@Grinnellhopeful She could still apply to Drury - the Scholarship deadline is today jkâŠI think you are good with what you have.
So more specific on payments. Prior to school you will need things like the laptop and school supplies and dorm stuff. DO NOT feel like you need to go overboard with this stuff. There are Walmartâs near every campus. If she really needs it she can buy it after she gets there. IOW - donât waste money on just in case stuff. She will also need to purchase books. You can find them cheaper as rentals and such on Amazon but plan for a couple hundred dollars.
You will need to ask to be sure - but on my bill they deducted all the merit and grant $, then the Fed loan $, what was left was we owed. Now - if the merit and grant $ and loan fully cover room and board and tuition then you wonât owe anything to the school and the WS money will cover all your incidentals and such. HOWEVER - in my case the balance left was my parent portion + half (one semester) of WS. Using your numbers you have $210 parent portion + $1150 WS - So you will have a bill for $1360. Drury offers a payment plan, there is a $40.00/ semester fee to use it. It allowed you to divide that up into 5 payments STARTING Aug 1st. So you would pay $280/ month Aug-Dec. She will probably be able to use actual WS earnings to cover those last few payments.
NOW - if StO truely included incidentals and extras in their calculations then it might work out ok - because then all the WS $ can just go towards those - which you pay out of pocket not to the school bill.
@Grinnellhopeful ALSO - and this might be a big positive. Druryâs NPC assumed that we would pick the most expensive housing and meal plan. But we didnât which lowered our R&B costs by almost $5000/year! Once you get the actual acceptance award letter you should be able to see that. If you donât, ask.
Using this yearâs numbers (next yearâs tuition will likely be higher but the FA award should be as well), the billed costs (tuition and room and board) would be $56,430. Assuming you borrow the full $5,500 the grants and loans cover $55,820, leaving $610 in required payments. Thatâs the money you need to come with to pay the school. Furthermore that itâs split into 2 semester payments and the second isnât due until January, meaning that by August 1 youâll need only $310 to be in good financial standing.
However, sheâll need books, transportation to campus and whatever she needs to move in by the start of the semester so the more she saves over the summer the better shape sheâll be in not to be stressed about her finances. Most kids I know try to come up with their required contribution and book and transportation money over the summer then use the work study money for their living expenses and entertainment.
For other people reading this, be aware that St. Olaf is one of the schools that charges a comprehensive fee. Many colleges have additional fees for labs, athletics or other costs that are all rolled into one at St. O. Make sure to look for hidden fees. For instance, in addition to tuition, at U Michigan undergraduates are required to pay a âRegistration Fee, Michigan Student Assembly Fee, Student Legal Services Fee, and a School/College Government Fee.â
@Grinnellhopeful, something else you may not have considered is the savings youâll experience in not having to pay for food and utilities for your daughter while sheâs away at college. That in and of itself should cover the parental contribution.
My kids attended pricey LACs and received a large amount of need-based aid. But there was some cost to us, and since we had very limited income, coming up with $1,000 for a semester upfront wasnât in our budget.
Luckily, my kidsâ schools had payment plans. We were able to set up a payment plan and make monthly payments.
If you end up doing this, I recommend you set up the plan as early as possible, because youâll have more months to divide the total amount by.
Regarding outside scholarships: our school started posting opportunities, but I discovered some nearby school districts were better about this. I started going to their websites to find out about outside scholarships that my kids could apply for. Both kids received around $5,000 each from area organizations (applied to first year of college only) but that was a great help.
Their colleges used outside scholarships to reduce OUR contribution, which was great.
Do be aware that payment plans can cost a little extra.
Beyond the aid offered by the school itself often a studentâs best options for scholarships are local. Look for them from the high school but also organizations like the local Rotary Club, LOWV, Kiwanis or Community Chest. For instance my townâs Recreation Department has a scholarship for kids involved in community service. Itâs not a huge award but the applicant pool is far smaller than the pool for larger statewide or national scholarships and every little bit helps.
If you Google you âCollege scholarships in [your town]â you can probably find a list of scholarships kids from your daughterâs high school have received. You can then research them to see which she might be able to get.
@Sue22 Not really. I live very very modestly. My house is very small. Iâm not worried about that $207 contribution. Thatâs easy itâs the other things Iâm starting to panic about. And this is based on assumptions that the NBC is correct and that sheâll be accepted to StO. Those are both very big assumptions at this point.
Iâm sure it will work itself out.
@college_query Thank you for the post. I will start looking into that immediately when we know where sheâs going. Yes for some of us $1000 is a big deal.
As I mentioned this morning Iâm way behind on the outside scholarship game. And I was gonna focus on it today but then I actually got pretty busy at work which is good. What a very clever idea. I need to become a little more resourceful like you.
Be aware that many local scholarships can only be used in state. Still apply for them because you donât know where sheâll end up, but we found that almost all the ones in our area were for instate (public or private) schools only.
Another possible peace of mind thing that you might ask about after sheâs accepted at St. Olaf â some schools make funds available for emergency loans to students (generally $500 or less, and generally repaid by end of semester). I did not see this covered in a very quick search of their website but I know my sonâs college and my alma mater do this, so itâs possible and worth finding out about later on just in case.
@twoinanddone Yes, sheâs in the running for some scholarships now, little ones, but they are for state schools. Which is actually quite ridiculous in my opinion because I live right on the state line, and we the two states are considered one big metro area. Now theyâll do oos tuition waivers between the two but that doesnât apply to any school she will attend even if she had focused on KSU Honor College.
But I have found that all the outside scholarships the school made me aware of were specific to state schools on my side of the state line.
That doesnât mean there arenât others. I just havenât found them or really even looked hard for them at this point.
As @93 pilots noted â and I donât know if St Olaf does this specifically, but some LACs provide grant â not loan â money to fund the surprise extras, such as the cost of buying required formal wear for music groups and similar costs. That is probably not going to turn up in a website search, but could be covered in admission, orientation materials, or even just a conversation with a Dean of first year experience.
On a related note, I am one who thinks that, if the final destination turns out to St Olaf, going to the special orientation would be worthwhile. The OPâs daughter sounds like a marvelously directed, self-sufficient young woman, but getting first hand info about resources for a 1st gen student, and just generally getting acclimated before the rest of the students arrive, would be valuable. Depending on when high school finishes, a student might get close to 8 weeks of work under their belt before leaving for a summer orientation. With a tip-based job, a student can do much better than minimum wage, if they find a busy summer spot. I donât mean to get ahead of schedule, since admission and finance decisions are still forthcoming.
@Midwestmomofboys and @93pilots You have touched on something. I probably donât need to start worrying about this just yet? I am sure that I am not the only parent that has these concerns, the schools have dealt with it before and I donât know whatâs available to assist admitted students.
But if weâre focusing on StO they do a phenomenal job of supporting all kinds of students. Theyâve been doing this a long time and doing it well. I should just breathe and ask the questions after admission and FA packages come out.
Iâm sure other schools have something in place, I just havenât heard anything specific from the schools sheâs been accepted to. However, they are right smack in the middle of admissions and probably arenât thinking about the kids they have committed just yet?
She has a deposit in at KSU for the Honors House. she was going to request a refund, I need to check that she did. It was $400.00 and weâll need it for another school potentially StO if she gets, that will need to de done pronto as she is ED.
What do you plan to have her work study earnings cover? If itâs books, for exampleâŠshe wonât have work study earnings to purchase books BEFORE the term starts. And reallyâŠat $75 a weekâŠshe might not earn enough to cover books for a few months. She will need up front money to cover these costs.
If itâs part of the billable costsâŠtuition, room, board, fees, health insuranceâŠagainâŠthis bill will be due BEFORE she starts her classes. She will NOT have earned any work study money when you receive your billâŠwhich will be in the summer before she starts. SoâŠyou would need to cover any costs you hoped to have WS cover.
If she is going to be using this money for discretionary spending like going out for a pizza or something like thatâŠshe wonât be able to do that until she gets her first paycheck which could easily be several weeks after school starts. SoâŠshe might need some up front money for that.
If she is going to use her WS money for personal expenses like toiletries, etcâŠagainâŠshe wonât HAVE that WS money up front.
This is why many college students work full time the summer before they head to college.
@thumper1 I was just asking because I didnât know how it worked. I didnât know what part the WS covered. And I didnât know if she would possibly be going to a summer bridge program or something like it at another school.
Iâm well aware sheâs going to have to work as is she. I was just trying to wrap my head around what possible expenses we might have upfront. I am grateful to now have a better understanding.
Because I may have initially thought that her summer earnings would have to begin covering her prescriptions and her personal expenses like toiletries. Iâm just trying to figure it out. I donât know. Does she even get to choose what her work study earnings cover?
How could I possibly answer your question if the concept is new to us?
She gets a check (money) as she is paid for her Work Study job, either into her hands or into her bank account via direct deposit (depends on the school). She can spend it on anything she wants to.
I suspect your biggest issue is going to be the new computer.
Work study earnings are like earnings from any other job. You workâŠand you get a paycheck. No one is going to tell your daughter how to spend her earnings.
Now I know. I honestly didnât know how it worked. Or what portion of grants and scholarships cover what and what portion the work study earnings went to. When I look at the NPC it doesnât say work study Is for books. To me it looks like tuition, room, board and books are covered in aidâŠBut Iâm brand new at this
Well, all that stuff is covered via the whole aid package and your family contribution (at least, what they estimate those costs to be). But only tuition, room, board, and fees are usually paid via a bill from the college. The books she has to figure out herself (the aid âcoversâ them via work study, but she had to do the work and get the paycheck, for example). The first semester of book purchasing is kind of stressful, but students usually have it figured out after that. Donât just have her go to the campus bookstore â her books could cost 2-3 times more if she does it that way. There are cheaper options!
Thank you! I didnât know. It would be my preference that she download the books either each term. It seems this prices are significantly cheaper than campus bookstore. Iâll probably give her my iPad for that. But I think some of that is going to be personal preference for her and whatever works best for her. Because everything is on the computer at her school, I donât even think she has any textbooks anymore, I imagine sheâll be pretty comfortable with downloads?
You canât get all books online at college, students still use plenty of âpaper booksâ. Sometimes there is online content that goes with them. So she will have to deal with that. But the iPad will be helpful for some, for sure.
Once she has a college confirmed, then there is plenty of time to worry about textbooks and the logistics around those.
jkâŠI think you are good with what you have.