No Merit Aid / EFC is Do-able

Paying for College
21

<p>Another source of info is to go to <a href="http://www.economicdiversity.org/profiles_d.php?unitid=%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.economicdiversity.org/profiles_d.php?unitid=&lt;/a> and search for the school. The most recent data there is for 2004-05 so many schools have updated their loan vs. grant policies. Note there are various pages for each school. "Summary" shows by default, and you can also click on Students, Aid Applicants, Grants and Loans and Glossary. The Common Data Set for the school, if you can find it, is an excellent source of info, but not all schools make theirs available. I'd look for the Common Data Set first, but use the website listed above if you can't find the CDS and don't have access to the US News website emeraldkity mentioned.</p>

22

<br>


<br>

<p>The Perkins Loan still exists. DD has it this year.</p>

23

<p>I think one thing that has been somewhat missed in this thread is that merit aid is not going to reduce your EFC. If you qualify for aid, merit will be part of the package and you will just get less need based grant. More than likely, the loans would be the same regardless of merit or not.</p>

<p>As I think I said before, my daughter got no merit aid, but more in need based grant than the highest merit aid would have been. If she had been entitled to merit aid she would have gotten that much less merit. The EFC would be the same.</p>

<p>I really would not worry too much about getting merit aid and simply wait for the financial aid package overall to come out.</p>

24

<p>That is something I hadn't thought about, curlygirl. That's an excellent point.</p>