My son was accepted into Purdue, which we were really excited about because of its strength in engineering. We were SHOCKED to find out that they offered no financial aid. We have an expected family contribution of about $12700, yet they expect us to bear the full cost of $46000 each year - that’s about 55% of our AGI, and we have no savings or assets. I called, and they said that was not a mistake - we were above some cutoff, and being out of state was irrelevant (If we were in-state, I assume we would be responsible for the entire, lower overall cost).
Has anyone else experience this stinginess? I’m not one to feel entitled, but other colleges will generally provide grant aid until our burden is about $25000 or less.
Colleges are not required to make the education affordable, especially at such a highly sought after and competitive school like Purdue Engineering. Especially if you’re out of state.
Purdue’s a state school, not a private school. They don’t have that much money to throw around at everybody. And they don’t need to. They’re already filled to the brim with engineering students.
You’re not forced to choose Purdue engineering. Just reject their offer and move on to a school that better fits your needs.
Our FAFSA EFC was higher than the COA. We’re out of state. However, we knew that going into the game (been through this process with two other sibs) and we were surprised that Purdue was realistic in THEIR estimate of what our cost would be in order to determine our REAL cost of attendance. They are the only school who estimated a realistic figure for travel expenses (airfare to and from campus two times a year) and utilized the highest room and board figures, in addition to out-of-state tuition and the engineering fee, it all adds up. In our case, it bumped the COA above our EFC; hence, son was offered a subsidized loan in addition to the unsubsidized loan. Purdue was his first choice from the moment we stepped on campus. Knowing that it was going to cost about the same for any school he applied to, the offer of a subsidized loan helped in the initial cash flow department.
Most schools will utilize an “average” figure for room and board, which sometimes low-balls the total real COA, which you only realize after you accept the offer and then choose a dorm and food plan and incur travel expenses for the entire academic year.
I don’t know if they did this for everyone, but we weren’t expecting much of anything to begin with and were pleasantly surprised in the end. Not happy to pay as much as we will be, but we knew the situation we were in financially before going into this process.
Sorry to hear you are disappointed, but that is why you have your child apply to not only academic “safeties” but financial safeties as well. I hope things work out for you.
Sorry you feel everyone else should pay for your childs education. Why should Indiana tax payers foot the bill for an out of state student. There are only a handful of state schools that award need based aid.
We were actually totally surprised at how much we got. Our EFC is $4400, and Purdue came pretty darn close to that (we would owe about 7K a year for tuition/room/board). We’re OOS, and I was not expecting this. Currently, it’s the most affordable school, but we would have to figure in travel costs, so that will be something to consider.
I’m right there with the last commenter, quite shocked at how generous Purdue was with our aid. Made it eventually cheaper than even my in state UIUC. It’s strange because I’m hearing from many people that Purdue is quite stingy on aid
Since some folks are getting what they described as generous aid (even out of state), I wonder if Purdue simply does not “graduate” their aid very well. In other words, below the cutoff you are taken care of, above the cutoff, you are on your own. Unless you are very low income or wealthy, forget about affording to go to Purdue.
To Daverdo, By the way, I expect to pay for my kid’s college, and can probably manage up to $25000/yr of the typical $45K-$65K annual cost. More than that, and we risk bankruptcy after four years. I don’t have the attitude that “other people should pay for my kid’s education” but the financial aid system is there for a reason - mainly to compensate for the perverse cost of a higher education and ensuring that we as a society do not sink further into economic polarization and social immobility. Millions of people use financial aid. Other private and public colleges offer reasonable packages. I am just saying that Purdue didn’t even come close to helping to a similar degree compared to other private and public colleges in our case.
OP, you may be right about the cutoff. I know in California, there’s a special program, the Blue Gold program, which give free tution at the UCs for families making under 80K. Maybe there’s something similar going on here.
fire123, he’ll certainly chose another school that helps out better financially, but at this point, Purdue is the strongest in engineering among those that have accepted his application, so I am sad that I can not tell him to just go to the best school.
He did get into Emory, but waitlisted at Georgia Tech. Emory’s financial package is manageable, and there is the option of doing a 3-2 program in engineering – sort of a back door way to get into Georgia Tech. Maybe that is the best strategy, but definitely a different kind of commitment and not without it’s own caveats (eg preparedness compared to regular 4-year engineering program)
@sbjdorlo Indiana has something somewhat similar to California’s Blue Gold program. It’s called the 21st Century Scholars. But, the income requirements for it are pretty harsh (for a family of 3, the maximum annual income is $36.5k).
For the Indiana HS Class of 2015, it’s a full ride for Purdue (provided the EFC is $0; Indiana pays for the tuition while Purdue covers the rest). For HS Class of 2016 and after, it’s uncertain right now as the Indiana legislature instituted a new requirement. Previously, you only had to be income eligible at the time of application (in 7th or 8th grade). It didn’t matter if the family income was higher than the annual limit at the time the scholarship was disbursed to the college.
Now, you have to income eligible at the time of application and enrollment in college.
All I know is, based on our EFC of $4400 (income last year of about 74K for family of 5 with two in college), son got 10K Presidential Scholarship, 10K General Non-Res Grant, 10K Purdue General Non-Res Scholarship, $1325 Pell Grant, and something called Access and Success Incentive Grant for $500.
@sbjdorlo The Purdue financial aid packages weren’t the easiest thing to decipher. But, it sounds like your son got awarded ~$32k in gift aid. For OOS students, the estimated COA is $42k (assuming a non-engineering, technology, or aviation major). So, a $10k/year gap.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to get a combination of federal and private lenders to lend you that much. It certainly won’t be pleasant, but it should be manageable.
I don’t look at COA, @snappletop, I look at direct billed amount. As I have found with my older son, you can really budget well and cut back on costs such as books and personal expenses. So, if you just look at the tuition, fees, room and board, the total is $38,834 - $31,825 = $7,009 billed amount (the amount that Purdue would bill us).
My son will likely borrow from my father rather than from other sources if he needs to. That’s still in negotiation. We have enough to cover him for about 2 years at that rate.