Reveal your child's financial aid award here

Paying for College
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<p>Out of curiosity, I am wondering, rather nosily, what sorts of financial aid, need based and merit, y'all are getting for 2009-10. My D received one award this week from a private LAC that looked like this:</p>

<p>3500 Stafford loan (unsubsidized)
31500 -- PLUS loan (I cannot fathom who would loan me this much cash!)
1500 -- campus job
10000 -- Presidential Scholar merit award (average stats, as you all know)</p>

<hr>

<p>and our EFC is about 4000</p>

<p>The cost of attendance is 49,400$. She will not be going here because when I factor in the debt, the travel costs, and the money it would take to make her feel socially comfortable (girls and clothes, girls and handbags, yada yada yada), it is just ridiculous.</p>

<p>The school to which she is going and was accepted rolling admissions is a public college that is not very well known but is, oddly enough, a Division I NCAA school, in central Virginia. And their estimated offer of aid is:</p>

<p>Pell Grant 4731
Perkins loan 1000
Grant 4739</p>

<p>And this school is about $13,600 a year; our share is about $3000 (not counting the loan).</p>

<p>We will probably skip the loan as D has just started a job that is full time on vacations and part time, 20 hrs a week, during the Winter and Spring semester. She will also work in the summer fulltime. She is working on the maintenance crew at a golf course with lots of different tasks, ranging from working in the snack bar to washing golf balls. </p>

<p>We have identified additional costs ranging from textbooks, clothing, transportation home, an allowance for food and entertainment (pocket money), and a monthly prescription co-payment of $10. </p>

<p>If all goes as planned, I will pay the EFC; she will pay the Perkins part from her earnings; and she will use the rest of her earnings for additional costs. I will pay for the textbooks for Spring semester and she will buy the textbooks for the Fall (first) semester.</p>

<p>Sophomore year will be different since she will not be working during the academic year and will only have summer earnings, but overall, our solution is an affordable one, for us, and D is very happy with the school.</p>

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<p>I am not a parent, although I will tell my FA package from a top liberal arts college.</p>

<p>Grant: $48,000
Loans: $0
Work-Study: $2250
Student Summer Expectation: $1700</p>

<p>It's a Questbridge Match scholarship (Low-Income, High-Achieving program), hence the ridiculous grant amount.</p>

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<p>LindaCarmichael - the perkins loans is a great loan. Interest (5%)does NOT accrue while the kids are in school. You could pay it off after she graduates and still owe only the $1000. Something to consider if you want your D's earnings to go for immediate needs (like those books, etc).</p>

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<p>Linda, Curmudgeon calls the FA example you cited as an "admit/deny" -- they accept your D, but make the FA package so unatrractive as to make it impossible to attend. If your D is happy with the public school and you can make it work financially, I wouldn't give a second thought to the pricey LAC. That kind of gap (which is what I would consider what the school is doing by telling you to get a $31k PLUS loan) isn't going to be eliminated by shrewd negotiations.</p>

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<p>I'm a little confused about the OPs post. If this student qualified for the Pell grant, shouldn't that have been on the finaid award from the first school (not that it would have been a make or break award....but it would have been additional grant money)?</p>

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<p>There is something wrong with OP's LAC aid package. First of all, what is your EFC? You should have received a Pell at the LAC unless the public performed some sort of professional judgment to change your EFC & the LAC does not agree with the public's determination. $4731 is for 0 EFC in 2008-09. A $4000 EFC nets a small Pell ($890) and an EFC over 4041 does not get a Pell. Second, with the scenario you presented, the sub loan for the LAC should be $3500 and the unsub should be $2000. Are you sure the LAC gave you YOUR package?!</p>

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<p>and she has 'unsubsidized' next to stafford loan. Certainly with that much need the stafford would have been subsidized.</p>

<p>I'm thinking that the LAC didn't have proper income/asset information from the family</p>

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<p>Rice has given me $45,000 in Grants and $1800 work study.
No loans, no parental contribution, nor summer contributions</p>

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<p>kelsmom: D was flattered to be accepted by the LAC but likes the public close to home much better, so I didn't really examine the LAC's aid offer in detail after seeing the 31,000 loan. Quite frankly, the public instate is a better fit academically and socially and financially! </p>

<p>Finding the aid offers very interesting!</p>

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<p>I agree- something is weird if at one school- public no less, she qualifies for PELL grant as well as Perkins.
& if that is their offer for * freshman year* I can imagine what their offer for sophomore year will be.</p>

<p>The only thing I can think of, is if public school, just used FAFSA and private school used PROFILE & there were not only substansile assets but possibly a wealthy ex in the wings?</p>

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<p>That might be part of it, EK. However, even if the LAC is using the Profile, the FAFSA EFC would still determine the Stafford, and should still render a subsidized loan, not an unsub. Profile and other assets don't affect federal funds. As well, if that 4000 EFC is a FAFSA one, how did the student get such a large Pell at the public school? A school can use professional judgment, but that means it alters the FAFSA, thereby changing the EFC. It would have had to be changed to 0 to get such a large Pell. these are definitely odd numbers.</p>

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<p>I thought FAFSA wasn't filed until Jan. 1; how did you file already, and find out from the public?</p>

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<p>^^Great point 3321! Also, I thought the same as EK.
As far as a subsidized vs. unsubsidized Stafford, I still do not understand how it is determined. My son got a partial subsidized Stafford from an OOS public U that was much less expensive than private Us (even after merit aid), where he was not offered a subsidized Stafford. Also, another OOS public U that was more expensive than the one that offered the partial sub. Stafford, did not offer anything.</p>

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<p>Hi 3321,</p>

<p>It was an early acceptance estimate based on 2007 and 2008 numbers (my estimate). It is from the financial aid office on their letterhead. Usual caveats about the numbers jiving on FAFSA apply, but I provided very accurate information. Everyone else, I own my house free and clear; I wonder if the private school looked at my equity. Or, as you suggest, maybe my numbers were incorrect on the private's form. I did not keep a copy of the private school correspondence because it is totally off the table. </p>

<p>Anyone else get any good aid? I can say I am relieved that this is affordable. Reading CC for awhile can make one quite leery.</p>

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<p>emerald: can you clarify this statement?</p>

<p>I agree- something is weird if at one school- public no less, she qualifies for PELL grant as well as Perkins.
& if that is their offer for freshman year I can imagine what their offer for sophomore year will be.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your info re: early acceptance estimate. How did you arrange that? I am asking because my son applied early to a number of schools, has been accepted as well and we are waiting to hear about finances, and aren't expecting to hear until after we file the FAFSA. We will then compare packages (4 public, 1 private that uses FAFSA instead of the CSS). We have also already corresponded with 2 of the schools, due to some on-going medical expenses that won't be reflected on the FAFSA, and both said to write a letter documenting medical expenses, after filing the FAFSA in Jan. They were both very nice, but no one has suggested early estimates on their own letter head. (I have done my own on the worksheets etc.)</p>

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<p>I agree- something is weird if at one school- public no less, she qualifies for PELL grant as well as Perkins.
& if that is their offer for freshman year I can imagine what their offer for sophomore year will be.</p>

<p>schools can choose what sort of aid to offer- at least that is what I have been told.
Since offering aid, requires staff to manage and monitor, it has been my experience, that public schools participate in fewer programs overall, at least at schools in states that have pinched budgets.</p>

<p>While my D wasn't offered a Pell grant ( EFC was well above maximum), she * was offered* a Perkins loan( at only the private college), which is generally earmarked for students with exceptional need. While the govt determines amount of funding going to the school, the school decides who has need & contributes some of their own funds as well- making strapped public schools being less likely to offer Perkins loans.</p>

<p>Perkins loans are great loans, low interest, long repayment term, dischargable and no fees.</p>

<p>Another thing that I agree is confusing.

[quote]
Currently, the maximum Pell Grant is actually whatever maximum is in place as determined by the budget process minus the expected family contribution. Because federal law bars negative expected family contributions, the maximum is just the maximum, since nothing is being subtracted for the lowest income families. But if the law were revised to allow negative expected family contributions of up to $750, for example, the report says, the maximum would go up by that amount for the lowest income students.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>If EFC is $4,000, then Pell grant is $731, not $4,731</p>

<p>so this estimate of aid by public school- could be well off the final offer.</p>

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<p>It is very odd that she would be offered a $4731 Pell if the FAFSA EFC is 4000. To get the maximum Pell (currently $4731) the EFC must be 0. The Pell decreases as the EFC increases until there is no Pell eligibility at an EFC of 4042 (for 2008-2009). According to the current Pell disbursement tables an EFC of 4000 would be a Pell of $890. They cannot give you more Pell than your EFC qualifies you for - it is a very cut and dries process and the award amounts are not open to interpretation.</p>

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<p>emerald: can you clarify this statement?
if that is their offer for freshman year I can imagine what their offer for sophomore year will be.</p>

<p>I hope I explained my reasoning for thinking it was an overstatement of available aid at the public school- but to further explain my thinking re: the private school offer...
Some schools make their best offer freshman year. That is pretty easy to understand- they want students to attend ( unless they don't want to spend any of their own money- then they don't want them to attend * that bad* ). Students are also comparing offers. NYU for example might offer a freshman a $20,000 merit grant. Freshman say " yee haw". Sophomore year, NYU may reduce that grant to $2,000. Student is already committed to the school, may work hard to come up with the money, letting NYU off the hook.</p>

<p>I suppose I shouldn't pick on NYU, but they have a history.</p>

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<p>gotta defend NYU, my son has 30K per year in scholarship from from NYU. </p>

<p>Not only is it guaranteed for all 4 years, he got an extra 1K in his sophomore year for being on the Dean's list and they were going to give him another 1.5K if he had gone to study abroad.</p>