Hello! I am not entirely sure how the whole financial aid process works. I plan to fill out FAFSA very soon, and I expect my EFC to be around 30k. Will Northeastern meet my full need and offer me a need-based scholarship to bring the cost down to 30k?
Also, how likely am I to receive a merit scholarship? I have 4.02 weighted GPA, 1540 SAT, 9 AP’s, solid essay and rec’s. If you think I will likely receive a merit scholarship, how much do you think it will be?
Lastly, just to clarify… If Northeastern meets my 30k demonstrated need and offers a merit scholarship of 10k, for example, my final cost would be 20k?
Thanks
You fill out the FAFSA and submit it to the colleges.
The schools take that information and try to apply it to various funding sources at their colleges.
It’s not what you decide you need. It’s what THEY decide based on your EFC.
If you have an EFC of 30K, that’s the minimum you will be expected to pay, and, you probably won’t be getting need-based financial aid.
They have their own calculations and formulas, it’s not cut and dry.
Fill out the NPC on their website to get an estimation of costs.
As of now, assume full pay.
Northeastern also requires that you submit the CSS profile in addition to the FAFSA. Merit aid and need based aid do not stack so if they compute your EFC to be $30,000 and you receive $20,000 in merit aid then your need based aid would be $10,000 at the most. This is the case at most every college that offers merit aid.
So what is the benefit of receiving merit aid? If I receive merit aid, they just decrease the need aid I get so I still pay the same amount with or without merit aid?
Not all families qualify for need based aid.
Ummmm. Not likely.
Your FAFSA EFC determines what aid you can get from the Federal government. There are states that also use the FAFSA for qualification for their aid as well as colleges and other programs. Hardly any of them guarantee meeting need as defined by FAFSA EFC. The EFC usually is the very least a student can expect to have to pay unless getting scholarships that exceed the need defined by FAFSA.
Schools that guarantee to meet full need (NEU is one of them) , almost alway use another form in addition to FAFSA. They have their own definitions of need. Do go on NEU’s website and visit their Net Price Calculator. That will give you a good idea as to what they determine you should pay. You can find each college’s NPC on their websites—most colleges do provide one.
Unless you get a merit award that exceeds your need, it will likely reduce it. Again, each college has its own way of dealing with this. Usually, financial aid packages have some component of self help in forms of work study and/or loans, and scholarships generally reduce that part of the aid package first. In general, you cannot double dip from the financial aid and merit award funds. The merit will reduce your need, and accordingly your aid. The premise behind this is that you are getting financial aid because of need, not merit, and when that need is reduced or gone, you do not get the corresponding aid
So, in your case with NEU, for simplicity’s sake, let’s say their NPC does come up with $30k as what they expect you to pay. Assuming their COA is $75k, they may give an aid package including loans and work study of $45k if you do not qualify for any merit money from them.
If they decide that you qualify for a $10k merit award, they would likely reduce your aid package by that amount.
Why do students apply for outside awards when they usually reduce financial aid?
1). Merit awards can reduce self help in an aid package. At many schools, your aid package may include loans and work study. If you replace those with a scholarship, you can STILL take out the loans on a non subsidized basis and find a non work study job.
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Some schools do allow stacking to some degree
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if you get a nice merit award at a college, your outside scholarship can then stack on top of that
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some students like you don’t know how outside scholarships and merit awards work with financial aid
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A lot of state schools cost less than a student’s EFC. Like in your case, you’d be eligible for zero financial aid at many state schools, certainly mine. A $10k, 20k, any amount of scholarship money would reduce those costs.
Okay I understand better now… thanks for your help