Projecting Grant Awards

My Daughter was accepted to Bucknell University, and was awarded a significant amount of GRANT money making the school affordable, at least for the first year.

The financial aid letter states that when there are a decrease in children in undergrad, grant will decrease “significantly”.

My older son is currently a sophomore, so he and my daughter will overlap by 2 years.

We are also financially stable-my husband is an employee of the city of NewYork so do not expect to have any significant loss of income, etc.

My question is, would Bucknell, give me a projection going forward of the next four years? Or should I simply run the NPC with “one child” and figure it out myself?

Second question- she is waiting on 3 other schools which also have this GRANT element. Do they all pretty much work off the same premise?

She has been accepted to SUNY Binghamton, which she is excited about. It may end up making financial sense for her to attend there where the costs are pretty much predictable.

Thank you to the community for helping me, I do ok but feel like I’m fumbling in the dark sometimes!!

Your need based financial aid award will change once you have one student in college. Will Bucknell be a financially feasible option for your family once your son graduates in two years?

If her other options award need based aid, the package will decrease once your son graduates. The school will expect that when your son graduates, that the money that you were spending on his college will be available to pay for your daughter’s college expenses.

Will the school give you a projection off what you will be expected to pay? Probably not. You can run the net price calculator with one student in college and see what it looks like. Add approximately 5% a year for the cost to cover increases in tuition and housing.

You are fortunate that you have an affordable option where your daughter is happy to attend.

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You apply for need based aid annually at most colleges. There are a tiny few that will guarantee your need based aid for all four years, but most don’t.

But think of it this way…when kid one graduates, you won’t have any college expenses anymore for him. Will that difference cover the costs for kid two?

thank you for your insight. We have pretty much budgeted a certain amount that can be spent per child per year. So I can’t just apply on the tuition we aren’t paying for my son onto her. I hope I am making sense…

I think as I reflected on this over the past 24 hours we have come to the conclusion that any school with a fluctuating grant amount should be considered carefully, as we are waiting on a few more schools.

Binghamton is looking more and more like the prudent option for my D.

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Go to Bucknell, way better option…binghamton does not even come close in terms of quality and career options. In regards to financial aid I would call them and express your thoughts and I am sure they are willing to help.

I appreciate your insight, thank you. The unpredictability of the grant money is what is holding us back. We know it will shrink over the next 4 years considerably due to having only one child in school as well as additional assets we may soon acquire.

We are waiting on two more schools this week.

But I may take your advice and contact FA to see what they can tell me.