<p>D got her first financial aid package this weekend (although she already knows of some merit scholarships.) Was underwhelmed - had heard that this school, a mid-level regional university, but one that has a decent program in her field, gave "tons of money" but they did not meet our need. She did receive a merit scholarship previously, and got more beyond that but there's definitely room to wiggle up to our "need." Will see what happens. She is well above the stats, etc., for this school but liked it when we visited and they have a strong program for her major.</p>
<p>Not sure if it means they don't really expect her to attend, or if this is just the way they roll...and don't automatically meet an applicant's financial need.</p>
<p>Anyway, there are a lot of other irons in the fire....</p>
<p>“tons of money” could be referencing to the merit scholarship your D received. For a student who was full pay or close to it a generous merit package would seem really good. The common data set and their own FA web site should tell you the average percentage of need met. Some break it down more than others around income categories. In the end, though, it’s all relative.</p>
<p>Be careful, though, to read if it’s percentage of an individual’s need or a percentage of the student body as a whole receiving need based aid. I have read posts from people who read “% receiving need based aid” and translated it as “% of need met”. These are two very different things.</p>
<p>Average % of need met doesn’t tell you much unless that % is really, really high…like 95% of need is met.</p>
<p>For schools with lower average % met, it won’t tell you much…especially if you have a lot of need (low EFC). If a school has a good number of kids with high EFCs, then with a student loan and some work study, a school can “meet need” or nearly meet need which will affect their reporting stats to look more favorable than they really are. </p>
<p>And for publics, if you’re OOS, then the % of need met can be really misleading if most of the students are instate with much lower COAs…so easier to meet most/all of their need.</p>
<p>Need can be met with any combination of loans,grants & work study.</p>
<p>Most schools don’t meet full need. Additionally the schools that do meet full need, also use additional financial forms besides FAFSA. Need is not what your family decides it is, but what the institution determines it to be.</p>
<p>Again- most schools don’t meet full need.
example-Catholic University of America had 748 freshman apply for need based aid.
627 were found to have need.
626 were offered need based aid.
298 students had full need met.</p>
<p>Was underwhelmed - had heard that this school, a mid-level regional university, but one that has a decent program in her field, gave “tons of money” but they did not meet our need.</p>
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<p>I hate it when people post that X school gives “tons of money” or “tons of merit” without giving specifics…such as…stats needed, awards given, and how much the family still had to pay. Because to someone with a high EFC (say $30k) and gets enough merit where they only have to pay $20k might think they got a “ton of merit”. But a person with a $10k EFC who has to pay $20k, isn’t going to feel like she got a “ton of money”. </p>
<p>And schools that give “tons of merit” only usually give large awards to the top 5-15% of students…so if your student is in the middle quartiles, he may get nothing at all. </p>
<p>How much does this school cost?
Tuition, fees, room, board = $44K (Books, personal expenses, etc. - she will be asked to pay for from summer earnings.)</p>
<p>How much was given in merit?
17K - the highest level short of a full scholarship. Frankly, her stats, EC, SATs, all that are well above average, I don’t know why she wasn’t considered for one, but who knows, right? Could be anything.</p>
<p>How much was given in grants?
Another $5600 in grants, and the full $5500 in Stafford loans. So the total package is 28,100 - falling short by $4K or so.</p>
<p>I am aware that “need” can be met with any combination of things. Of course we hope she receives some misc. outside scholarships, too. </p>
<p>What is your EFC?
About 10,500, if I recall correctly, but that could go up to 11 once our 2011 taxes go into the system since I made a small amount more $$ than I expected. We have two in college next year, but the other D commutes to a state college by her own choice, and the tuition is doable with the merit scholarships she gets. This other university for D#2 (private, in a neighboring state) did not require a CSS profile.</p>
<p>17K - the highest level short of a full scholarship. Frankly, her stats, EC, SATs, all that are well above average, I don’t know why she wasn’t considered for one, but who knows, right? Could be anything.</p>
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<p>Do you know how many full tuition scholarships are awarded? If only a small handful are awarded, she may have been considered but perhaps the few winners could have had hooks (regional or ethnic diversity) or better stats??? Having stats that are “well above average” isn’t often enough. Stats often need to be in the top few % to get those limited full tuition awards.</p>
<p>Did the school offer any work study? If not, ask if an award is possible.</p>
<p>An outside scholarship will just reduce that $5600 grant by the amount of the scholarship. Outside scholarships usually benefit the college, not the student. Outside scholarships are usually only good for one year, not all 4 years.</p>
<p>I find the Collegedata.com site most useful for guesstimating what % of need may be met (assuming most desirable students are getting the larger packages):</p>
<p>A typical report includes not only % of need met but average AMOUNT of grants and loans used to meet that need (so you can find out if the school is throwing loans and no grants to low need students as mom2 mentioned):</p>
<p>Cost of Attendance Detail</p>
<p>Tuition and Fees $38,290
Room and Board $9,310
Books and Supplies $1,000
Other Expenses $750
Cost of Attendance $49,350</p>
<p>Financial Aid Detail Freshmen All Undergrads</p>
<p>Students With Need Fully Met 65% 53%
Avg Percent of Need Met 90% 86%
Avg Financial Aid Award $30,477 $29,025
Avg Need-Based Gift Award $24,670 $23,088
Avg Need-Based Loan/Work-Study $5,377 $4,960
Students Receiving Loan/Work-Study 76% 79%</p>
<p>Borrowing and Debt</p>
<p>2010 Graduates Who Took Out Loans 58%
Average Indebtedness of 2010 Graduates $25,252
Parents with PLUS Loans (Student Received Aid) 13.0%
Parents with PLUS Loans (Student Received No Aid) 1.0%</p>
<p>The Net Cost calculation takes into account only need-based financial aid; if the college awards you merit-based aid in addition to need-based aid, your Net Cost is likely to be lower.</p>
<p>SLUMOM- Perhaps, but it varies by situation. At the school she went to her freshman year, my older D had an outside scholarship stacked right on top of the others. We had a much higher EFC then, too, so her merit scholarship and grant had already “met” her financial need.</p>
<p>And my older D has two outside scholarships, both of which are renewable for all four years. It was a nice deal!</p>
<p>Call the FA office if it is a FAFSA school that doesn’t meet need, they may allow outside scholarship to fill gap before cutting into loans and/or grant - calling is always best</p>
<p>You’ve been “gapped”, it happens to many kids at schools that don’t meet full need.</p>
<p>As gaps go, $4K is not that big, so there is some hope you can bridge it.</p>
<p>An outside job of 10-15 hours/week during the school year could easily make up the $4K. It’s not ideal to work during your freshman year IMO, but plenty of kids do it and survive.</p>
<p>After the first year, you can probably shave a lot from the R+B expense by moving off campus. Many dorms and food plans are very overpriced, you might even be able to save the entire $4K.</p>
<p>Investigate if a cheaper meal plan is an option. Many schools price in the “21 meal all-you-can-eat” plan in the COA. Look into whether the school has triple or quad occupancy dorm rooms, this can knock 1/4-1/3 off of the dorm price.</p>
<p>Can you (the parent) take on more work or a small second job?</p>
<p>If any or all of this is too much of a sacrifice or hardship, then it sounds like you can’t afford this school.</p>
I disagree that working 10-15 hours a week could easily make up 4K. My son attends a school that pays very well for student jobs and he works 10 hours a week (I wouldn’t recommend more for freshman) and can just earn that in gross earnings. My daughter attends an instate public and makes close to $6 less an hour so I imagine most jobs pay between the two. She worked full time for two months in the summer plus more than 10 hours a week during the school year and made just under $5K.</p>
Minus on average 10% in taxes it’s more like $3450 and that is working 15 hours a week which is difficult in itself. Again, I think the term “easily” is a poor choice.</p>
<p>I don’t know why more students don’t take jobs in restaurants, waiting tables. Those jobs are readily available near campus, and they simply crush minimum wage. That would produce well over $4K net easily, even without a summer job.</p>
<p>Edit: Come to think of it, students do take these restaurant jobs. My actual question is why nobody posting on CC seems to consider that possibility.</p>
<p>^^ Oh yes, my kids generally pull in around $3500 each summer, sometimes more if they want the hours. $4000 is not a painful gap between EFC and what you end up paying in my opinion. You might be able to shave off some on the book budget, the travel budget and the “walking around” budget and narrow i to zero (if the kiddo works the summer before college and socks the money away.)</p>