Is financial aid at Norotheastern negotiable?

I was accepted to the University Honors Program at Northeastern and was excited about being accepted but it looks like I will be very unlikely to attend due to the high cost. I received $7800 in grants so my family is expected to pay 54,000 per year. This puts Northeastern way out of our reach as our EFC from FAFSA was 35,000. I am still waiting on acceptances from other schools but I was wondering if it is possible to ask for more money or if it is unlikely for them to give me any more aid. I was also surprised to see that some people got academic scholarships yet were not invited to the honors program while I was invited but did not receive any type of merit. Anyway if anyone could share their experiences with asking for more money at Northeastern that would be helpful.

I think Honors is top 10% of applicants, and merit money is top 25% of your college (CCIS, DMSB, etc.) So it’s not out of the ordinary to get one and not the other.

I believe Northeastern has committed to meeting full need this year, so I’m not sure what you mean when you say there is a 19k gap between your EFC and what you’re expected to pay. It was either a serious oversight on their part in which case yes, talk to them, or you filled out the FAFSA wrong meaning your FAFSA EFC is way off.

@daisy5132‌ Northeastern is a CSS Profile school, so your FAFSA EFC does not apply. CSS Profile is generally thought to produce higher EFCs, depending on your situation. CSS Profile generally includes home equity for example.

So the grant is need based aid? You got honors but no merit $? I think this shows how arbitrary merit aid at NEU seems.

I do not know if NEU negotiates either merit or need-based aid, but if you cannot go without it, let them know. Especially if you have better aid awards elsewhere. It may be easier in April.

Congrats on the acceptance with honors.

Gosh, keep us posted on what they do, daisy5132.

@daisy51 Did you apply early or was this RD?

Merit aid is not negotiable. Need based aid can be discussed but unless there was an error on your CSS you will not likely get a significant increase.

I am in a similar situation, I was admitted both without merit and need based aid. I did not expect to receive merit aid, but I was expecting at least some need based grant, but I got nothing. This leaves me with about 20k of unmet need.
Can someone please explain?