No. Full rides are few and far between. The Alabama scholarships have decreased over time.
https://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.php
The Alabama-Huntsville are more generous.
https://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/merit-tuition-scholarships
@Skippy00 Tuition means just tuition. A full scholarship for tuition AND room and board is called a full ride.
So there are full tuition awards and full rides (full rides are much rarer).
But often, $10,000 would cover room and board. But don’t forget about books, computer, travel, possibly mandatory student health insurance, etc., when figuring your budget, especially if student ends up farther away from home.
Note that engineering ups the standards for entry, period. 1470/3.95 in engineering isn’t going to be big merit in more desirable schools. Some schools that offer big sounding merit have big COAs, someone cited Georgia tech as a possibility, not at all likely for a 1470/3.95 unhooked white male or admission, certainly not merit. I wouldn’t think Va tech is worthwhile either. Desirable OOS publics are not giving away FA. Definitely have him try and up his test scores, try the ACT. Higher scores might open to doors to apply to more generous endowment schools that would be wasting application dollars with as it stands. Do you have any actual budget number?
University at Alabama Huntsville would be a great safety. It is not your preferred location, but it might be low enough to make the travel costs work.
Clarkson might not work as a safety because it would be hard for you to predict financial aid and merit, but might work as a financial reach.
I don’t know if West Virginia University would be quite low enough, but you can check on their FA page and see what he would qualify for with his stats.
We as the parents could probably contribute $5k per year out of pocket. Geez I am so glad I spent my whole Easter Sunday on this forum. I had no idea about all of this. You guys are great!!
If you haven’t already, run the FAFSA4caster:
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/estimate
I did but we are self employed so will it be accurate?
Also check out Tuskegee University and Prairie View A&M; @ucbalumnus says both schools give better merit aid than Alabama
The FAFSAforcaster or just running a FAFSA form will be accurate, but it won’t tell you what aid an individual school will give (unless you run your FAFSA, get an EFC, and then use that on a school net price calculator.) The reason the NPC on an individual school MIGHT not be accurate is that not all of them ask all the questions that the FAFSA form does. A NPC that asks a lot of questions will be more accurate.
You’e picked up on some of the terms in the game: full tuition might not include fees (some public schools have huge required fees); room and board will likely be expensive; you need to add in travel. What offers can he get from UMass (any of the campuses)? UMaine matches instate tuition and may give him additional scholarships.
I wish I knew what offers he could get from a Umass. I posted that question on the Umass forum. I’m hoping to get feedback. He is very interested in Northeastern but they require a CSS profile so I’m hearing they may disregard our personal income and go by the business income. However we are incorporated.
Take a look at Clarkson! I hear they give some great aid packages, and they have excellent job placement after graduation. (And I may be wrong, because I’m really new to all of this, but I don’t think they require a CSS)
I wouldn’t eliminate all achools that require the CSS Profile based on hearsay. Schools use the Profile data different ways and have more leeway. In fact I recommend applying to some Profile schools as part of a broad approach. Likewise I recommend including some private schools as well as private.
Just be sure to lay your budget out with your son and plainly state that all college acceptances will be contingent on FinAid matching your budget.
Also I just want to make sure you understand that the FAFSA4caster is different than running NPCs, so you should do both. The EFC that the forecaster (and eventually the actual FAFSA) gives will be the minimum that schools are going to expect the family to pay. It could be a good reality check.
If you really want to get into it, you can google and find the actual FAFSA formula and compute it yourself from scratch.
Question… let’s say hypothetically my EFC is $3,000 then the NPC is $29,000. If we are only expected to pay $3,000 where does the extra come from then? I’m just trying to understand this all. It’s all so confusing ha ha.
@Skippy00 - You would be gapped in that situation, as I understand it (parent of a junior here; trying to cram all this in my head too).
Even a school that claims to meet full need will usually come up with its own definition of your need, which could be very different from the FAFSA EFC (which is officially only to determine federal grant eligibility). Most (?) schools that meet full need use the CSS Profile, which is much more detailed than the FAFSA.
So if your EFC is $3k and the school only gets your net down to $29k, you cannot afford it. Simple as that.
To be sure, run the stats numbers using College Data Sets (google school name + college data set; all schools must post them on their own website, or you can go to collegedata.com) – if you run your kid’s stats and compare them to the middle 50 (25-75% range of test scores and GPA) and your kid falls in that range, not above - significantly above - you will likely not be eligible for much, if any, merit aid to possibly make up that gap.
At that point, you move on. The school is not affordable.
(Oh, you are supposed to make up the difference with unicorns and rainbows, otherwise known as parent loans. Do NOT do this.)
Exactly what I was thinking cannot afford to shell out $29k which put that school off the table. That is why I have been trying to use the NPC’s but I am in a jam from being self employed/business owner. I hear they won’t be accurate which leaves me grasping at straws as to which schools to apply to. I’ve never been more confused…
This could easily happen at a Profile school which takes a deeper look at your finances.
The NPC results (but maybe not in your situation) should be viewed as the more accurate. If the NPC says your net cost will be $29,000…then that is what you will be expected to pay, in all likelihood.
So…in the case of Northeastern…cost of attendance is $70,000 or so. The school will expect your family to pay $29,000 of that…so maybe your kiddo will get $40,000 or so in aid.
Schools do not give need based aid to cover the family contribution…that’s the net cost to you.
But really…here is my real,suggestion. When the time comes…have your kid cast a broad net! You need to set you net price cost limit with him…because really that’s what you can contribute. The only REAL financial aid offers are the ones you actually get with acceptances from the colleges. So…apply widely. Hunt down those guaranteed merit awards that will bring the costs to your price point. Sure…add in some schools that are maybes…because…you never know.
Actually the NPC for Northeastern came up with $9k for the net cost which sounds great to me but is it real?!
Did you try a “worst case” NPC run using business revenue in place of business income (i.e. no deductions because some colleges add back business deductions)?
I would t even know which line that info is on. Ha ha I’m not good with tax returns. When I do the NPC’s it tells you what line on the tax returns to get the info. Thank God for that!
So…you can let your kiddo apply to Northeastern…and see. But let the kiddo know that if the net cost exceeds a certain amount…it will have to come off the list.
And I would not suggest ED.
This…it’s well stated.