Hi all. I was accepted EA to all four UMass campuses, over the last week the financial aid packages have been coming in and it’s… not great. I’m aware that none of these are meets full need schools, but my parents and I were still surprised at how much it came out to. Amherst in particular- my dad says the NPC came out to $23k, but they’re now asking for $28k, twice my EFC (which is already a figure higher than we can really afford). He’s going to appeal, but I don’t think he’s optimistic.
The other major shock was that out of the four schools’ packages, only Boston offered Federal work-study ($3,500). This is something we always expected I’d qualify for, and need, and I don’t know what to do with this information. My dad said I should email the others and ask them to match the work-study award, and I’ll definitely try, but is this likely to work? They all gave me similar grants and the offer of the max federal loan, so it seems like it should make sense for the work-study to be around the same, right?
I was deferred by Northeastern, and my RD applications are all far reaches, so if I can’t afford UMass, I’m in trouble. As it stands now, UMB is the only truly affordable one, and that would involve commuting and my second-choice major, which I’m not exactly excited about. I thought I could count on Dartmouth, but they didn’t offer me the scholarship I expected (don’t you love moving goalposts?) so now I’m in the middle of a frustrating back-and-forth with them, no idea how that’s going to end up.
TLDR: UMass Boston offered me work-study, other three UMass campuses didn’t, despite the rest of their awards being roughly the same. Will asking them to match the work-study go anywhere? Most likely can’t afford to go without it.
Just so you know, work-study isn’t a guaranteed job. It just makes you eligible to apply for WS jobs. Your family still has to come up with that money even if you don’t land a WS job.
On the other hand, there is no reason why you can’t get a job on campus or in the surrounding area that isn’t work-study and earn the same (or more) as you were hoping to be awarded via WS.
Okay, apparently my understanding of this was very wrong. So if work-study jobs aren’t guaranteed, and you can work on-campus without qualifying, then what’s the point?
Some jobs are restricted to WS students and some jobs give WS preference. Also there is some income protection for WS wages from having to be reported in future years as student income, but in my experience student wages usually don’t exceed the “normal” income protection of about 7k so that issue hasn’t been too relevant for us.
Paging @kelsmom who can almost certainly answer better.
FWS comes from a pot of money that the federal government gives the school, and the school has to provide matching funds. The total pot of money is spread out among students with financial needs in whatever way the school feels is best for its student population. The other three schools may receive less money from the government for FWS, or they may have a needier student population (so your EFC might be too high to be awarded FWS).
From the student’s perspective, FWS is good because earnings from a FWS job get subtracted from reported earnings in future years, meaning that they don’t affect eligibility for need based aid. In your case, though, you have enough of a gap that it won’t matter. The only issue for you in not having FWS may be that some of the jobs you like on campus are FWS only. At a larger school, there are usually lots of non FWS jobs available on campus. You can always ask the school if they can award you FWS, though. If they say no now & you find a FWS only job you really want when you get to campus, you can ask then. Sometimes FWS money gets freed up once the academic year starts.
Since FAFSA is only looking at prior-prior year income, is the WS “protection” relevant for student income earned after January of the sophomore year of college?
When you applied to all of these schools did your parents look at the net price calculators (NPC) on the schools’ websites? That would’ve been more accurate for your cost estimates.
A number of students cannot afford to go to their instate flagships. It’s a common thing. There are many students that go to their community college, and then transfer, to help with the budgetary cost of attending a university.
My eldest daughter had dormmates who were on work-study. The work study jobs were very competitive for the jobs with good hours. There was a girl, next door to my daughter’s room, who couldn’t work the hours (very late evenings) that were left for the cafeteria where she worked. Her family had to scrape together the costs for her to attend the school. She left the university after a semester.
With our middle daughter’s school, the work-study jobs were begging for students. Students, on her campus, knew that they could make more than minimum wage with the other non WS on-campus jobs, as well in the local town. The on-campus jobs were very competitive and more attractive, with better hours and some with tips, in the tourist town.
Our daughter, at that time, had had a lab job pay $20 an hour. She was able to garner that wage because the budget for the labs was huge. They relied on self-starter students who had previously had experience with lab procedures, in a private setting, and knew how to operate the various sterilization and sanitation equipment.
It helps to have previous summer job experience, working anywhere, with people so that when you apply for the on campus jobs, they know that you can handle any job.
I wish you luck wherever you land. Please remember there is a limited budget at each school, and usually the dollars go to the very needy first. You may want to check out merit if there are any merit dollars available for you to apply to at your schools.
Fellow Ma resident. So I’m assuming the $28,000 includes your federal loan. So full pay minus the federal loan. What is your actual budget? Is it $23,000 including the federal loan? I would look into UMaine if you can still apply because the cost may be less than UMASS Amherst or Boston.
The only thing I want to add is that sometimes, depending on the location of the school, students can make a higher hourly rate working off-campus than in work-study or other on-campus jobs. For example, waiting tables or babysitting can bring in $20+/hour. Something to think about as you continue to weigh your choices.
I was thinking about that, but I’m worried about availability. In Boston or Lowell it wouldn’t be a problem, but if I don’t go to school in the city, how hard will it be to find a job I can actually get to? I was planning on buying a car this spring, but seeing as my budget just got slashed it might not be happening.
I understand, that’s why I qualified things by saying depending on the school’s location. If you are out in a rural area working off-campus will likely be more difficult.
Regarding having a car on campus, most students don’t need one…it can be an unnecessary expense. The only time it’s truly needed is if you need it to get to work, and even then, if you are working say 10-12/hours per week (I wouldn’t recommend more than that), the car is still relatively expensive.
I second looking at U Maine, their RD deadline is March 1.
Lastly, I would try to get a good summer job lined up, you might be able to make the $3,500 in what you think you need from work-study before school starts. Good luck to you and keep us updated.
ETA: just saw this. It looks like even with the $3,500 work-study, it wouldn’t get you close to your budget…or am I not understanding? Your budget = $17K, does that include the $5,500 student loan?
It looks like even with the $3,500 work-study, it wouldn’t get you close to your budget
UMass Boston tuition is about 15k and they gave me a 10k merit scholarship, so with or without the work-study I’m fine there. But they don’t offer my first choice major, and commuting is a contentious issue with my parents. As for the rest, that work-study amount would make Lowell and Dartmouth do-able without loans (I’m really trying to avoid loans)- both came out to about 22k total cost, so even with fws I’d still have to dig up 1.5k or so, but I can definitely earn that by next fall.
I quit my last job in November, and I’m currently looking for a new one. Ultimately, I think I’ll be able to come up with a few thousand more on my own, it’s just that it would have been good to have that opportunity, and it was a surprise to not.
I’m not sure the numbers work out but with the merit award from Boston, could you rent an inexpensive apartment nearby so you don’t have to commute from your parents home? You could probably find a roommate pretty easily.
What is the first and second choice major? Sometimes the nomenclature is different- but the subjects that are covered are the same (Like Data Analytics… you could do your own DA
by majoring in applied math and taking finance, econ and a few CS classes. Or Cog Sci, which is just the intersection of Psychology and Neuroscience.)
Maybe we can help you come up with a viable plan for U Mass Boston?
None of the UMass campuses guarantee to meet full need for all accepted students.
In all cases, your FAFSA EFC should be viewed as the minimum you will be paying for college.
I agree you should inquire about work study. But remember too…at UMass Amherst (and the others) you could also get a job off campus. Many students do this.
Regarding the net price calculator results…really they are estimates. Does your family own a business? Are your parents self employed? Are they divorced? Do they own real estate in addition to your primary residence? If yes to any of these…the NPC might not yield accurate results.
You wrote this:
** EFC 14k, but my family’s financials vary a lot every year**
Why is this? Is it because they are self employed?