<p>They do kinda bury that the awards cant be combined on their website don’t they?
It also doesn’t really seem large enougj to provide much incentive to attend.
Unless they were combined, that is!
Would she have chosen this school otherwise?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, same thing happened to my friend’s S. He was awarded some scholarships that suddenly disappeared, and a family became full-pay. Very shady technique IMO.</p>
<p>The two I have in college already both had other schools that told them if they changed their mind to contact them as they’d still be welcome. Was there a second choice that now is more appealing (and affordable)? I’d be contacting them to see what my options were. This sort of thing would leave a really bad taste in my mouth about School A.</p>
<p>Do you have a lawyer friend who could write them a strong worded letter and sign it Esq.? That may be all it takes to change their minds?</p>
<p>This is fraud. Your child received a financial aid package which formed the basis of their choice of school. It doesn’t matter if somewhere buried on a website is information that might have clued you into that package not being correct. Why would you not take the package they sent at face value? I would speak with a lawyer.
If you don’t want to go that route, you could try to see if your child can turn the clock back to April 30 and see if other offers are still available. A gap year is another option. And I would not be shy about naming this school and telling the story broadly.</p>
<p>To be honest, I never looked closely enough at the scholarships on the web site. I just saw the two of them on the award letter and breathed a sigh of relief. I have two kids in college without a whole lot of aid and it is tough. In this case, legal recourse is probably the only way but it may end up having much bigger ramifications in the long run. The same with spreading this in the press. It may end up harming my kid in the long run.</p>
<p>A gap year isn’t in on the table and it is too late to go back to the other schools…if this was April, it may have been a different story. It isn’t clear she would even want to change her course. </p>
<p>I never in a million years thought that this could be true but…financial aid and scholarships CAN be taken away for no reason other than admin error.</p>
<p>I find this disturbing. I don’t know what I would do in your situation. I would be really angry though. Good luck resolving this…keep us updated.</p>
<p>Angry. Upset. Incredulous.</p>
<p>How much money is involved? That will have an impact on whether it’s worth your while to pursue it–but also on whether the university is likely to fix the problem if pushed. Also, a lot depends on what the paperwork said, specifically. I think I would at least talk it over with a lawyer.</p>
<p>Why stew in your juices over this and not take action? I’d be in full fight mode over this. What is there to lose? This isn’t about not getting the money and having to pay more, it’s about the loss of options to attend other schools which might have been more affordable. Oops, sucks to be you is not acceptable and that’s basically the response you have gotten so far.</p>
<p>I have a friend who would threaten to fly there and kick up a storm to the college pres. She managed to get her way, but the details weren’t quite the same. It’s not fraud, in the conventional sense, if they ultimately have the discretion. It’s like any review, where they could catch some detail they hadn’t previously noticed, make the corrections that not only match stated policy but conform to any Fed oversight.</p>
<p>In my friend’s case, they closed the gap with additional funds that they “could” apply. You may have to take a strategic negotiating position. You may not be able to get them to make an exception and apply both grants- but they may have another way to help.</p>
<p>Problem is: then what, next year?</p>
<p>Lookingforward - exactly. I have to weigh this year’s award versus the longer term. My guess is if I really push this with legal, they will give it to me this year however they somehow take it out from her other award in another year. </p>
<p>It really is messy.</p>
<p>Boy, that would really, really annoy me.</p>
<p>I understand all of your concerns about pushing it, but it just feels wrong that you made this choice based in part on the financials, which are not insignificant these days, and now get a “whoopsie daisy. So sorry.” </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I would still escalate to the office of the president of the university - at least asking for more time to come up with the additional funds. This is completely unacceptable.</p>
<p>If your D selected based mainly on finances, I would start calling her other top choices to see if they still want her.</p>
<p>^ I agree with electronblue in post #30 above. A legal letter, or legal action if necessary, may do the trick. And I wouldn’t be concerned about repercussions. Financial aid offices and classrooms are entirely separate areas of the college…unless this is the smallest college I’ve ever heard of.</p>
<p>Amount of scholarship that disappeared, and is it a 1X or renewable? College is?</p>
<p>OP said that the school told her that several other students had the same error in their FA letter. While they might be persuaded to restore the other scholarship if the OP makes a big enough fuss, they’re probably afraid that they’d be setting a precedent that would require them to do the same for all the others.</p>
<p>I think it’s worth meeting with a lawyer to see what he has to say, though. The fact that the family made a big financial decision based on this mistake might be the thing that makes the difference.</p>
<p>Is a $4,000 scholarship really a make or break deal at a school with a COA of $43,500?</p>
<p>I know every penny counts, but that wouldnt be enough to push us one way or the other.</p>
<p>That’s a significant chunk of change over the course of 4 years!</p>
<p>IIRC, op stated the student was going to attend school even when D had not yet been a scholarship recipient. While I understand that it can be a bit of a sting, but it seems like the scholarship was not really a major factor in determining whether or not student was going to enroll. </p>
<p>If it 2 scholarships (president and engagement) that Kelmoms mentions in her previous post, it says right on the school’s website that these scholarships cannot be stacked. </p>
<p>If it were the Presidential scholarship along with the fellows scholarship (where this is a separate process of weekends and interviews), I would ask what was the error, if your daughter was told (in writing) that she was the recipient of these scholarships. I would also ask what is the objective criteria being used that is no longer making her eligible for the scholarship.</p>