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601

Okay, sorry yet another question and hypothetical. My D also applied for the fine arts scholarship for non music majors. It highly competitive and she probably won’t get it but if she did, or if she found outside scholarships (we haven’t really known where to start with those), how would that factor into her FA package if the NPC is a reflection of her actual package?

For example would any additional scholarships just reduce her grant award from the school? Or would it go to reduce the amount of work study and or federal loans?

I suppose that question could apply to any school.

I know her HS will also give out scholarships to some students, they are probably small and I can’t find much information on them. Her GC just mentioned it in passing one day. They are not scholarships she would apply for, it maybe something the award based on overall performance at the end of the year?

I could probably use this time while waiting to research the outside scholarship piece. We haven’t been directed to many resources about those from our school or the ones we have been directed to our specific to our state schools.

I believe she gets a $1000 per year scholarship for graduating as a Kansas Scholar, but again it would only apply to instate schools.

Maybe we missed deadlines for most outside scholarship but I’ll look today in my downtime. It seems as if most of those scholarship sites are scams.

602

From St Olaf website: Outside scholarships are added to the financial aid award already offered by St. Olaf. However, when a student has a need-based award, college policy and federal regulations may require us to make adjustments to the aid award. If aid award adjustments are required, adjustments will be made first to the Federal Student Loan component of your aid award. If further reductions are required, student employment would then be reduced.

603

@Atyraulove Thank you!!! I’m not sure why I couldn’t find that info. I probably didn’t look hard enough. That’s great news, if we can find outside scholarships they would reduce her federal loans first. This is a generous policy and makes me happy.

But what if by chance she got their fine arts scholarship? I assume that would probably reduce institutional aid, and should. It’s still coming from the school just another pot, so to speak.

604

@Grinnellhopeful she won’t likely receive more aid from Grinnell than the cost of attendance. So…if she receives an outside scholarship…it will reduce her current aid to,reflect that reduced NEED you would have. In other words…if your kid gets $5000 in ourside scholarships, she has $5000 less need. But yes…they reduce the self help portions first (loans and work study). They don’t reduce the family contribution. And If your outside scholarships reduce the self help portions…but then MORE…then the schools usually reduce the grant portion.

Schools won’t award your kid need based aid that exceeds the cost of attendance…plus your EFC.

My opinion…having a JOB is very important. First, there is research that supports that college kids who work about 10hours a week actually do well in college. Second…you want your kid to have some decent work experience when she graduates or when she applies for internships…or whatever.

605

D18 and I attended an information session at St. Olaf, and I asked the question about merit money. I was told this summer at the session that merit aid cannot exceed 1/2 the cost of attendance when I asked if merit money stacked.

606

@katespeare I did ask that too with same answer. They did tell us it can’t exceed half of tuition but as tuition rises they will keep record of award to cover increases. For example if your merit plus music scholarship was more then half they would only award half but could be tapped to equal half again if costs increased. I thought that was a nice touch.

607

OP, per your question above, they don’t have money earning opportunities on campus summer before for incoming frosh. She should plan to earn as much as possible at home that summer before starting school. Could she by chance qualify as a lifeguard (or complete that training)? Those are really well paying jobs for HS and college kids.

608

In my experience the summer work expectation/student contribution was lower the first year than subsequent years. (Like $1200 vs $2200 or so).

D worked in a local restaurant and picked up babysitting and whatnot that summer before the first year. Since then she’s had summer work or research relevant to her major and future career.

609

Thank you all for the input. It seems unlikely she’ll get the fine arts scholarship, it’s highly competitive, but she tried anyway. We still don’t know for certain she’ll get in.

I absolutely am 100 percent supportive and want her to work I hope no one is getting the impression that anybody in this home doesn’t work? Just because I didn’t make a lot of money doesn’t mean I didn’t and don’t bust my *ss. Working on campus is going to be amazing for her not to mention I think those are important skills for later, I think it will help her self-confidence, and will also create an atmosphere where she becomes engaged immediately upon arrival to campus.

@intparent the lifeguard point…she looked it it last year and sadly doesn’t pay that well, less than $8.00 and hour, and the hours are somewhat limited. Those applications open up in February I believe. She does need to complete lifeguard training so we have missed the boat?

She’ll find something I’m sure. I’m just not optimistic about her ability to make several thousand over June and July. Heck, I won’t make several thousand over June and July.

610

I don’t think anyone believes you don’t want her to work. The concern is that it sounds like you live in an area where it might be tough to meet the expectations colleges have. Lifeguarding at college might pay well was part of my point - but I understand that most kids don’t have the qualifications.

611

@intparent At this point I’m only using the StO NPC as reference, those numbers were posted in detail above somewhere. But the good news is her efc or family contribution is only $207.00.

It doesn’t look like they are expecting her to earn several thousand over the summer.

I also believe that may change in subsequent years because she’ll have better opportunities on campus than at home over the summer.

612

Waitressing/bus staff at busy restaurants, especially places that do a big summer patio/cocktail business, can be very profitable summer jobs. My kid made over $2000 for the summer working about 20 hours a week as a bus boy at a busy mall-style bar and restaurant. He had no restaurant experience before that job, and went looking in the spring to start in June.

613

@Grinnellhopeful I just started following your story. My search was similar last year for my oldest D17. If I would have read this months ago I could have offered some other advise on your search - however it looks like now you have a couple of great options on the rise.

I did want to comment on the work study. Some others have mentioned this but it is important to understand. My D just finished up her 1st semester at Drury University in Springfield MO. Her are a couple things we learned:

  • Her aid package includes $2000/yr work study income. She had a variety of jobs she could apply for - some where available to all students, some just work study students, and some both but WS students got priority. They all had a different pay rate. The school has to guarantee her enough hours to make up to that $2000/year. She may not get her first choice in jobs. They only need to provide a job - not necessarily one she wants. My D works in the dining hall and likes it just fine - but she can't do any studying while she is there.
  • ALSO - she may not want to work all the hours offered to her. My daughter worked about 10/week at $7.50/hr. She could have worked more, but she felt there was so many other new things she wanted to do and try out her first semester that it made it hard to work more. I feel like it is important to try out clubs and activities that 1st year in order to establish a good social group and connection to the school. She may find she is unable to make that full $2500 her first year.
  • Even though she started working her 2nd week of school, her first paycheck wasn't until the end of Sept. because they only pay once per month. The school will likely require you to pay balance due before then. Plus you will need to have books bought well before then. So likely she will need to plan to pay that first semesters portion fees upfront and use her WS units to pay you or her back as she earns it.
  • Work Study money gets direct deposited right into my daughters regular checking account. She can spend it however she wants. I have her purchase all her own books and let her keep whatever is leftover to use for club dues, or spirit wear, or even dinner out with friends if she wants.
614

Plus she will want to have money on hand for entertainment. The $900 allotment for personal expenses will be eaten up pretty quickly with prescriptions, toiletries, winter clothes, laundry (surprising how quickly it adds up), hair cuts, travel, and other expenses. If she wants to share in the dorm pizza, go to a party, see a movie, or buy a secret Santa present for a friend she’ll need cash above the $2,300 she’s expected to earn through work study.

615

@Sue22 good point. My D didn’t have a car on campus so she took advantage of her free student Amazon Prime account and placed 1, maybe 2, prime pantry orders for toiletries, snacks, etc this past semester. She paid for it using her own money (which was some summer savings plus WS income)

616

@stlarenas I love your post!!! Very very helpful.
My D should have looked at Drury, it’s not so far away either.

Okay I want to be sure I am understanding, because I have no idea how much money I’ll be able to stash away before school starts, I don’t know month to month how things will look. But last year May, June, and July were horrible months for me at the business, I didn’t even make enough to cover my rent at the shop.

So, we could possibly need to pay part of her campus employment earnings upfront?
Or another way I am interperpting is…I need to have several thousand for her the minute she steps on campus, not to mention the cost of getting her there, and geesh I want to be able to drop my D off at school. I want to be there to help her move in, I’ll need a room for myself, etc.

This is starting to freak me out. How on earth am I going to be able to even get her moved in and get books right away?

I know for some this may seem like a very small amount of money but sadly, I sometimes struggle to have even an extra $100 right now, or extra anything, but if this summer is anything like last summer with my business, I couldn’t cover expenses at the business or at home.

And I absolutely agree, I want her to work but not so much she doesn’t have some balance. It’s goimg to be super important that she engage as quickly as possible.

Sounds like I need scratch off tickets…lol I don’t need hundreds of thousand but just some cushion that I don’t anticipate having this summer. She and I also lose the court ordered support for her on 7/1…trust me that $600went directly to things like her medication, phone, copays, etc. And she will need a computer, the school provides their. computer right now but that will be gone 5/30/2018

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the input. These are things coincidentally I was starting to fret about this morning, the issue of getting her there and my real NEED to take her. I hadn’t considered we might need to come up with the money for her books right away.

Thank you for the explanation of how work study works. I saw a page on the website regarding it but hadn’t pieced together what I believe I’m learning from you.

617

Some schools stack their own scholarships (music on top of the ‘$44k in grants’ that came out in your NPC), others do not. My daughter’s school will stack any outside scholarship but will not stack its own merit scholarships. She got a merit scholarship for her gpa/scores, but then could not get the one for being an eagle scout or being on the robotics team. Also, some of her outside scholarships were limited to tuition, so the school lowered its own merit toward tuition. It was a wash to us.

Part of the problem with the way the NPC gave the numbers is that you don’t know what part of the $44k in ‘St Olaf’s aid’ is merit and what is need. If you get $5000 in outside scholarships and some of that $44k is need based, it may be a wash for you. Your need goes down $5000, so the $44k in aid from the school goes down $5000. A wash.

It’s pretty easy to figure out what the school expects as a family contribution or a student contribution. Add up the billed costs (tuition, r&b, fees). Then add up the grants and loans, which is money that will be there on Day 1 to pay the bill. The difference is the amount you owe to the school or get refunded if it is a negative number and you can use it to pay all the other incidentals, books, travel, toothpaste, clothing, and pizza. You are entirely in control of that number and the school will not ask you for the money for travel even though it has included it in the COA and has based FA on that COA.

Ex.: tuition, r&b, and fees = $45k

  1. Add scholarships, grants, loans = $47k. School will give you $2000 and you can earn anything else you need.
  2. Add sch, grants, loans = $45k. A wash. You need to pay OOP for everything.
  3. Add sch, grants, loans =$44k. You own the School $1000 (probably half) on day 1 and have to pay for everything.

The school can estimate the COA at $50k, but they are only going to bill you $45. You control how much of that $5k you need to earn. Cheaper travel, cheaper books, no spending money, and you may only need $1000. Another student might spend $7k.

If the school determines COA is $50k, in most cases they can’t award more than $50k in all forms of aid. They include the work study in that total COA, but it isn’t yours until you earn it. It’s really not different than knowing you have a job starting soon - until you earn the money, you can’t count on it.

618

There is little a student MUST buy that they don’t already own. Maybe XL sheets and a twin comforter. Most all the rest can come from home. But she needs to take whatever paid work she can find this summer – waitress, corn tassling, babysitting, pet care, ice cream scooping, yard work, etc. Cobbling together any sources of income so she has at least several hundred dolllars in the bank in the fall is important. Will she get any cash graduation gifts from friends or relatives? Save it all, don’t let her spend it.

619

Just some thoughts: I’m not sure what your schedules are like, but is there any chance to take on some babysitting, pet sitting or housecleaning? Those jobs pay well in my area, and you/she could conceivably work off the books. Teens in my area can make $20 an hr babysitting, but I know that’s high for the rest of the country.

Also, I’m not sure what your business is and you don’t have to say, but is it something you can do from home or can you make home visits if it’s a service? That would save you $24k a year. Again, this might now be practical.

It sounds like all the schools she’s considering are in driving distance so when you take her to school in the fall you won’t need airfare. You’ll just need money for an inexpensive room and food.

It’s nice to have some extra cash when you get to school, so your D should work as much as possible beforehand and save as much as possible. I believe there are inexpensive ways to get books. Check online for suggestions.

620

Once you know where your daughter will be attending college, figure out when the move-in day is and how long the parent or guardian is expected to stay for the move. Then book lodging as quickly as possible. If the college happens to be St. Olaf, come back here or PM me for suggestions on lodging.