<p>I was pretty stoked when I was accepted to BC but disappointed to find out that my total aid package only consisted of $5700 in loans. That’s extremely low. I can’t afford to pay $50k a year for undergraduate studies. It’s just not worth it.</p>
<p>My parents make above 100k, somewhere around 140k. But that was with my dad working part-time. He was recently laid off and so we’re no sure whether or not he will have a stable job in the coming year. Without him working, our income will be closer to about 100k. Here’s the question: Is it worth it for me to appeal on the basis of his unemployment? If so, how would I get around to appealing?</p>
<p>Send a letter to your financial aid overseer describing your situation and the person should contact you to see if he/she can do anything to aid you. I’d contact BC’s student services and ask for the name of your financial aid officer so you can get in touch with that person.</p>
<p>Dear misagald : More than ever, the need-blind admissions policy combined with admitted students not really understanding what a $200,000 four year education costs to fully finance comes to the foreground not only in this thread, but many others. Earlier on the message board, we repeated the “State of the University” newsletter covering, among other topics, financial aid. Based on those numbers, we provided some calculations for our readers. With $140,000 in annual income and your family having cash assets/home ownership, you can expect very little in the way of financial aid - if any.</p>
<p>As for an appeal, you can certainly (and should have already) informed financial aid about the change in your employment status. However, and this bears repeating, many current Boston College students found their families in similar situations over the last two years. While everyone, including admitted students, are a concern, keeping the current campus students funded was indeed a priority. Money rolling from graduating classes was being used to help both freshmen and existing underclassmen.</p>
<p>In short, it is worth asking the question : with a $200,000 four year education looming, $140,000 per year in income, and some assets available, what did you expect to be paying for school on an annual basis? </p>
<p>Seriously, the Top 40 schools have all been moving away from merit aid which is making the Top 40 schools much harder for middle class people to afford. Many accepted students are being forced into situations where their second and third selection schools that are offering scholarships are getting more than a casual look this year.</p>
<p>Definitely send in appeal – there is no reason not to. But understand that such layoffs/terminations have been happening for decades, and colleges expect that a working parent WILL find a job eventually. Also, note your finaid for fall 2010 is based on income for CY2009. Thus, it is possible/likely that the response will be your dad’s lower income in CY2010 will be reflected in your need-based award for fall of 2011. In other words if his income is a lot lower this year, the grant will go up next year.</p>
<p>btw: for most colleges (and certainly not those in a certain Ancient sports conference), ~$150k income is approximately the break point where grant aid disappears from need-based packages.</p>