<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>A friend of mine told me that her child is interested in an OOS school and that the major she wants offers an OOS tuition waiver. She dug deeper and learned that even though it is listed under scholarships on that major's web page without any caveats, the students actually don't find out the amount of the tuition waiver until the week before classes begin. And it is based on number of OOS students entered in that department and how much budget is left!!!</p>
<p>I told her I didn't think that was proper based on threads I read on CC that discussed the national code that colleges are supposed to follow. Aren't schools supposed to provide a financial offer in writing by April and students need to let schools know by May?</p>
<p>Would it make a difference if the offer was listed only on a department's letterhead rather than included in an overall FA offer from school's FA or Scholarship office?</p>
<p>Her child really likes that school but will probably have good merit aid offers from other schools. I would hate for her to turn down a secure aid offer and take a promised OOS tuition waiver offer that turns out to be very little.</p>
<p>Does she have any recourse then??</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any info you can share.</p>
<p>Your friend should ask how much the tuition waiver has been for the past several years. If it’s consistently been a significant amount, then it might be worth taking a chance on. She should also ask if the waiver is for the first year only, or all four years.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of anything like this. My feeling would be that if the family can afford the tuition without the waiver, then why not? But if they can’t, I’d be doing a lot of research into both the waiver and other school options.</p>
<p>If spring comes and this student has large awards from other schools, but nothing firm from the “preferred school,” then she needs to contact that school, inform them of her other offers, and see if they’ll commit to an OOS waiver at that point. If they won’t, then I wouldn’t accept their offer.</p>
<p>This sounds ridiculous, and maybe the family is misunderstanding.</p>
<p>I this thru the common academic market? I would be very concerned about sending my kid to a school with a tuition waiver based on major. Kids change their majors too often. If she changes, then she loses the discount. At that point, she won’t be able to transfer and get great merit elsewhere.</p>
<p>She’s better off getting large merit at another school with that major, and then if she changes her major, she still has the scholarship.</p>