<p>I just got my financial package:</p>
<p>20k in grant/work study
5k in loans
no scholarship</p>
<p>With estimated COA at 55k, that means 140k in student debt after 4 years.</p>
<p>Is Rochester really worth $140,000?</p>
<p>My EFC is only 4,000. It's kind of frustrating. I really thought Rochester was a perfect fit and now it looks like I can't go...</p>
<p>Hm… that seems a lot higher than what it should be, doesn’t Rochester say that they meet the full price minus EFC, in some way or another? Maybe call em up and see what’s up.</p>
<p>That said, I doubt they are worth $140k in loans. I’d be willing to bet there are very few if any places that are.</p>
<p>Work Study doesn’t even apply to your cost of attendance, only if you designate that it does! </p>
<p>Looked at a couple of websites, they do say Average % of Need Met is 100%.
That is an average of course, and this is what they report! No one ever checks up on these stats to see if the colleges/universities are telling the truth. </p>
<p>On two websites it said the Average Package was $31,690
The Average Need-Based Scholarship/Grant Award was $27,021 </p>
<p>In order for UR to meet your need, your gift aid from them would have to be about 42,500
Say COA is about 52,000, minus 4,000 EFC, minus 5500 in Stafford Loans.</p>
<p>The financial aid office does guarantee to meet 100% of demonstrated need in your first year, so if you find there is a major discrepancy in your demonstrated need and the financial aid package that you recieved, I highly recommend contacting the financial aid office.</p>
<p>That being said, I doubt that any college/university is worth $140,000 of debt. Even as a representative of the University of Rochester and someone who absolutely loves my place of employment, I would not ever recommend that a student go into such a large degree of debt for an undergraduate education.</p>
<p>Understand though that the financial aid and admissions offices are very open to discussing with you a variety of options to be able to make Rochester a financially feasible destination. </p>
<p>Also, for what it is worth: Rochester graduates pay pack student loans at a rate higher than the vast majority of students from other schools throughout the country. This implies that students are finding well-paying jobs upon graduation, and that a Rochester education is a sound investment, which I wholeheartedly believe. But you have weigh your options…</p>
<p>Now, you say they meet it in the first year, does that mean they drop it significantly in following years? Or do they still usually do the same thing, it just isn’t “guaranteed”? I could see how financial aid could, theoretically, abuse the system to leave people high and dry after a single year, though I imagine it would be very poor for word-of-mount advertisements.</p>
<p>No. No. No. No.</p>
<p>I have not heard of an instance in which a student is not able to afford the cost of attendance beyond his/her first year because of a significant adjustment in financial aid. In addition to establishing a bad reputation, a significant reduction in financial aid after a student’s first year would dramatically affect the school’s retention rate (a statistic that most schools care a lot about).</p>
<p>The fact that it is not guaranteed all four years will impact only a very small percentage of students, if any one at all. As i mentioned above, I am not aware personally of a situation where this has been the case.</p>
<p>First, 55 - 25 = 30 and 4 X 30 = 120, not 140. </p>
<p>Second, your statement says that you will be paying the entire cost yourself. That is not how a school will figure things - no school will unless you are something like an emancipated minor living alone. So, if your parents insist that you somehow pay all of your college costs, then you need to go to a school that cost a whole lot less than any liberal arts school. Those all cost around $50k a year. That means state schools. In my state, the state school costs about $20k, but good students qualify for a tuition waiver (which is not that much of the cost) and then with grants you might be looking at a few thousand a year. That is the way it goes.</p>
<p>Now if in fact your parents are going to contribute to your college costs, then you need to come up with a real number of what your family can afford.</p>
<p>Benandorf: How could a school guarantee a level of need based aid? It gets recalculated every year based on the financial situation of the student and parents. That’s why the FAFSA (and the EFC) gets redone every year.</p>
<p>Well it could guarantee that it meets the cost minus EFC, like they do for the first year.</p>
<p>@Mconklin, good to hear it’s not an issue, I figured it wouldn’t be, just musing while I wait to hear back from Rochester. Starting to get a bit antsy about it, too, but I digress.</p>
<p>SLUMOM, work study does go towards paying off COA. I don’t understand the point of your comment. Are you saying I got cheated because Rochester offered less financial aid than their average amount?</p>
<p>Lergnom, First, it’s 140k because loans have to paid of eventually. Numbers in my original post were rounded, so the exact amount is not important. Second, U of Rochester is not a liberal arts school. Third, it’s too late to apply to state schools. Fourth, I am looking for advice about financial aid in context of Rochester. Refrain from posting such irrelevant comments.</p>
<p>Objective789, I like your brevity. =]</p>
<p>Benandorf, my cousin received less financial aid after freshman year, but that was because her parents were making more money. AVHS Dad is right, but scholarships are usually guaranteed every year. But I didn’t get a scholarship =’ (</p>
<p>MConklin, I think Rochester might have calculated my EFC differently than FASFA. I’ll call the financial aid office and wait to compare Rochester’s financial aid with financial aid from other schools. Thanks.</p>
<p>Oh grow up. You should of course contact financial aid but your number - however you choose to calculate (and 20k is a nonsense figure for interest) - leaves out any parental payment. My comment is that maybe some school would give you a full financial package - that would include loans - but odds are very, very high that they’d expect some payment from you and your family. That is the way it works. </p>
<p>BTW, if Rochester isn’t a liberal arts school, you need to look up the definition of liberal arts.</p>
<p>This threat made me laugh. There is not an undergraduate school in the country that is worth 140k in debt. That is including Harvard. The repayment on that would be a mortgage in most areas. You would be living at home for a decade after college.</p>
<p>*First, 55 - 25 = 30 and 4 X 30 = 120, not 140. *</p>
<p>I read it as $5K in offered loans per year plus $30K more in private(?) loans to meet the COA. $35 x 4 = $140.</p>
<p>@Lergnom Rochester is a University not a liberal arts college.</p>
<p>This is a liberal arts college [College</a> Search - Williams College - At a Glance](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)
it clearly says so under type of school</p>
<p>This is rochesters page it says university [College</a> Search - University of Rochester - U of R - At a Glance](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>this is the definition, [Liberal</a> Arts College - Definition of a Liberal Arts College](<a href=“http://collegeapps.about.com/od/glossaryofkeyterms/g/liberal-arts-college-definition.htm]Liberal”>What is a Liberal Arts College?), you can see rochester fits many characteristics but clear does not others. Look at undergrad focus, and faculty focus on teaching.</p>
<p>This is from their website
With more than 60 undergraduate majors and 30 graduate programs, Rochester offers the intellectual excitement of a major research university and the intimacy and opportunities of a liberal arts college.</p>
<p>It definitely has some or even a lot traits of a liberal arts, but it is a Research University.</p>
<p>I dont mean to be inflammatory, but I find calling U of R mearly a liberal arts school a little insulting.</p>
<p>@niteangel1004 140,000 is not a manageable monthly payment, that is like half your monthly income. I was able to get an extra $10,000 in aid after a 5 week argument and 3 changes to my aid, so the calls are worth it. Community college for a year and trying to transfer to state is never a bad idea, if you cant afford it.</p>
<p>Rochester doesn’t just look at the FAFSA, they also look at the collegeboard one. i can’t remember its name right now, but however they do it is screwed up because every other university calculated my EFC to be $12,000 and Rochester calculated it to be $67,000. I have no idea how that happened and my family tried to see if it could get changed but they wouldn’t budge. Even with my scholarship it was WAY too much money. But now i’m going to Berkeley so i guess it all worked out.</p>
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<p>Why is it “insulting” to be called a liberal arts college. It may be inaccurate (and clearly is in the case of UR), but it’s hardly an insult.</p>
<p>@annasdad I never ment to say the term was an insult. The term liberal arts school is not derogatory at all, they all provide a quality education, U of R even says it has elements of a liberal arts, it is ignoring all the reasearch accomplishments and ignoring the entire engineering school i find insulting/ upsetting or whatever diction choice you want. Just like when U of R is mistaken for RIT, RIT is a great school, but it is insulting or upsetting when the mistake is made. Insultiing might have been a strong word, but look at what I am responding to. </p>
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<p>What is a reasonable amount of debt to undertake for undergraduate studies? (For an independent student.)</p>
<p>I know answers will vary based on personal circumstance and intended profession, but I’m interested in reading opinions. Thanks!</p>
<p>NO! No college is worth even half that much debt.</p>