<p>Hi, do you know any case in which the school website gives wrong information about the financial aid policy? For example, they say they would not give more than half tuition, but in fact they give you nearly full tuition?</p>
<p>I can only venture a guess, since there surely is no widely known fact that all schools misrepresent their financial aid policies.</p>
<p>I would think there probably <em>have</em> been cases where a school says it only will grant X% of the tuition, but for some few students they have granted more because there was something about the applicant they really wanted – a star athlete, a national caliber math student, whatever. But I would never assume that the published aid policies are half as generous as the school typically is. </p>
<p>In fact, it’s prudent to think of it the opposite way; that schools may want to appeal to more applicants by softening the reality of just how much it’s going to cost them to go there. Not saying they exaggerate, but that they’re going to want to publish the good stuff, and be less eager to advertise the difficulties.</p>
<p>Sometimes the websites do not cover every possibility. There is flexibility. The websites tell you general policy not the exceptions to it.</p>
<p>A few people have posted in the past to say that they or those they knew were offered larger scholarships than the published info for the school publicized. It’s possible these scholarships came from endowed funds that were only available to a targeted group of students & did not require a separate application. It’s also possible that some students with a high need are offered scholarships that include extra to help meet their need. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t plan on the scholarships being more generous than what’s advertised, though.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t consider being offered a larger scholarship than what is listed on the FA website as misleading. Now, if the website guaranteed at least a certain amount for a scholarship and you were awarded less…misleading might be a correct definition…if you met all the qualifications for the full award.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t be applying to the school in the hopes that maybe they would provide more than the website says. As was posted above, providing more is probably under special circumstances…for instance an athletic recruit.</p>
<p>Frankly, I think MANY schools are very misleading about their financial aid policies. Everyday, my son (as well as your kid) gets JUNK in the mail from “Multi$$ U” that is bragging that 90% of its students (or some other ridiculous number) receive financial aid. However, if you apply, you’ll often find that the F/A is nothing more than a nice big envelope detailing your “student loan” opportunities after figuring your EFC. What a load of cr@p!</p>
<p>I really think that colleges need to be a little more forthcoming about what “their” financial packages usually include for various incomes. I remember that in the back of Fordham’s Viewbook there were pages of various students’ and their families’ financial scenarios and what type(s) of aid each student received. From those pages you could clearly figure out from those pages what kind of F/A your student could expect.</p>
<p>I’d appreciate that kind of honesty from a few more colleges…</p>
<p>JL50ish, loans ARE financial aid! In fact, they are the most prevalent form of financial aid offered to students. These loans are provided to students without regard to creditworthiness, backed by the federal government, with decent payback terms (also compliments of the government). The interest rates are kept at a relatively low rate (again, thanks to the government), and in the case of subsidized Stafford loans, interest is subsidized by the federal government during school & grace periods.</p>
<p>I know that we’d all rather have grants than loans. The reality is, though, that the federal government does not have an unlimited pot of money to give to give away to all who want it. College is not K-12; it is not an entitlement. The whole point of federal aid is to try to help the neediest in our society with the cost of a college education - in hopes that they might be able to afford it with some grant & loan assistance. The fact that those with higher incomes get to borrow through the government program is at least helpful.</p>
<p>Most individual colleges simply do not have the money to give away, either. Those that do have it are finally opening their coffers to help more families afford their institutions. They are doing the best they can with what they have. Again, I wish they could do more - but money doesn’t grow on trees. I feel your pain, but after a good grumble … think about what I’ve said.</p>
<p>kelsmom: >>> JL50ish, loans ARE financial aid! In fact, they are the most prevalent form of financial aid offered to students. <<<</p>
<p>Hey, I KNOW that… this is my “second go round” with the college process - already have one kid in college. </p>
<p>My screenname may say that I only joined this month, but I’ve been a member of this site for over 3 years. I only changed my screenname because some nut kept bugging me.</p>
<p>My beef is that many “first timers” have NO IDEA that when they get info that says 90% of our students get f/a or “we meet 100% of need” that such statements mean LOANS… A LOT of first timers wrongly think that means grants, etc… and then they get the BIG shock in the spring and their child is heartbroken…</p>
<p>And believe me… colleges know that that parents DON"T know that f/a mostly means “loans” – otherwise they would honestly say, “90% of our students pay for their education with student LOANs” But… did ja notice… they don’t say THAT…</p>
<p>Frankly, I’m annoyed that I HAVE to be the one to “burst parents’ bubbles” when they happily say that their kid is applying to XXXX and that that school gives a lot of F/A (which these parents mistakenly believe are grants/scholarships or some other kinds of discounted tuition.) These poor parents look at me like I’m “scrooge” when I tell them that they aren’t getting “free money” in their f/a packages, but loans. </p>
<p>These parents have been misled by the “wording”. They have happily spent lots of hours filling out FAFSA’s only to find out that loans are the only offering. Many of these parents have no intention of taking out large loans, and end up sending their kid to the local regional school and just pay tuition.</p>
<p>It shouldn’t be a “smoke and mirrors” thing. Colleges should be very upfront and say, most of what your f/a package will be student loans. But, colleges want the confusion, so they will get the application.</p>
<p>Most of my financial aid offers listed in their “awards” section, private loans at the amount of unmet need. That’s not an award, that’s a suggestion.
This suggestion should be in a separate section that also details prevailing market rates for private education loans, the graduation rate of the colleges (4 years is expensive, 5 or 6 is even more), and statistics on scholarship awards for returning students.</p>
<p>If you search for your college’s common data set you will see what percentage of financial aid is loans vs. grants. It is much more detailed than the financial aid site that most colleges have on their web site. Another misconception is work study. The amount given is what you MAY earn, not that you WILL earn. Some students just can’t find the jobs or time to get all the hours in to earn that money.</p>
<p>nurse: >>> If you search for your college’s common data set you will see what percentage of financial aid is loans vs. grants. It is much more detailed than the financial aid site that most colleges have on their web site. Another misconception is work study. The amount given is what you MAY earn, not that you WILL earn. Some students just can’t find the jobs or time to get all the hours in to earn that money. <<<<</p>
<p>I guess I would respect the system more if they didn’t call student loans “financial aid.” When you buy a home, you don’t call your mortgage “financial aid,” even if it’s a low interest loan - we call it financing. Maybe if schools called the loan portion “special financing” or something similar, it wouldn’t be so misleading to so many. If they put in their brochures: 80% of our students receive special financing, then I wouldn’t complain. Again, it’s the parents that are new to the process that are the most frequently “duped.”</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the work/study system now, but when I had one, the college provided me a list of jobs to choose from. I chose one that worked best for my schedule. My job was M-F from 2 pm - 5 pm. That gave me plenty of time to do homework at night and on weekends. I still had plenty of time to have a social life, but I was still able to work 15 hours per week. </p>
<p>As I understand it now, most of the student campus jobs are reserved FIRST for work/study students and then whatever are left over are open to the general student population. My son’s job was not reserved for Work-study students because he is a school-provided tutor, therefore the requirements were academically related.</p>
<p>Unless a student is playing a sport for the school (or something similarly time-demanding), I find it hard to believe that a student can’t find 10 -12 hours per week to work at their work study job. My own son is majoring in Applied Math and has two minors: Physics and Computer-Based Honors. He is taking 17 credit hours. He is easily able to fit his work schedule into his school/homework/study schedule. I think we often forget that students have more free time than we think (which is why they are able to “party,” “hook-up” and “goof off” (play with their Facebook, IM, text, play Guitar Hero, etc.) as much as they do. If they don’t sleep in too late (which some do), and get to their first class by 9 am, they can often be done by around noon. There may be one or two days that they might have a later lab scheduled. But, usually students are only in class about 20 - 22 hours per week. They have time after some school days and/or during weekends to work.</p>
<p>I wish work study students would find more time to complete 10-15 hours of work each week. I have a hard time getting my assigned work study student to work more than 1 hour per week. I even have one of the most lax offices on campus…if I can’t find something for you to do on your shift, you get to sit around and do nothing…and stay on the clock.</p>
<p>Student loans may become highly desirable and much more difficult to get with what has been happening.</p>
<p>Nikki…>>> I wish work study students would find more time to complete 10-15 hours of work each week. I have a hard time getting my assigned work study student to work more than 1 hour per week. I even have one of the most lax offices on campus…if I can’t find something for you to do on your shift, you get to sit around and do nothing…and stay on the clock.<<<</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that these students just can’t find the time to work more than 1 hour per week. NOW… if these students are sleeping in until 11am (because they partied until 2am), which means that they have to take their classes in the afternoon, then I don’t feel the least bit sorry for them. </p>
<p>Work-study programs should only be given to those who are willing to live responsibly so that they can come to their jobs. </p>
<p>Again, my son (who isn’t in a work-study program) is taking 17 credit hours (Math major + 2 minors), yet he manages to go to his campus job (as a campus provided tutor) for 15 hours per week. How is it that he can do this, yet the work/study students cannot??? I think it all points to LAZINESS.</p>
<p>I don’t think the fault for not understanding financial aid necessarily rests on colleges. What about all the years leading up to college - you know, the ones during which families should be planning for college? Once the kids reach junior or senior year, it’s usually too late to educate. The federal government DEFINES loans as financial aid. John McCain wants to expand <em>financial aid</em> by “giving more access to loans.” If the fact that somehow people are missing the point that loans will probably be the centerpiece of the financial aid package … how exactly is that the college’s fault? The common data set is there for the reading (usually …). The facts & figures about financial aid in this country are there for the reading. I agree that parents do not know about all of this. And I firmly believe that: 1) the feds, given that they started financial aid as we know it & continue to reauthorize it every so many years, and 2) the k-12 educational entities, given that they have the charge of preparing students for college (at least, that should be the goal) - should be constantly ramming it into parents’/students’ brains that THIS IS HOW IT WORKS - FIGURE OUT HOW TO DEAL WITH IT.</p>
<p>Again, I sympathize. I hate forking over the money. It isn’t easy. I am lucky, because I understood the system before my own child entered the college search phase. She knew how things worked. </p>
<p>But here is an example of the problem. I received an email yesterday from a counselor who works at the high school in my school district. She explained her personal situation - 2 kids, single parent, loans only, drowning in PLUS. She wondered if there is anything she can do to ease her situation. This is a high school guidance counselor. She should know the system. If she doesn’t … how will the parents of the kids in her school know!!! She falls into the unlucky middle class group - the one that makes too much money for anything but loans, but doesn’t have enough money to pay the EFC - leading to more loans. She spends what she earns, and she wants her kids to attend the away-from-home state schools they attend. But reality is reality. Given her position, she <em>should</em> have known from the start that she wasn’t going to be able to afford sending her kids away to the state school. She may have, and hoped for the best. She may not have … and that is even worse, given that she is a gc.</p>
<p>It is NOT only the colleges that bear responsibility for planning for college, understanding the process, cutting back to save or making other choices when saving is impossible. Yes, there are great f/a and merit programs for TOP students - but parents should not count on those. Education about college costs must start early and continue throughout the child’s school career. Senior year is simply too late.</p>
<p>Okay, I’ll get down off my soapbox now.</p>
<p>Let me add this … what would REALLY help would be parents pressuring their state legislators to lower the cost of public colleges. A truly affordable choice would then exist.</p>
<p>Amen, Kelsmom. I see this happening within my own daughters HS. We have a nice private LAC locally that provides a decent amount in scholarships to local HS grads, but instead, the GC’s tend to mention the “top-tier” schools our local grads cannot afford. Most of the kids graduating from my local HS can barely afford CC, let alone a tier 1 institution…and many don’t have the stats to get decent merit awards. </p>
<p>My own daughter has been told that Miami International University is a better selection for her (at 84k just for tuition for her 4.5 years) than a comparable program at Barry University, where I would only have to come up with room, board, books and misc expenses.</p>
<p>Another problem I see if that parent’s are not even reading the paperwork that the colleges are sending. This fall, we had several parents who sent their freshman, via Greyhound, to our campus who did not have enough financial aid to cover their costs. The parent’s had been denied PLUS loans and the kids had been given as much funding as was allowed…but with such poor stats, their merit aid was very minimal to non-existant. We aren’t talking about a couple hundred dollars short…some were $5k or more short in covering costs. The award packets clearly showed that there wasn’t even funding…showing actual costs - awarded funding = cash needed…but I guess the parents figured we’d “cover” the kids once they arrived. We even had one parent who complained we hadn’t given her 2.0 GPA student enough merit funding…this student barely met admissions requirements and didn’t deserve merit funding…other stats were sooo low, he was at the “bottom of the barrell” of incoming students.</p>
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<p>You all know how I feel about HS GC’s in general, but on the issue of financial aid, I’m going to defend the GCs. MOST Guidance counselors do NOT know about financial aid. They simply do not. The policies of the colleges vary wildly in terms of awarding aid and these folks simply cannot know how much or how each college determines what it will award. The GCs at our schools have enough trouble keeping up with the academic requirements these colleges put forth. </p>
<p>The only think I expected from my GC regarding financial aid is that they should tell kids to LOOK ON THE WEBSITE for each college for deadlines, required forms and the like. </p>
<p>And our GCs did tell students that most schools will NOT give them a full free ride, which is so true. Beyond that, it was up to the students and parents to do the research.</p>
<p>Our GC did plan a financial aid night for parents of ninth and tenth grade students. The school hired a person whose expertise was financial aid and planning for college. Our middle school has a similar presentation in the 7th grade just for parents too. Sadly, I went to both presentations and the turnout was pathetic…less than 20 people (each grade has about 200 students). The GCs know that this is important info but THEY do not have all of it.</p>
<p>I am not expecting gc’s to know financial aid in depth or per school. What I do think is appropriate knowledge is what constitutes financial aid, the fact that loans are indeed financial aid & are actually the main source of financial aid for many (most?) students, and the absolute necessity of going to a financial aid calculator to find out what kind of federal aid a student might qualify to receive (which in turn lets them know if they would get all the other cool Pell-driven gift aid). These are bare-bones essentials. Knowledge of federal aid programs - basic knowledge - is not too much to ask.</p>
<p>Our district used to do the paid financial aid consultant thing. I took issue with some of the advice (such as “scholarships just reduce your financial aid”). The session seemed to be a blatant grab to scare parents into paying for personal sessions. I am pleased to see that the newest gc our district hired is setting up a financial aid night run by college FAOs (I will be doing a session). I think this will be more beneficial.</p>
<p>I also think public service announcements about the realities of college funding would be great - after all, that would be the best way to reach many, many parents & students.</p>
<p>My favorite question of the “expert” was…“Do I have to do both the FAFSA and Profile if the school wants it.” The answer they gave was “If you are applying for federal aid only you don’t have to do the Profile, just the FAFSA”. Now…that may be true for some schools, but my kids’ schools were very clear…they did not process the financial aid applications at all until all materials were in…both schools required the Profile as part of those materials.</p>