Quick Financial Aid Question

Paying for College
1

<p>Hi everyone. Sorry if this is a dumb question but I am confused about what I am reading on a College's website. The college is Union College in Schenectady NY and here is what I am confused about:</p>

<p>"The average Union College scholarship is $20,800."
"The average individual total aid award is $25,400."</p>

<p>Do these averages get added together ($46,200) or are they two different things?</p>

<p>And on another page on the college's website:</p>

<p>"The average need-based scholaship is $29,000"
"The average merit award is $10,000"</p>

<p>And do these 2 numbers get added together as well or are the need-based scholarship and merit award two different things?</p>

2

<p>Need based and merit aid are different things. Need based is based on your financial need, which is determined based on your income and assets and the schools COA (Cost of Attendance). Merit aid is based on your statistics - GPA, standardized scores etc.</p>

<p>Total aid will probably be a combination of merit and need based aid. Merit scholarships generally reduce your financial need.</p>

<p>Remember an average does not mean that is what you will get. If student A gets $40,000 and student B gets $10,000, the average is $25,000. But student B still only got $10,000. So the averages are really quite meaningless. What *you *will actually get will depend on whether you have financial need, as determined by the school, and whether your stats qualify you for merit aid (which usually means you stats must put you in the top few % points of the school).</p>

3

<p>Need and merit based aid is different, but not everyone will receive both. Average merit aid may not an average of ALL students, but an average of those students who qualify to receive it. Total aid would usually include both though, along with student (but not parent) loans. Imho, average aid numbers are the most useless stat schools provide - it matters very little what the average number is. Unless the school meets 100% of need, all that really matter is what they will award someone with your stats and financial situation. If you’re interested in averages, I’d suggest that you don’t rely on anything more than the average % of need met figure (which is provided in the Common Data Set and on College Board’s site).</p>

4

<p>***
“The average Union College scholarship is $20,800.”
“The average individual total aid award is $25,400.”***</p>

<p>No, you don’t add the two together!!</p>

<p>the second number is the average of TOTAL that is given.</p>

<p>***“The average need-based scholaship is $29,000”
“The average merit award is $10,000”</p>

<p>And do these 2 numbers get added together as well ***</p>

<p>No, you don’t add these numbers together, either. Some students may ONLY get the merit award. And, some students may ONLY get the need-based aid. Some might get both. And, again, these are only averages.</p>

<p>Imagine that some school has 500 freshmen, but only 20 students are given scholarships…and the average is $20,000…ranging from $5,000 - $40,000. Since ONLY 20 are given these scholarships, a prospective student can’t just assume that he’s going to be given about $20k. Even someone who is a good candidate for a scholarship can’t assume that he’ll get about $20k, since it’s an average.</p>

<p>However, for Union College, the numbers are pretty good IF YOU HAVE DETERMINED NEED. If you don’t have much or any determined need, then you can’t expect much money.</p>

<pre><code>* Full-time freshman enrollment: 520
</code></pre>

<p>** * Number who applied for need-based aid: 342
* Number who were judged to have need: 279**
* Number who were offered aid: 277
* Number who had full need met: 273</p>

<pre><code>* Average percent of need met: 99%

  • Average financial aid package: $35,815
  • Average need-based loan: $2,670
  • Average need-based scholarship or grant award: $32,597
  • Average non-need based aid: $10,016
  • Average indebtedness at graduation: $24,739
    </code></pre>

<p>It looks like Union is VERY good about meeting/near-meeting DETERMINED need.</p>

5

<p>Do you know what your likely EFC will be?</p>

<p>If you don’t, you need to do so. If your EFC is higher than you can afford to pay, then it won’t matter that the school meets 99% of need, you’ll still be very short in aid.</p>

<p>Is Union a FAFSA only school or does it use CSS Profile? Either way, you need to find out what your “family contribution” will be for this school that meets nearly all need.</p>

<p>Quick FAFSA EFC - this is a rough estimate<br>
<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid;