The AOTC is not available until February at the earliest of the following year. The college bill will need paid in August and December most likely.
Depending on tax liability, the family might not actually get that money available to spend.
If the scholarship is for tuition, then AOTC can only be claimed for fees and books.
At the most 40% of AOTC or up to $1,000 is refundable.
The parent plus loan has a high origination fee and pretty high interest, compared to direct student loan.
The AOTC can be helpful for college expenses, but shouldn’t be considered to be a given for the college budget.
AGI can be reduced with pretax 401k contributions, FAFSA adds them back.in, but I don’t know if HESC just goes by the AGI on the tax return.
The D might have attended a private HS and likes the smaller size of SBU.
She feels she worked hard and was able to get a good scholarship there.
But the school costs close to $50,000 so even after merit and her loan, the school still costs more than a SUNY with Excelsior, (merit) and loan.
The family income is too high for Pell Grant or TAP. And TAP would replace Excelsior anyway. She doesn’t qualify for need based institutional aid at SBU because costs after merit are less than FAFSA EFC.
It is tough when the FAFSA EFC is much higher than what the family can afford.
NY isn’t just randomly raising the threshold. It was a planned phasing, announced right away. They have not indicated they plan on reading it above $125k.
There is no excelsior for private schools. The comparable award is the enhanced tuition award. That is only for those private schools who agreed to participate. As part of the agreement, the state will give the student $3k and the private must fund the difference up to what the student would have received at a public. I don’t believe St. Bonaventure is participating in the program.
Additionally, it’s not exactly just excelsior being $5500 at publics. Unless the student also has TAP, Pell or another award that makes the difference, the student will get a tuition credit so that they get “free” tuition. I put free in quotes because there are strings and if a student doesn’t follow the rules, the award converts to a loan with interest that is calculated from when the student received the award.
Oswego is a good school. I once had an administrative role in SUNY, traveling to many campuses. It has strong commitments to teaching and is in a pretty location. It’s less than 40 miles to Syracuse (shopping, arts, sports). I considered it for my younger, but it doesn’t have her major.
No, it won’t. @mom2twogirls summarized the grant pretty well. The amount of the grant itself might increase a couple hundred dollars as tuition goes up, but the income cap is a firm $125k.
TAP, NYS aid went into effect in 1976 (the year CUNY stopped being free to NYC residents). The max income limit for TAP was 80k then and it is still 80 K today. The maximum Tap award has also not changed (43 years later). I sincerely doubt if the income limit for Excelsior is going to rise above 125k
OP just a thought. Have you tried contacting St. Bonaventure’s FA to see if there is any possibility of more aid? If you are friendly and honest about it, it could be worth a shot. Explaining that your daughter desperately wants to go there, the amount of loans required…
I mean, they might not be able to do anything but you won’t know if you don’t give it a try. I have a neighbor whose son is a freshman right now. She said that he was given work study as part of his package. He’s a student who struggled a bit academically through high school. Mom talked to them and explained that she was worried about him working first semester when he needs to be focused or will fall behind. She said they came up with a grant to cover his work study for this year.
If you DO contact St Boni’s for more aid this year, you need to ask if that additional aid will be available in subsequent years. Otherwise, you will be doing the same request every year, with no guarantee of success getting that additional grant money.
@mom2twogirls I did have my daughter reach out to St Bona a couple weeks ago and request additional, and they did add $3,000 in grant form, which brought the aid package to $27K. I do have a letter drafted from myself to ask for another look. I completely agree, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I will re-iterate her desire to go, my alumni status, and that we will commit if they are able to add. But I also need to be sure they scholarships and grants are renewable for all years.
She also qualified for $1800 work study for the year, so she will do that. And needs grades to remain for scholarship to continue!
Thank you, great suggestions!!!
Some of the Catholic schools have a list of additional aid available from outside sources. It’s not guaranteed, and usually small amounts, but $2000 from the Knights of Columbus or an alum helps. Sometimes there are talent scholarships. And yes, you’ll have to do it every year.
Sometime you just have to take a chance. My daughter had 2 scholarships that had a minimum gpa to retain and she had an athletic scholarship that she had to continue to play to receive. There is no way we could have afforded the school without all those funds. She knew she’d have to transfer if she didn’t keep the scholarships. For us, it was worth the risk and it worked out. I do know people who lost their scholarships and they either had to pay OOP for those cost or transfer.