packages, and we have seen every way that colleges that don’t meet need try to make it look affordable when maybe it really isn’t. No one knows your name… (and what do you mean, as far as paying goes between scholarships and sports)
You are the one who started off talking about the cost in your first post, and you say you are from a low income household. It would be a really good idea to take advantage of the expertise out here on comparing FA packages.
Do you have the actual aid packages from the colleges? Do you have outside scholarships as well that you have officially been awarded?
And we have seen scores of kids who had some advisor who misunderstood aid and loans. You raised some flags here, with talk about “average” aid, out of state costs, and "no EFC. " You said you won’t have a contribution but what you have written shows us you will. Now you throw in sports?
Our first advice is always to make your final costs a big part of the decision. I hope this advisor has explained your $ bottom line, how large your post college payments will be after graduation and the other unfortunate truths.
@psaw2016, I grew up in a low income family, so I’m going to be honest with you because your decision time is limited.
Anyone who’s telling a full Pell family that a $47k college is affordable on a $5800 Pell grant, the $5500 student loan, an $8k/year scholarship, and $3k summer work earnings is mistaken. The chances of a student getting $26k in outside scholarships is remote. Do you have $26k in athletic scholarships or outside grants? If the answer’s no, you can’t afford this school.
In case your advisor didn’t tell you, it’s irresponsible to allow your low income parents to take on debt for you. The max you can borrow is ~$5500/year and you should stick to that, especially if you have siblings who will want to go to college.
The $22k state school cost is better, but unless you left out ~$8k (non loan) funding streams, it’s also unaffordable on the $5800 Pell, ~$5500 student loan, and $3k summer work earnings.
You need to come up with $26k for the private college or $8k for the public by mid-July. Can you do that without making your parents borrow? If not, you need to rethink your plan. You wouldn’t be the first kiddo to do so.
If you post your packages (rounded #'s are fine), your standardized test scores, and GPA, we can help you find affordable options. But unless you left out substantial scholarships, I don’t these schools will be affordable.
My EFC is also 0. This doesn’t mean I won’t have to pay anything. There’s a difference between what FAFSA & colleges think you “should” pay.
Paying is not “handled” by taking on tons of debt. Your advisor should know this…
I’ve posted my net prices here too. Everything is safe, and it’s not self-identifying. We just want to help!
My children went to the affordable school.