Hi,
I knew that Lehigh meets 100% demonstrated needed, but what about applying ED? I have read that colleges are not inclined to provide aid for ED students…therefore will Lehigh be serious about meeting 100% demonstrated for ED students?
If a school meets 100% need, then they do so at ED as well as RD. Merit aid may be a different story. Some schools use merit awards to entice high stats kids to enroll and so may not offer much merit to ED kids, as they don’t have to entice them - they are already on board with committing. But need based aid is different from merit.
Here is information from the Financial Aid Office on how they determine financial aid.
http://www1.lehigh.edu/admissions/undergrad/tuition/estimate
I would read this carefully. I do not see the term “100% demonstrated need” anywhere.
Of course Lehigh provides financial aid for students applying early decision. Sadly, every year I see a student on CC who has applied early decision and is upset they didn’t get the financial aid package they think they need to attend Lehigh.
Good luck to you!!!
@kikkydee thanks for the link, somehow I had the impression that it was (probably during an info session), but I think shows the aid is reasonable… I have been thinking whether to get D18 to apply ED next year…
It is stated quite clearly on the Frequently Asked Questions page that Lehigh does meet 100% of Demonstrated Need
http://www1.lehigh.edu/admissions/undergrad/tuition/faq
Lehigh made this change starting with the 2016-2017 academic year. Previously, Lehigh was not a “meets full needs” school.
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Lehigh Frequently Asked Questions:
“What does it mean to meet 100% demonstrated need?
We use a combination of grants, scholarships, work study and loans to meet the gap between the cost of attendance and the calculated expected family contribution. The calculated expected family contribution is calculated by the Lehigh Office of Financial Aid using the CSS PROFILE and all application materials.”
SyrAlum - Thank you so much for providing this! My bad, so sorry!
Families should be very aware of what their “calculated expected family contribution” is and they are willing to pay it before they apply early decision. I would be so nervous to apply early decision if financial aid was going to be an important issue since you are choosing to forfeit your ability to choose the best financial aid package offered to you.
We happened to be at an info session today and they stated that they meet 100% demonstrated need. Not clear how much of that is grants vs loans.
^One other thing to remember is that while Lehigh does meet 100% of demonstrated need, it is the school itself that determines your need. Your FAFSA EFC is determined by the Federal method which is transparent and fully available should you want to dig down into the formula. Lehigh uses the Institutional Method which, like other private institutions, is proprietary to them and not shared with you. That number is taken from the information you provide them via the CSS Profile. That number they come up with will not be the same as your FAFSA EFC. In simpler cases, it could be close but the more complicated your financial picture (business, farm, divorce, trust, etc.) the farther apart those numbers will be. This is also why the NPCs can be off significantly.
If I had a student who wanted to ED to a private school like Lehigh I would ask the financial aid office for a pre read. Might be a way to prevent any unexpected surprises that come along with the offer of admission.
@SyrAlum does financial office do pre-read? I thought it is the admission office does the pre-read. How did they do the pre-read? will you be providing them info in the CSS profile? Say the equity of the house etc? it can get very complicated.
Lehigh does meet 100% need but their formula for determining how much you need is not the most generous. For the two meets full need schools my son applied to Lehig’h’s package was 10,000 more than the other one.
@annamom - The financial aid office would do the pre read but I think contacting your admissions counselor to ask about the process would be a good first step. That person can give you an overview of the process and the contact information for the people you need to talk to. This is for the upcoming admissions cycle, correct? One thing to note, both the admissions and financial aid offices are very busy now with the incoming freshmen class and after that the transfer students. I would wait to contact them until early summer. By then things will have calmed down and they should have more time to answer your questions.
Who determines what demonstrated need is, the student or the college?
@Muad_dib - The college. See post #7 above…
I got in to Lehigh RD and they gave me so much money for financial aid and made it affordable for me.
Col5678,
Congratulations on your acceptance!!! I am so glad to hear they were generous with your financial aid! Have you decided to accept their offer?
@kikkydee Thank you! I haven’t made my decision yet as I am in between Lehigh and Binghamton, as it is a cheaper option in state, but I am definitely trying to sway my parents toward Lehigh because that’s where I want to go!
I believe I read in a link posted on another thread Lehigh had a maximum loan of $5000 per semester.
They offer school loans my package had close to $10000 in loans and a $9000grant
Got to say, my family has been very disappointed. Wife and i make good salaries, but the killer for financial aid is apparently that we have too much equity in our home. Spoke with Lehigh and they basically said to take out a second mortgage or refinance. No grant money and $2500 loans. $65K/yr is hard to pay, for anyone…
@dadofgrad2017 I am sorry you were disappointed with your financial aid package. We didn’t qualify for any financial aid. We went ahead and sent our son to Lehigh and we believe the money we spent was well worth it. He was an engineering student. His salary for his first job was way way above industry standards. The higher salary quickly made up the difference Lehigh charged in tuition. Honestly, I always thought those Return of Investment listing were a bunch of bunk until my son got his first job.
http://www.payscale.com/college-roi?page=3
Of course, everyone’s situation is different and a family has to make the decision that is right for them. But, the higher tuition costs can be a good investment in your child’s earning potential. Best of luck to you!!!