<p>So… The whole concept that financial aid is negotiable has been widely blown out of context, over generalized, and frankly, dangerously encouraged over the last decade.</p>
<p>More so today, many colleges and universities are adopting and falling in line with nationally recognized non-compete & ethical compliance policies regarding this very subject.</p>
<p>To expect a family to receive an offer of assistance from a school, to then negotiate for additional aid plays head games with students, is counterproductive, and counterintuitive… Not to mention, it turns administrators at reputable institutions into the higher education equivalent of a used car salesman.</p>
<p>I currently work at a university that for many years, in conjunction with hundreds of U.S. colleges and universities, has voluntarily chosen to freeze the aid offer of any student who revealed to a university representative an aid offer (or difference in net cost) from a competing university. In some cases, this means the student becomes ineligible to receive aid he/she qualifies to receive, but perhaps had not yet been packaged for.We always attempt to award a student the most aid he/she is eligible for the first time around.</p>
<p>My advice: find out a school’s individual policy. Ask an admissions counselor, “were i to share my aid offer with you from another school, could it be used in reconsideration of my current offer from your school for additional aid?” That is a legitimate and safe way to investigate an institutions ability to negotiate.</p>