<p>So the school I was accepted into Early Decision is only giving me $5,5000/year from a Federal Direct Unsubsidized loan. Why is this so small? The schools tuition is 52,000. My mom makes about 52,000 and my dad is a self employed taxi cab driver. Why am I not granted any money but only a loan? I have above a 3.5 GPA too and take AP classes, so it's not like I am a bad student. This was based off of my CSS profile. Will I get more from the FAFSA?</p>
<p>Almost every lower and middle income full time freshman student is eliglble for $3,500 of subsidized Federal loans and $2,000 of unsubsidized Federal loans. The subsidized loan amounts increase for the later years of college. These amounts are separate from any financial aid offers from a college.</p>
<p>Lower income students are also eligible for Federal Pell grants and Perkins loans, which have a larger subsidy. There also may be grants from your state, particularly if you go to an instate college.</p>
<p>A college cannot determine whether you are eligible for Federal subsisized loans or Federal grants until after the Fafsa is filed. The fafsa could not be filed before Jan. 1. So yes, you hopefully will be eligible for more funding once the Fafsa is submitted and processed.</p>
<p>You need to contact the SCHOOL. The Profile is what most schools use to award institutional need based aid. For a school that costs $52,000 a year…and with your family income, you need this type of aid…the money the SCHOOL offers. </p>
<p>To the above posters…regardless of the family income…the MAXIMUM federal aid this student would receive would be a $5500 Pell Grant (and with an income of $50K or so, he/she would not receive the maximum Pell), $5500 in Stafford loans, and possibly SEOG if the school awards it. The total of this federally funded need based aid would not come CLOSE to meeting the costs at a school that costs in the $50K range.</p>
<p>So…to the OP…you need to call the school financial aid office. You need to find out if your financial aid package as received is complete. You also need to check online for YOUR college’s policy regarding awarding of institutional aid. If they do not guarantee to meet full need…this may be all that you will receive. If they DO guarantee to meet full need, you need to go item by item on that Profile to determine why this school doesn’t think you have more financial need.</p>
<p>So I will not know if i will be offered a pell grant or loans until after I file the FAFSA, correct?</p>
<p>Even the Pell grant will not be enough to pay for this college. Other threads indicate you applied ED to American University. I do NOT believe this school guarantees to meet the full need of its accepted students. </p>
<p>Still…I suggest you contact American University financial aid. You need to know if there is ANY other institutional money that was not yet sent to you for financial aid. Federally funded aid (Pell, etc) will NOT fund a full year of costs at American University. The money you really NEED is their institutional money. If they are not planning to award you additional money, you will either have to figure out another way to pay the costs or you will have to decline the ED acceptance because the financial aid does not make it possible for you to attend. BUT FIRST…you need to make sure that what you have is a complete package. The stafford loan is not institutional money…it is federally funded. You need to ask them if there you have any additional university financial aid awards in addition to that loan.</p>
<p>
My guess is the OP isn’t going to hear much good news. The total income is probably in the $120K range which means little FA.</p>
<p>Is this a school that promises to meet full need?</p>
<p>I believe schools that require CSS will usually include estimates for federal aid along with their own aid in their FA package. If your Mom earns $52k and your dad is a self employed taxi driver then they may have determined your EFC may be too high for any federal grant aid. The main federal grant, the pell, requires a very low EFC.</p>
<p>The loan is just the amount that any student that files FAFSA is eligible for. </p>
<p>The FA package seems to contain just the federal aid you would be eligible for (loans), no institutional aid at all. Your dad’s self employments income will certainly have been taken into account. Also any assets your family has will be taken into account. Perhaps those combined mean the school does not consider you are eligible for aid.</p>
<p>The financial aid is only partly based on the income your parents earn. Assets count, too. You should look at the FAFSA Expected Family Contribution/EFC. This should be the first step every family takes before making any assumptions about finaid. A quick calculator can be found at finaid.org (QuickEFC) and they have a longer worksheet, as well. Also, the FAFSAForecaster. Depending on assets, your EFC could be high enough that your family is expected to be able to contribute roughly 45k.
Also, go back and be sure you properly filled out the CSS Profile- check every category you are not sure the meaning of. Sometimes, they explain it; sometimes, I swear, you have to google to figure out what they mean. There could have been a costly error.
Also, recent thread, <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1056595-good-news-bad-news.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1056595-good-news-bad-news.html</a> discusses mid-income finaid with some interesting views.</p>
<p>PROFILE OF 2009-10 FINANCIAL AID Freshmen AMERICAN UNIVERSITY </p>
<p>Financial Aid Applicants 1,144 (74.6%) of freshmen
Found to Have Financial Need 849 (74.2%) of applicants
Received Financial Aid 849 (100.0%) of applicants with financial need
Need Fully Met 255 (30.0%) of aid recipients
Average Percent of Need Met 93%
Average Award $33,429
Need-Based Gift Received by 473 (55.7%) of aid recipients, average amount $17,325
Need-Based Self-Help Received by 707 (83.3%) of aid recipients, average amount $7,248
Merit-Based Gift Received by 379 (44.6%) of aid recipients
Merit-Based Gift Received by 276 (18.0%) of freshmen without need, average amount $20,235 </p>
<p>According to these stats, AU reported that only 30% of incoming Freshmen had their need fully met. </p>
<p>Also bear in mind that a self-employed parent will have some expenses added back into his income like vehicle expense or depreciation expense on assets.</p>
<p>*A college cannot determine whether you are eligible for Federal subsisized loans or Federal grants until after the Fafsa is filed. The fafsa could not be filed before Jan. 1. So yes, you hopefully will be eligible for more funding once the Fafsa is submitted and processed. *</p>
<p>NO… Even with filing FAFSA, this student isn’t going to get any more money. The family income is too high for Pell. </p>
<p>I think Erin’s Dad is right…the family income is probably in the $120k range…too high for aid at many schools.</p>
<p>If your parents can’t/won’t pay for American U, you’ll need to decline. However, be aware that other schools are going to view your parents’ income in a similar light. So, find out how much your parents WILL pay and apply to schools that will be affordable…either because of lower costs or because of merit aid.</p>
<p>What are your stats? maybe some can suggest some schools where you would get merit.</p>
<p>I applied ED to American too and I am in the same situation. My parents together make around $60,000 but I was hardly given any financial aid. I just don’t know what to do. My mom called the school and they said that it was pretty much final. I might end up having to go to a community college next year. It’s really a terrible situation.</p>
<p>Did you not apply to any other schools as backups? There’s still time to apply to other universities.</p>
<p>IMO, this is one more reason ED is a scam unless connected to full-need financial aid offers. Private colleges try to lock students in without fully disclosing the absurd and totally-unaffordable (by anyone outside the upper class) costs of attendance.</p>
<p>I was encouraged to apply early despite any financial reasons. I’m also first gen. so i’ve been doing most of this stuff myself. I guess I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.</p>
<p>AU2015, shake it off, change your screen name, and get some other apps in now! Be prepared to file your FAFSA as soon as you know which schools you’re applying to…hopefully you can find some that will still have merit aid available but, with a $60K income, many schools, including your instate publics might give you more need-based aid than American did. Good luck!</p>
<p>You still have time to apply to other schools which may do a better job of meeting need. You should notify American you are not accepting their ED offer for financial reasons and you are then free to apply to other schools. Unfortunately you received very bad advice. There are only a small handful of ED schools which meet full need with either no loans or loan caps and those are the only schools financial aid applicants should be applying to ED.
American is clearly not one of them.</p>
<p>*Financial Aid Applicants 1,144 (74.6%) of freshmen
Found to Have Financial Need 849 (74.2%) of applicants
Received Financial Aid 849 (100.0%) of applicants with financial need
Need Fully Met 255 (30.0%) of aid recipients
Average Percent of Need Met 93%
Average Award $33,429
*</p>
<p>Makes me wonder what these stats mean when a student like AU2015 was given such a crappy package when her family income is very middle class.</p>
<p>AU2015…what are your stats? Maybe we can help you find some schools to apply to.</p>
<p>What is your likely major?</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>You do need to shake this off. Your choices don’t need to be AU or a CC. You need to decline AU for financial reasons.</p>
<p>I was encouraged to apply early despite any financial reasons.</p>
<p>Who encouraged you?</p>
<p>I have safety schools, thank God! It’s just sad that it has come down to this. Oh well…</p>
<p>So far I have been admitted into Rutgers, St. Johns, Penn State-Altoona, Manhattan College, and Fairleigh Dickinson. I am waiting to hear a response from Temple, CUNY, and Philadelphia U</p>
<p>Please tell me if there are there any other schools that would be in my ball park from my data listed below. Ideally, I would like a suburban/urban campus. But with this FA situation, I am discovering that it doesnt matter anymore.</p>
<p>About Me: I am an URM (black, African male.) I am very active within my school and community. I have been in SGA all my four years of high school. Freshmen year I was class vice pres., Sophomore year I was class pres., Junior. year I was student body vice pres. and also county student council vice-pres., Senior year I am now president of the school and vice-president of the state student council.
Other activities involved throughout high school: Mock trial, some community service club, NHS, President of a club that worked with students with intellectual disabilities, state high school democrat member, PR chair for youth county council, county young democrat member, chief of staff of African student association, and I have over 100 hrs of community service</p>
<p>Class Rank: 88/680, 12%
GPA: 3.51 (I received a 4.25 first quarter, so it should be a little higher now.)</p>
<p>Rigorous Classes: AP classes such as Govt, World Hist, Psych, Calc AB, Literature and Human Geo.
I also did dual enrollment Fall semester at a local CC and received a B in my math class
I took 4 yrs of Spanish by my sophomore year
I took completed AP calculus by my Junior year </p>
<p>My SAT scores are whats holding me back. My M/CR/W are ALL 490…putting me at 1470 (below the national average, i know) If you are wondering how I got into AU, it’s because I was under the Test Optional pool.
My ACT score is around the same ball park when you convert it.</p>
<p>college…the first thing you need to do BEFORE you continue your college hunt is to notify American U about your ED acceptance there. Right now, you have a pending ED acceptance. If you take that acceptance, you MUST withdraw all of your pending applications and acceptances. If you do NOT accept the ED acceptance, you should let AU know NOW and then proceed. </p>
<p>You have a great list. But I have to ask…are you IN STATE for any of the public universities to which you applied? Are you a DC resident or a Maryland resident? I’m only asking because if you need significant aid to attend college, you are not very likely to get this at as an out of state student at a public university in a state where your parents and you do NOT reside.</p>