<p>How is Penn State for financial aid? I am in state and my EFC is 4000</p>
<p>Not very good. Here is the common data set [H</a>. Financial Aid](<a href=“Error Page”>Error Page). Look at Section H. Less institutional funding goes toward need based awards than federal (H1). The average FA package is ~$9K (line H2j). You should get some Pell Grant and be offered a Stafford loan. What can your family actually pay each year?</p>
<p>I also applied for the PHEAA state grant. My family could pay around $14,000/year</p>
<p>Penn State is ass when it comes to financial aid.</p>
<p>I hope you are instate because oos applicants get basically nothing expect for loans.</p>
<p>You’re instate, so while costs will be lower than OOS, PSU has very high instate rates…</p>
<p>Lucky for you that altho your family has a low EFC, but your family can pay more than 3 times their EFC. That is rather unusual…are you sure you did your FAFSA correctly? Did your parents say that they can pay they can pay $14k per year or is that your estimate?</p>
<p>Anyway…with your family paying $14k per year and a lowish EFC, then you’ll get a small Pell Grant and a 5500 student loan and maybe some work-study. Do you know how much the state grant is for? I’m remembering that it isn’t much, but I could be wrong. </p>
<p>ARe you going to work this summer to set aside some money for college?</p>
<p>mom2collegekids - How are their merit aids?</p>
<p>Be sure to apply for PA. PHEAA grants - and watch carefully for the deadline for submittal. The form should pop up after you finish the FAFSA form. It can provide up to $4,000 per student, but you apply separately for it, not through Penn State.</p>
<p>Igloo…PSU has lousy merit. Unless there’s new info, the only merit is about $5k per year given to the Schreyers Honors College kids.</p>
<p>They do have other merit awards. I don’t know how they compare to other schools…</p>
<p>If you get accepted into the honors college, it is now a $4k a year scholarship. In addition, the website says that it opens up opportunities for additional funding for merit aid, fellowships, study abroad funding, etc. </p>
<p>[Why</a> choose the SHC?: Schreyer Honors College](<a href=“http://www.shc.psu.edu/future/whychoose.cfm]Why”>404 Error: Page Not Found - Schreyer Honors College (SHC) at Penn State University)</p>
<p>Penn State does have notoriously low aid. They asked me to apply for an Engineering scholarship but only if I agreed to attend before applying - crazy.</p>
<p>Igloo …PSU doesn’t give much in merit…from their own website:</p>
<p>"a Penn State scholarship, with award amounts ranging typically between $1,500-2,500 per academic year. "</p>
<p>Since PSU costs are high for instate and OOS, getting that little of merit isn’t going to reduce costs much. </p>
<p>Your question is how does PSU merit compare to other schools that give merit…well…doesn’t compare very well. </p>
<p>Igloo…how much did you need?</p>
<p>There are other merit awards besides $4,000/year that comes with Honors college acceptance. You don’t apply for them separately. I think they are decided based on college applications.</p>
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<p>…
mom2collegekids, you don’t sound sympathetic.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>lol…sympathetic to what? Sympathetic to PSU? or to the kids who want to go there? </p>
<p>Many schools don’t give much/any merit. If you want merit, then apply to the schools that award merit.</p>
<p>Actually, my kid got an offer of $8,000/year. If the honor college comes through, it’s additional $4,000. $12,000/year renewable for four years doesn’t sound bad. Do other schools give much more?</p>
<p>Igloo…your question is hard to answer without more info. Certainly other schools give more merit…a lot more merit…but what are your child’s stats? GPA? test scores?</p>
<p>BTW…was the $8k from the university? or was it a dept scholarship for the major?</p>
<p>If your child has been accepted to Schreyers than he’s an exceptional student…perhaps with ivy stats. </p>
<p>$12k is less than half of the OOS tuition. With high stats, there are schools that give free tuition scholarships or more. With NMF status, some schools give tuition, housing and more. </p>
<p>However, if this is your child’s app year, it’s too late to get money elsewhere unless he’s a NMF.</p>
<p>Edited to add…I see your D is a NMF…well then, the answer to your question is YES…other schools would give her a LOT more…more than $100k for four years.</p>
<p>Penn State says they don’t look at test scores in picking Scheyers Honors students. A student certainly needs top qualifications and essays, but they don’t need to be Ivy level.</p>
<p>Some state universities save their largest merit scholarships for out of state students, because they know they will have a hard time attracting those students otherwise.</p>
<p>I know that Schreyers states that they don’t have a minimum test score reqt…probably so that they can have some assured diversity and not use objective req’ts for admission. By using subjective criteria, they can get a desired result. </p>
<p>That said, those who are offered Schreyers often are the cream of the crop and often have elite school acceptances as well. </p>
<p>From Schreyers’ website
"Schreyer Scholars represent the top 5% of students at Penn State, and therefore should also be at the top of their respective high school class. "</p>
<p>When you think of who the top 5% of PSU students would be, you’re talking about students who typically have elite school stats. And when you’re accepting students who are the top of their high school classes, those are often kids with top scores as well.</p>