NMF/NAF Package 2013-14 & Housing Question

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
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<p>My D has been begging to live in the sorority house or apt for the last year. So for the parents who are expecting their child to live all 4 years on campus, just wait a year and see if they are content to do so. Almost all UA students move off campus after their sophomore year. My D is living with a Senior RA, a sophomore, a freshman and she is a Junior. All but the freshman are sorority sisters. She already feels bad for the freshman since the other 3 are already friends and will be going to activities and events together.</p>

<p>I hate to hear about the loss of housing scholarship. Our home state flagship school, UK gave a 1 year housing scholarship until this year. Now they have gone to 4 years. It’s a better scholarship than when my D was applying to schools.</p>

<p>Giving the kids a housing stipend to live off campus would be a money loser for the university. I can’t imagine a school giving parents money to spend somewhere else.</p>

<p>My daughter was able to use her study abroad money to pay for expenses associated with an unpaid internship. So we are thankful that UA gave some flexibility in it’s use, and all the opportunities the school has provided.</p>

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<p>It’s not just whether my kid thinks it would be fun to live off campus - it’s a $9,000 per year loss in the amount of the scholarship. UA has the right to offer any scholarship package they want to, and they’re still offering a great package. Just not what it was before this change. In our state, it puts them right in line with the automatic scholarship offered by our state flagship for my son’s stats as far as our bottom line costs are concerned (except we’d have to add in travel costs for UA on top of school costs). It changes the spreadsheet, and families will make whatever decision they make depending on money and all the other factors that go into choosing a college. There are tons of students who choose UA and are happy there without free housing, for sure, and that will continue. For the relatively few who enroll based on the NMF scholarship package, this might be a factor in whether or not they choose UA. </p>

<p>Some colleges are a hassle to find housing off campus, some aren’t. Guaranteed housing is just that - a guarantee. It’s a level of predictability that was attractive to us (both in cost and hassle factor) in making a final college choice - it may not matter to other families. </p>

<p>My guess is they figure they’ve reached a critical mass of top students enrolled and don’t think they need to offer that perk anymore to keep drawing top students. Out of 15,000 NMF’s each year, they snag about 150-ish (is that the right number?). This decision will affect that number some, but I have no idea how much. My guess is whoever made the decision did a study and decided that this was the right move for the University. We all knew the full ride wouldn’t last forever!</p>

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<p>Giving the kids a housing stipend to live off campus would be a money loser for the university. I can’t imagine a school giving parents money to spend somewhere else.</p>

<p>Yet schools do this. Auburn does it. </p>

<p>Bama could do something like…$4k per year stipend for on campus housing. </p>

<p>or Bama could do…$4k per year stipend for on campus housing or $2k per year stipend for off campus housing. Bama would have to “do the math” and see what would be financially neutral for them. It may be worth it to Bama to give a kid $2k per year for off campus if it meant having a full pay student in a super suite. </p>

<p>Bama will have about 200 frosh NMFs this fall and probably about 35 NAs. With this change, I see the numbers dropping dramatically for future years. (last fall there were 182 frosh NMFs and 30 NAs.)</p>

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<p>We just visited last week. Allison Verhine (and others) explained the scholarships for NMF with the previous package (housing included for 4 years) info. We had no sooner left town excited about UA, and then this news. It is likely not the front-runner among college choices for my student. The housing part was the piece that “sealed” the deal in our minds. We heard several times on the trip (from different departments) how research has shown students are more successful in college if they live on campus! They cited data about students being more connected to the campus community and being more likely to show up for class. </p>

<p>We’ll need some time to process this change. UA is no longer at the top of the list. I have to believe the folks showing us around and courting our student last week had no idea about this change. That would have been so disingenuous. To say we’re disappointed is an understatement.</p>

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<p>I’m having the same struggles the other high school class of 2013 parents are having. </p>

<p>I remember how excited and relieved I was the day UA posted the 2013 package and it hadn’t changed from last year. </p>

<p>Today it was tough to read the string of posts about current students wanting to live off campus therefore no longer having the housing portion shouldn’t be a big deal to us. For our family’s budget, being able to go away to school is a huge blessing - my kids know how hard our family has to squeeze every dollar and that their dad and I provide all we can for them but material things are very limited. if they are able to go away to school instead of commuting they are thrilled and wouldn’t push (or even be comfortable asking) for more if it was a financial hardship on our family. </p>

<p>Not saying it isn’t still a great NMF package and that Alabama isn’t a great school. - but having so many comment on how the change isn’t a big deal just isn’t true for many of us that struggle financially … we are still trying to figure out if there is a “plan B” that would be a good fit for our children and also have lower out of pocket costs.</p>

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<p>^^^amen. It is as if Ed McMann called and said “nevermind.” I thought it was a done deal after they posted it.^^^</p>

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<p>I love UA. I have drank the Kool-Aid, and can’t wait to send my daughter to this amazing university, and gladly pay for housing. </p>

<p>Like any business, while growing, and expanding they offered “perks.” They have now obviously gotten to a place where they can’t or don’t need to do that any longer. </p>

<p>I for one am happy that the non NMF high stat kids will be treated more closely to the NMF. </p>

<p>Roll Tide!!</p>

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<p>^^^ I agree a change was coming and I think that the reasons for the scholarship changes are many layered…add a housing shortage, students with higher overall stats than NMF’s, and an unprecedented growth in high stats student enrollment (non NMF) to other variables, and something had to give.
However, I think that the lack of communication between the scholarship office and the “front line” people who directly interface with students/parents does a disservice to the university. Add this incorrect firsthand information to the brochures that were mailed with the “old” scholarship info and some prospective students are going to be disappointed and change their minds about enrolling at UA. To make matters worse, the scholarship changes appeared online after the application opening date. This adds up to a problem.
I don’t think there was any bad intention just a bad timing and communication issue. (The brochures have a disclaimer to see the website for the latest scholarship information.)</p>

<p>I also feel that a stipend would have been a better idea,as most students do want to move off campus at some point and it seems more generous to get some money for four years than just one paid housing year. </p>

<p>Bama will more than likely lose some students over these changes, I just don’t know how many since, its’ NMF scholarship is still very generous,
but maybe not enough to entice those NMF’s who were on the fence about their decision.</p>

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<p>Gamom,</p>

<p>I’m one of those of whom you speak. Being a resident of Georgia for the time being instead of Alabama where my heart is and where I was born and raised, I’m familiar with another option you have…the Hope Scholarship, which will provide full tuition for your child based solely on having a “B” average which I’m sure your child should have as a potential NMF. I get a little cranky when people complain about the generous…scratch that…more than generous scholarships the UA offers based on a PSAT score when others often have better stats on ACT, SAT, GPA, etc. Often there is as much as 23 points difference between the qualifying scores among the states for NMF and a whopping difference between that and NA score cutoffs. This in itself seems completely unfair.</p>

<p>Before anyone jumps on what I’m sure will be considered a mean spirited post let me just say that I have a very high stats child currently at the UA and two who will likely be NMF in the wings. I’m very proud the UA has provided this opportunity to NMF and NA in the past and continues to offer a great package to NMF and NA and other kids with high stats. What irks me is when people are like “Roll Tide”…love, love, love and then switch and do a 180 as some have done because Bama cuts the pacakage by 3 years of housing.</p>

<p>If your child is Val or Sal they will not only receive the Hope, but the Zell Miller Scholarship package in Georgia to attend one of the flagships, Georgia or Georgia Tech which are good schools but I personally can’t bring myself to put them in the category as Bama even though my husband graduated from UGA and bled red and black before we showed him the light. Now he bleeds crimson like the rest of us.:)</p>

<p>I’m slightly sleep deprived since I’ve spent the last several days sitting in the ICU with a dying relative, so I apologize if I have a snippy tone. I don’t mean this as a personal attack on you. I hope your child attends the UA and your family reaps the benefits of a very generous scholarship. Comparing cost, you’ll actually pay less at the UA because of the one year of housing and the Ipad and stipend if that still stands. I know because my D was salutatorian and star student (highest SAT) in a large metro system and we compared costs. You’d have to pay four years of housing if your child stayed in state.</p>

<p>The other thing that annoys me is when parents throw snide comments about how their child could attend a more prestigious school but would attend Bama just because of the scholarship. I’m not referring to you, but for those who do that please, please do not insult us with that any longer. There are MANY kids on campus with likely higher stats that your NMF child or at a minimum equal and they could have done the same thing. Bama is not inferior to any of those schools, but if you feel that way you really shouldn’t send them to a school you feel is inferior. By the way, congratulations to all NMF, NA, and other scholarship recipients and their parents for a job well done.</p>

<p>Additionally, none of you are in fact officially named NMF or NA finalist at this point for 2013-2014, right? If so, I apologize. If you have some kind of letter from the UA promising no change I also apologize. Like other schools Bama doesn’t finalize scholarships until late July or early August so you have not had a bait and switch as some have implied. As parents it is our daunting responsibility to make financial choices that will allow for our children to go to college or not. I realize times are tough and most families struggle with this; however, Bama is NOT responsible for this and continues to offer a very, very generous scholarship package others either don’t offer, have cut, or are also cutting.</p>

<p>I apologize in advance to anyone offended by this post. Perhaps I will join Casino/NJ/Brutus and be banned although I don’t think I’ve said anything inappropriate. I’m sorry, but in addition to being sleep deprived and wracked with stress I just don’t like the sense of entitlement in some of the posts regarding the change in the package or the derogatory comments about more prestigious schools.</p>

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<p>On the idea that UA will see a drop in NMF students, I suspect that there will be a hit for the 2013 incoming class because of the gap between current expectations and the new reality, but that in subsequent years there won’t be a big hit because expectations will have adjusted. This assumes that UA doesn’t again indicate to potential students that a certain level of support will be offered only to reduce it as students start the application process.</p>

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<p>^^^As a parent, I can vouch for the awesomeness of the university. I would hope that Bama will still remain on many students’ lists as their number one choice because, I think that UA is the “whole package” as many of you who have come for a visit have often declared.</p>

<p>Yes there are changes in the NMF scholarship package but as bamagirls indicates the scholarship packages were not really finalized yet and NMF’s have not yet been decided.</p>

<p>As I said, the timing may have been a little off but there was never (in my opinion) any intent to be deceptive.</p>

<p>I also recognize that changes were going to happen, it was again in my opinion just a matter of “when”.</p>

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<p>As a side note, I have a nephew who was born and raised and still remains in Tuscaloosa where he has always lived and should have received an instate academic scholarship and $1,000 from the alumni association since my sister is also a UA grad. Because my sister left it to her teenage son who thought he could handle it her family (and my youngest nephew) have paid full tuition over the past four years because he “forgot” to submit the scholarship application. There were no special provisions made because he missed the deadline and really none were expected. Being a great student and otherwise responsible young man, he got a job and helped to pay for his education and an apartment so he could be closer to campus.</p>

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<p>Interesting change. Makes all the recent emails to D1 about still being able to switch out of her dorm more understandable. I am fascinated by the whole art of enrollment management; seems as if the yield this year will be higher than anticipated if they are still short 300 beds at this point. Makes sense after the aggressive recruitment of ALL high stats kids (not just NMF’s.) I’ll be interested to hear if UAH, UAB & Casino’s favorite school all make the same changes. </p>

<p>Having said that, and certainly not with an attitude of entitlement, this change has a good chance of affecting D2’s decision come April. UA is willingly on her list and she especially liked the idea of Blount, but UA is very different than the other 10 schools on her list (please don’t take that to say that we think the other schools are better; not my intention! But they are smaller, less sports focused and her sister doesn’t go there :wink: Most of the schools on her list don’t have NMF scholarships (or are minimal) but much like UA, they have substantial scholarships for 32+ACT students. Since housing now will have to be factored in for 3 years, the fact that UA has the 4th highest housing costs out of the entire list may tip the financial winner to another institution (although I understand off campus would be cheaper, but I don’t like the idea of that without a car.) Is her decision going to be solely based on the lowest price tag? No. But there is a balancing act between best fit & cost. It was so easy for D1 because she had the typical step on campus & fall in love reaction. Housing or no housing, she would have been there no matter what!</p>

<p>We toured 3 campuses this weekend & I heard an interesting tidbit from an administrator about the move to requiring students to live on campus for all four years, due to better outcomes in community building, gpa, and graduation rates. Apparently Ohio State is building upwards so they can accommodate a much greater percentage of undergraduates of the next few years. </p>

<p>I’m sure there are many reasons why UA felt this decision had to be made. It probably wasn’t done lightly. Given the passion that the Honors College administration has for their program, I trust they made the right decision for ALL the students. </p>

<p>I’m looking at this as a way of leveling the decision making process in my house. Full tuition + $1000/year+ $2000 for study abroad and an iPad is a blessing no matter which way you look at it. But in a way removing the housing is a blessing as well (emotionally but not financially) as I know that the decision in April will come from D’s head and heart, and not just out of financial prudence.</p>

<p>Are there any other dorms on the drawing board? Seems as if that 300 bed shortage isn’t going to be taken care of right away, even if the NMF enrollment drops by half. </p>

<p>Roll tide!</p>

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<p>You GO, Girl! (i.e., bamagirls) I have sat back and read this thread for the past couple of days, and while we are not yet at UA, I have nothing but great things to say about UA and their generosity. (I do not have a NMF student, but we come from IL, so it is difficult to be one from this state, and your points about having high stat kids who are not NMF are right on the money, no pun.)<br>
I second the notion that if you are deciding on a school purely because of the scholarships, well, then you might find yourself being disappointed. You will KNOW if The UA is right for your child - or better yet, your son/daughter will KNOW if the school is right for them. It’s all about fit. Nothing else matters. You’ve already won the lottery.<br>
Humbly, please enjoy your kids’ successes and don’t pass on your disgruntledness (is that a word?) to them.</p>

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<p>Thanks RobD, Robotbidmom, and Aeromom. I completely agree.:)</p>

<p>Oh, and Sniner…I’m right there with you.</p>

<p>Roll Tide!:):):)</p>

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<p>Let me begin by saying that I empathize with everyone who feels angry, disappointed, misled, baited and switched, etc. In 1997 my daughter accepted an offer of enrollment from the University of Texas (Austin). A huge component in this decision was Texas’ affordable OOS tuition (around $9,000 annually). Just before the summer of 1997 UT casually informed us that OOS tuition was being raised to $17,000 annually. When we called the school and said, “What the h***?” their reaction was “too bad, so sad.” </p>

<p>In my opinion, UA, a school I love, fumbled the ball on this one by not informing/training its front line personnel to advise potential NMF recruits that all scholarship packages, including the NMF package, are reviewed annually, subject to change, and not finalized until July/August. Every good salesperson knows that it is imperative to set the customer’s expectations properly. UA has shown itself to be phenomenal when it comes to sales, but they really muffed this one in my opinion.</p>

<p>My son is a 2010 NMF who got the big package. He lives in a state where it is easier to become an NMF than other states. One of those states is New York, where robotbld’s son hails from. He is not an NMF (he’s a Presidential), yet I can only hope that my son grows up to be as smart and accomplished as he is. In no way does my son deserve a bigger scholarship package than this incredible lad. I agree philosophically with the notion that the scholarship playing field at UA should be leveled a bit. </p>

<p>We are extraordinarily grateful to UA for the NMF package they offered us and I fully appreciate that every student and family has to discern which combination of university and cost works for THEM. I don’t know if my son would have attended had he not been offered four years of housing. But attend he did and we have discovered an incredible, enriching, forward-looking university that we are so proud to be a part of. My son has flat out stated there’s nowhere else he’d rather be.</p>

<p>Hindsight is easy and it’s even easier to spout my opinions when my kid has a nearly full ride. So, flame me if you will, but my honest opinion is that if you can afford it and you believe UA is a good fit for you scholastically, culturally, and socially, the revised NMF package is still one helluva deal. </p>

<p>Roll Tide.</p>

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<p>I definitely think that this was a move to make scholarships more equitable to all high stat students. Who knows what changes may come in the next years, perhaps higher stat requirements for the full tuition scholarships? This is another change that has been discussed before and I think should be anticipated.</p>

<p>My best advice to prospective students and parents is to prepare for changes, work hard to keep up GPA and retake standardized tests for the highest scores just in case.</p>

<p>Malanai, thank you for the lovely compliments, I can feel my son blushing all the way across the ocean…</p>

<p>I truly feel that all of our students are lucky to have experienced UA and hope that those of you who are contemplating joining us will feel the same way down the road. I am unabashedly a Proud Bama Parent.</p>

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<p>Roll Tide, Malani.:)</p>

<p>Robotbidmom, that’s the exact advice I keep giving my two younger ones who will be HS juniors and sophomores this fall. D2 scored 30 points shy of the Presidential on her first attempt at the SAT when she took it as a baseline as a HS sophomore this spring with no prep. We had her take it early so she would understand where she stood. We have emphasized all summer the importance of getting the highest possible SAT and ACT and keeping her PSAT in the range of the score she earned this year or increasing it since this year is for the money. If she gets it, well great. As long as she gets her scores to receive the Presidential we will be extremely proud and grateful to the UA. Her younger sister scores equally well and is a year behind, so we pray the scholarships will remain available for both even though we realize they could change. We are preparing now so we can avoid shock later.:)</p>

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<p>I’m pretty sure my Alabama “credentials” are as good as anyone’s on this board. I was raised in Tuscaloosa. My parents were on the faculty for thirty years. My siblings and I all attended and graduated from Alabama and have among us six UA degrees ranging from undergraduate degrees to a Ph.D. I’m living, breathing proof that an Alabama degree can take a student wherever he or she would like to go. I’m pretty certain that the fact that I was a native Alabamian who went to Alabama for undergraduate school is why I was admitted to Yale Law. My oldest child is at Alabama – and my second is looking at Alabama pretty seriously. My third child may apply only to Alabama when his time comes and my youngest refuses to wear t-shirts for any other college or professional sports team out of loyalty to the Tide.</p>

<p>With all that being said, however, it really doesn’t offend me when people suggest that the change in scholarship funding for National Merit Scholars might drive students to forgo the full Alabama scholarship with one year housing for a full tuition offer at a “better” school. I’m not naive enough to believe that my beloved alma mater is perceived as being in the same league as Duke and Vanderbilt – or even USC, Tulane, Wake Forest or SMU – by the general public. For that reason, I wouldn’t consider it irrational for someone weighing full tuition plus one year of housing at Alabama vs. full tuition at a higher ranked school to choose the higher ranked school. I’m a little bit perplexed that anyone would find it offensive that some families might articulate the higher ranking of the other school as one of the criteria that might lead to that decision. </p>

<p>In the final analysis, families need to maximize all their resources – whether those resources consist of significant savings, the student’s athletic or artistic ability, or the student’s academic ability (including the ability to perform well on the much maligned PSAT) and use those resources to provide the education that they believe best serves the student’s interests. No doubt that is what those of us who have students who have chosen Alabama did and I really cannot fault anyone for weighing all the factors – finances and academic reputation included – in making their own decision.</p>

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<p>After glancing at the latest posts I came across a thread regarding prepping for sorority recruitment and I think it may just solve this scholarship issue. We just need to get Malani on board as the salesman, Ahpimommy as the resident expert, M2CK to spread the word, and maybe Vline’s son to handle the website. Check out this link which was posted on the thread:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/ed...ity-rush.html?[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/ed...ity-rush.html?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here is the thread in case the link doesn’t work:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1366959-prepping-students-sorority-rush.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1366959-prepping-students-sorority-rush.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Now with over 1,700 girls registered to rush at Bama, just think of the housing scholarships we could provide at $8,000 a pop for what Ahpimommy, Malani, and M2CK provide for free here on CC.</p>

<p>Problem solved and now I will get some much needed sleep. What do you say Malani, Ahpimommy, M2CK, and Vlines or one of you other CBH kids?</p>