How much can financial aid awards be negioated?

Paying for College
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<p>Today, I got my acceptance to Lehigh, my 2nd choice school. And my financial aid award was..a $3500 loan. That is it. </p>

<p>With Lehigh running at like 47,000 a year, my parents said they cannot justify sending me there and spending 5x more than if I went to my state school, Rutgers. I can see where they are coming from. Some of my safety schools, like Muhlenberg and Gettysburg, have been able to offer nice scholarships amounting to $10,500 and $13,500 respectively.</p>

<p>I'm still waiting to hear from more schools...but how much can these awards be negotiated? Rutgers is so cheap, but I really don't want to end up there...</p>

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<p>OUCH. Not knowing any of your other circumstances though.... Admittedly, I would never be able to swing that for my kids. Your situation may be different.</p>

<p>Were you expecting a big FA Package from Lehigh?</p>

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<p>How good are your negotiating skills?</p>

<p>You ought to be able to judge very quickly the schools Finaid offices ability or willingness to discuss your situation. And you have nothing to lose right?</p>

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<p>Fandangoya: What is your efc? I am just curious.</p>

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<p>EFC is 39k</p>

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<p>And I'm not sure of all the financial lingo that my parents throw around when talking about it, but they said that although they make a decent amount of money, all of the money has been used to pay off our house/morgage and is tied up in our house.</p>

7

<p>Well
I don't know if I can help- but perhaps this will help others who aren't at this stage of the process.</p>

<p>Parents and potential college student being aware of what is available at the outset- is critical.
If there aren't any savings- say so.</p>

<p>Let students know how much you can afford to spend and how much you will take from income/assets/loans to help fund their college.</p>

<p>Students be prepared to take jobs in high school, to get experience for those summer positions- even if your high school job is volunteer.</p>

<p>Be prepared to earn $3,000 or so, each summer to contribute to your tuition if necessary & be prepared to take out loans- hopefully small and subsidized.</p>

<p>If your family is unwilling/unable to pay EFC- don't just apply to schools that only offer need based aid and are expensive.</p>

<p>Remember- EFC is expected to be met with loans/assets/income.
If you have no housing debt, all that equity is assumed to be available to borrow.- or the money that you would be paying for a mortgage, available to pay tuition.</p>

<p>As far as negotiating need based aid.
Negotiate, is not a word I would use with the colleges.
IF two comparable schools, give you significantly different packages, I would check to see that the school that isn't as generous has all the pertinent information. Phrase it more - that you are wondering if they considered this.... issue for example.</p>

<p>Say, your parents paid off the mortgage because now they are on a limited income and didn't want that expense. That can be stressed to the college, but be prepared for them not to change their mind.
My daughters college didn't & we refinanced our house to access the money.
( It wasn't even a case of paying it off- but because in our area- real estate has gone through the roof) Now we have a higher house payment than we would like- but that was our choice.</p>

<p>Its good to have choices- I don't know much about the schools you mentioned- and I can see your parents point- do they have an idea of what they can afford, or was it more a case of lets see where you get in, and we will see how much we think it is worth?</p>