How does Columbia's financial aid for transfers work?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Columbia University
1

I’ve been looking into 3-2 engineering programs but a lot of people on this forum seem to be against them because of financial aid and some other reasons(leaving friends). If we ignored the other concerns and only look at the affordability, what is wrong with Columbia? I did an NPC calculator for Columbia and the net price came out to be about $2500(w 3500 in loans.) I know this figure probably isn’t completely accurate but they also posted this on their website:

“In an effort to further assist low-income families, parents with calculated incomes below $60,000 with typical assets will no longer be expected to contribute any of their income or assets to tuition, room, board, and mandatory fees.”
https://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/enhancements/faq

Have people had experiences that were different from what Columbia claims or is the concern just about the 3-2 engineering itself?

2

Financial aid for transfer students seems to be very limited at most colleges (although it is hard to get exact numbers, because the Common Data Set files do not break out aid for transfers). So the issue would be whether 3-2 students are treated as transfers in awarding aid.

I don’t know how you would get reliable net price estimates for 3-2 students in the last 2 years of the program. Ask Columbia’s financial aid office, I suppose.

3

On the combined plan website it says “Columbia awards no merit scholarships; all financial aid is need-based only.” but then goes on to say "We do not guarantee that we can meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for all admitted students. " which contradicts “In an effort to further assist low-income families, parents with calculated incomes below $60,000 with typical assets will no longer be expected to contribute any of their income or assets to tuition, room, board, and mandatory fees.”

4

This fall Columbia announced it would give domestic transfer students the same aid as freshman. International students have never had the same full need met.

5

@momfromme‌ @tk21769‌ So I gave them a call yesterday and they said that combined plan students are NOT considered transfer students. However, when I asked about how accurate the net price calculator was he said it would be around 5,000 - 7000 more than what it currently showed. I asked him if any students in the past have had to turn down Columbia because of the financial aid and he said no.