NYU Binding Statement

Does anyone know if NYU’s binding statement “If you are awarded a financial aid package that does not meet enough of your financial need to allow you to attend. In this case, you may request to be released from the agreement.” means that you are only allowed to be released from the bind if you are completely unable to pay tuition (as in income is less than tuition)?
My family earns more than tuition… if I get in ED2 but don’t receive the financial aid I want, do you think I would be able to get out of it?

Your family is not expected to live on stale bread and water in order to meet tuition, so typically there is a fair amount of leeway in what you determine as meeting enough need. But in order to avoid unnecessary heartbreak at the time, it is highly recommended that you calculate your NPC using NYU’s online calculator, while bearing in mind that if your family has any assets of significance, rental property etc, your expected aid package may differ significantly from what the website calculator indicates. https://www.nyu.edu/financial.aid/misc/npc/

Also remember that NYU typically does not meet full financial need with grants/scholarships, so you need to have the talk with your family about whether you/your parents are prepared to take out loans to make up any shortfall and if so how much debt is actually feasible.

  1. If your family decides it is unable to meet the required payments you can decline an ED offer.
  2. Have your run the Net Price Calculator for NYU? If not I would do so now. I'd only apply ED if NYU appears like it will meet your financial needs.
  3. NYU has a generally poor reputation for financial aid. Think hard about if ED makes sense given that finances are an issue.
  4. If you apply ED you give up the opportunity to compare financial offers between different schools. Again, consider if ED makes sense in your situation.

You can decline the NYU ED offer if you decide it is not doable. But it’s a difficult situation each time I’ve seen this happen. There is emotion involved in doing an ED app and a lot of momentum to move forward. It hurts and can cause a lot of stress when the offer is not enough

I’ve seen families, parents, students go into emotional contortions when the offer isn’t as expected. If it’s flat out not affordable. It’s a no brainer , but usually things are not cut and dry like that. It’s often doable with much stretch and sacrifice , and you don’t know what other financial alternatives you might have.

If your second choice is State U that you know is affordable and the offer is way off from that, it’s one thing. But if you have apps in at BU and GWU and Hofstra as well, you are sitting there wondering what such schools might give. Especially since NYU gives no guarantee of meeting full need. You have no idea if this is the best you can get from a college at that price range he.

There are posters here on this forum who have gotten unexpectedly low aid offers ED and they are going thorough this stress. If the school guaranteed to meet full need, and has a rep for good aid, it’s a wake up call that family finances might not be assessed well in the NPCs and expectations for generous financial aid packages might have been unrealistic. One such case is a poster who is struggling with this with Duke University. Another with BU.

But NYU…they do not meet full need. Chances are good a school that does would give you a better deal. Do you want to put yourself through this?

@happy1 @cptofthehouse @SJ2727 Thank you guys. I have indeed calculated what I would have to pay on the NPC, and last night our family has decided that it would probably be better if we just RD’d. Our family earns at least 40k more than tuition, so I don’t think I would be able to decline the offer.
It’s about time for NYU to step up their financial aid game!

NYU seems to have decided it’s focusing its aid game “step up” on free medical school. It’s never claimed to meet full need. Unfortunately it sets the rules of its aid game… presumably you will also be applying to more financially generous colleges. Good luck!

@SJ2727 Yep! thank you so much for all the insight. I naively thought that their free med school would make up for the amount of debt I would rack up during undergrad years if I didn’t receive enough aid.
If I get in RD (without that 10% increased acceptance) with good aid and scholarships, I guess that would truly mean I am destined to go there! Otherwise, I’ll stick to cheaper in-state colleges. After giving it more thought, I’ve realized that name isn’t everything after all.