So after the long wait, I get a pretty bad financial aid package! I am just posting this so future students know what to expect when they say its expensive…even for those with low EFC
Total CoA: 44,120 ( including billed and other expenses )
EFC 1394
Total Financial Eligibility: 42,827.00
Total Financial awarded: 22,507.00 ( includes Loans, a work study, and an $8000 scholarship )
Remaining Cost: 20,320.00
I have to agree with you on this. Here’s my package:
Cost of Attendance: 44,120.00
Expected Family Contribution: 3,338.00
Total Financial Aid Eligibility: 40,782.00
Total Financial Aid Awarded: 22,462.00
Remaining Cost: 18,320.00
That’s including a $10k scholarship, federal loans and grants, and work study. Pretty terrible, if you ask me. I’ve already appealed for more aid but I don’t expect anything substantial, especially not this late into the process.
Jeez! So I take it you guys will not be attending this Fall. I hope the Aid awards are better for instate students because I have a pretty low EFC too
@iwrestledafox and @RickyP I was under the impression that to appeal the aid, we need to wait for the form to be posted on Ma 1st. Is the form already posted? I was going to appeal based on reduction of income but it looks like that isn’t going to make much difference as those two efc’s are very low. ARe the loans in your package subsidized, unsubsidized or both? So, is anyone getting better aid with low EFC? I am oos too.
Hopefully these are all just tentative packages and the the CoAs will go down (and not up) after taxes are filed…
Here’s what my (tentative) aid comes out to
Total CoA: $44,120
EFC: $5,759
Total Financial Eligibility: $38,361.00
Total Financial awarded: $20,041.00 (including a total of $5,500 subsidized/unsubsidized loans and $10k merit )
Remaining Cost: $18,320.00
I realize this isn’t the worst aid package, but I’m still lost as to how they expect families to come up with the extra $10-$20k a year- that’s a lot of loans…
My son has been accepted and was offered not scholarship money. He will be taking out loans for the full amount. Good enough to be accepted but with no money at all. He does however have the J & A Adams . He was offered a free ride to U Mass Boston Honors college and awarded $17,000 for Emmanuel. He has taken AP classes,Honors classes,SAT of 1900. We haven’t quite figured out why it is so varied. But he is going to stick with his plan and go to Amherst.
@Diana04 My daughter is also in state, with the J & A Adams, but It doesn’t show up on her Fin. aid package. I know it’s only the tuition amount, (no fees, housing, meals…) but shouldn’t it show on the Spire account?
I think you have to send UMass a copy of the letter you received confirming that you got the J&A award. The systems don’t seem to synch up automatically. You also have to have submitted the FAFSA. More details at the link below
http://www.umass.edu/admissions/facts-and-figures/scholarships
@Diana04 Your son has stats that put him towards the top of UMass Boston and Emmanuel which is why they offered him merit money to attend. For UMass Amherst he is probably just in the mix since a 1900 SAT is below their average. Hence - no merit money. Hopefully you are in state and he won’t have to totally ruin his future with massive loans.
Yes we did submit it. His dad will be helping as will his grandmother. I think he was just taken back at the difference between schools. We are also hopeful that he will get something from the high school awards next month. I am sorry to say I cannot contribute . I’m just grateful that out of 4 children…him being the youngrst…that he will get the chance to go off and do what he wants to for his future.
First two posters, based on their COA’s, are out-of-staters. As a MA taxpayer, I would not expect my tax dollars to subsidize students whose home states have perfectly fine public universities. UMass is a public university whose primary mission is to educate citizens of Massachusetts. I did not expect other states to educate my children. It is what it is, unfortunately.
tedysmom, send the financial aid office a copy of your child’s Adams scholarship letter and it will be applied. It ain’t much, but anything helps, right??
@CanIgoback I think that’s supposed to be the case, but May 1st also happens to be the national college deposit deadline. I had hoped to receive some good news in time for me to make a decision, but unfortunately for me (and fortunately for the financial aid office at UMass, it seems) that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. It’s safe to say at this point that I will not be attending UMass Amherst in the fall.
Other than a scholarship offer of $12k, we have not received any information about financial aid, not even about loans or anything. We will be contacting financial aid office Mondsy. At this point son is leaning toward decision between Northeastern and URochester but having been invited to Commonwealth Honors College is making the decision difficult. Would be nice to have all the financial info to make a decision. And he was accepted several months ago so it’s strange to not have received any info by now.
@Sapphire50- have you checked your son’s Spire for fin aid information? That’s where we found our D’s info. We never received anything in the mail.