How to negotiate one’s financial aid package?

Hi! I have received one school financial aid package including a large amount in loans but small amount in grant. Do you have any tips to negotiate the financial aid package by requesting to reduce the amount in loans or I have to decline admission? Thank you for your answer.

It’s not the loans that are the issue. You don’t have to accept the loans. What you want are more grants/scholarships. What types does the school offer? Talent (music, art, department)? Need based grants? Are there any listed by the school that you might be eligible for?

Ask the FA office to review your situation and if there are grants you might be eligible for.

Yes, you might have to decline if more money can’t be found.

Have there been any changes to your financial situation since you filed your financial aid application forms?

What is the reason you are asking for reconsideration? If it’s only because you can’t afford the school…you might not see an increase in any aid.

But you can ask…

Are you looking for $2000 more in Grant aid…or $20,000 more in Grant aid?

A school offers a need-based grant but the rest of cost of attendance are federal direct plus loan. A student will probably owe six-figure in student loan debt after 4 years of study. What can the student do or there is only one choice, take out the loan or not go? Can you share how you ever dealt with the financial aid package including loan the most?

If you are planning to take $100,000 in plus loans for undergrad school…I would suggest you find a more affordable option.

You are hoping a college will give you $20,000 a year or more in additional Grant aid. Not likely.

In January you asked if you could apply for financial aid after being acceoted. If this is what you did then don’t expect any additional grant money, especially if the college is need aware.

How did we deal with it? Well, my kids chose their schools very carefully, keeping affordability in mind.

One chose an OOS public but it was very cheap to begin with (U of Wyoming). Would she have rather gone to a college in NYC or LA (majoring in theater)? Probably, but that was not in her budget. She took the very low COA and started chipping away at it. Chose cheapest dorm and meal option, got a department scholarship, got one outside ($2000) scholarship, ask for work study, etc. She did have to take about $20k in loans (over 4 years).

Other chose a VERY expensive private school, but it also gave merit based on her stats. She also had a state grant (Bright Futures). She also was offered an athletic scholarship, worked for a professor, an outside scholarship, and took a small amount in student loans.

Schools set tuition, fees, room and board at what they expect you to pay. Many schools offer grants to help students pay those costs, but most do not guarantee to meet those needs. YOU have to figure out how to pay. Loans are one tool, but do not borrow the entire cost. You really can’t anyway, so if the school has put big loans into your FA package, they are probably Parent Plus loans.

As others have said to give you good answers we need more info, most State schools will not add additional aid on to their packages, maybe 10% more but you need a pretty good reason why they should, Saying I need more or I can not go here is not really a good reason from their point of view, with private you may had a better chance but again you need to show them why. what school are you looking at and what is the math involved?

You’re not in a position to negotiate with the school. If you can’t afford it, you’ll need to go somewhere else.

A meaningful reply.

Your kid got a department scholarship, got one outside ($2000) scholarship, ask for work study. Did she get those by asking or the school automatically offered them based on her FAFSA, by the way?

@compiler

Federal work study is a need based financial aid award. You have to have financial need to qualify. But some schools have their own work study funds. You need to ask. This won’t be automatic.

Did your kiddo apply for any outside scholarships? The awarding of those is not automatic either.

Was your student admitted as a specific major…in a specific department? If so, the student should contact the department chair and ask if any departmental scholarships are available for incoming freshmen. In most cases, those won’t just be awarded either.

I want to know anyone ever asked the school for other than loan after received financial aid package or it is a choice to accept the loan or not go to the school.

The outside scholarship was from her grandfather’s fraternity, but an example of the kind of scholarship you might get if you look around. There are small scholarships from local businesses like banks/credit unions, civil clubs (American Legion, Elks, DAR, photography studios) but they have a lot of restrictions like only being used instate. You have to find the ones that are a fit for you. My kids were lucky to get these one-time $2k scholarships just because of their grandfather.

The department scholarships at her school had their own applications and she had to apply and try out. Work study IS based on the FAFSA, but the schools have the decision on who gets it. Her school also had scholarships sponsored by alums, most were $1-2k, and those were controlled by FA office too. We DID have a change in circumstance (job loss) that wasn’t reflected on the FAFSA that was filed, so we asked for reconsideration and she received an alum award and for second semester a Pell grant. We didn’t just ask for more money because we needed it (we did) but because of the job loss.

We don’t know what your COA is and how much you need to make it work. As I said, we started with a smaller COA, knew how much merit money she would get, knew about the $2k outside scholarship, knew of the possibility of the department scholarship. The ‘extra’ we got after the appeal with the job loss was about $4k. Very helpful, but not the $20k it sounds like you need (to avoid a six figure loan total at graduation).

Do ask the college for help, if there are scholarships or grants you might qualify for, but don’t expect miracles.

You do not have to accept the loans. There is a place where you can “decline” the loans.
The question would be: where would you get the rest of the money? If you applied to an expensive school, you are responsible for the costs.

The Financial Aid offices don’t like to be gamed. They have limited funds and rarely bargain to give away more money. Do you have another university that has offered you more money? If the present school really wants you, they may want to take a look at a competing offer, but you may only get another $1 to $2K. It’s getting kind of late now to realize that you can’t afford the school.

You asked the question above last July. Do you have $200k? Or are you planning to borrow it and hope your child can make the ~$3k/month payment?

Your threads make it appear that you don’t have the income or assets to cover schools in that price range. If that’s true, choose a school your family can afford with any grants your child received, whatever you can pay out-of-pocket, and the ~$5500/year federal student loan. I wouldn’t count on student work earnings for now because nobody knows if teens will be able to get jobs this summer.

If you didn’t apply for financial aid until after receiving an acceptance I wouldn’t expect any money from colleges. They don’t negotiate and they aren’t going to be very happy with a family who appears to have attempted to game the system. If you applied for aid and the net cost is still $25-50k/year, there’s really no chance of closing that gap. Colleges are sending their students home in droves and refunding room and board costs. They aren’t in a position to offer substantial amounts of money to next year’s freshmen. And any outside organization that might award tens of thousands of dollars to pay for school gave those out long ago.

Does your child have any affordable acceptances? If not, you may want to post their stats and your budget. People on this site are very good at helping people find affordable options.

Thank you for your replies.

Because the estimated cost of attendance is for an out-of-state student, it is high.

  1. Is it doable to ask for in-state tuition rate to decrease the loan
    amount ?
  2. Is the student OR parents contacting the school financial office/advisor better?

I think for aid purposes, parents can call. But @compiler there are many public universities that do not provide aid to OOS students to make up the differential between in and out of state tuition. As an OOS student, one should expect to pay that differential.

You can ask, but what’s the basis of your request? Colleges charge OOS students more because their parents don’t pay taxes there. And you’re not asking them to decrease the loan amount, you’re asking for more grants. You can try showing them a package from another school, but it would have to be one they consider a peer school.

If you’re going to ask, the contact should be made by the parent. And I’d do it soon. Does your child have options you can afford without borrowing if the answer is no?

Hi everyone! Do you think how much student loan debt at graduation is not too much?

IMO I would hesitate to take out more than the $27K in total…which is the Federal Direct Student limit over the 4 undergrad years ($5.5K first year, then $6.5K/$7.5K/$7.5K).

Any amount above that will require the parents to take out a loan (Parent Plus, or private), or co-sign a private loan for the student. Either way the parent is on the hook for anything over $27K.