I wouldn’t say that Berkeley gives merit aid to a large proportion of its students, but to those that it gives, it’s very generous, so I thought I’d mention it here.
Regents’ is given to 200 students in the Freshman class and is a need based merit scholarship that meets need. I believe (although I haven’t had first hand experience of this), that for US citizens, there’s an interview process in order to qualify for the award.
D ended up getting a bit more from the University of Rochester than we had anticipated: a Rochester National Grant for $17,000 a year and a Dean’s Scholarship for $6,000 a year. I’m sure that the Rochester grant was given for her status as NMF, but the Dean’s scholarship might have a need component, I’m not sure. U of Rochester is worth checking out.
When I went to the site, it says that scholarships are given based on merit AND need (FAFSA required), so I don’t consider that much of a merit scholarship when they are really going to be looking at FAFSA to determine who gets the awards.
Isn’t Drew a private university??? If it is, then “up to 10k per year” is peanuts. Total cost of attendance is probably something like 50 k per year! Getting 10k off is nothing – still have to pay 40K per year!!!
I just went to their website – they list the TCA (total cost of attendance) per year at 49,900 so I wasn’t far off in my guess!
If you qualify for the Regents scholarship at the UCs, it’s totally based on merit & I don’t believe you even need to submit a FAFSA. I have a friend whose daughter was awarded the Regents at another UC, where she is completing her sophomore or junior year now.
Actually for Regents (at least at Berkeley); you don’t submit any financial info until they award you the scholarship, following that, they ask you for an FAFSA. (at least this is the way in which it worked for me, it could be that the procedure’s different for US citizens)
If you are a parent of a high school junior or lower, then it’s easy to get “mesmerized” by private colleges that give 10K or 15K a year in merit money - but please remember, tuition is only about 60% of TCA (total cost of attendance).
(below is “per year”)
Tuition is about 32k
R&B is about 10 -12K
books & fees is about 2k
Misc can be about 2k
Transportation - 2K (holiday home trips, etc)
Totaling around $50K per year – so a 10-15K per year scholarship still leaves most parents trying to figure out how to come up with the remaining 35-40K per year (140-160k total) for this ONE child.
FYI - when Room and board are listed on a college’s TCA webpage (total cost of attendance) or in those big “college books” featuring lots of colleges - the cheapest housing and meal plan is usually featured as an example - so that info is very misguiding. VERY misguiding - usually underestimating by about 3 to 5K per year!!!
Your child’s R & B is probably going to be MUCH higher than what was advertised because he/she will want to eat more than 10 meals in a week, and will want to stay in the newer or refurbished dorms which can be 2k or more higher than the cheap dorm that was given in the TCA. And there are usually lots of “food venues” on campuses that aren’t part of the “meal plan” but your kid is going to occasionally want to eat or get drinks there. The campus Domino’s, McDonalds or Starbucks are examples
For example, a school can advertise in the “college books” or on their TCA webpage that their R&B is about 9K per year, but when you look at their actual dorm choices and meal plan choices, you will find that your child’s costs will be about 10 -12k per year (or even higher if your kid later wants an apartment)
Also, keep in mind, that private colleges usually have to charge a lot more for R & B than public colleges – I don’t know if this is because publics use public funds for dorm repairs or if they get food for cheaper or what – But I’ve noticed that publics R & B can be several thousand dollars less.
So, don’t assume that R&B is about the same no matter the college. there is a wide difference!
But also remember that you will save some money when your kid is not at home: food, hot water, shampooo, extra activities, car insurance, etc… and your kid can be expected to contribute some of the costs Jlauer mentions above; summer work contribution $2000-$3000, school workstudy or job $2000. It’s true that a $15000 may not cover a lot, but w/ a $5000 per year contribution from kid, savings from not having kid at home, etc. it isn’t always as hard as it looks from the outset.
I just wanted to comment that after two years of college, I don’t find that we save much by having our son out of the house. As far as insurance goes, you have to keep it if your kid wants to use the car over breaks and visits. And frankly, the utilities and food bills just aren’t all that much less.
I guess YMMV! But we have Geico Car Insurance, and since our kid is more than 150 miles away from home with no vehicle, we don’t pay a CENT for insurance - AND she is covered during the summer and breaks when she is home and driving our cars. (Except, of course, it seems like she is never home.) And we do find that we pay a less for food, etc. But, I suppose it depends on your household.
This also depends on the school. Many schools don’t charge a differential based on which dorm you’re in. (My d’s school doesn’t.) The only differential is a single which is more expensive and triples or forced quads which are less.
I totally agree. Parents still often have to pay for insurance (if kid has car at school), toothpaste, shampoo, etc,. And, when kids buy toiletries or other necessities at the stores near their college (with your money) they often aren’t as “economical” as you would be. I shop sales & in bulk - kids often buy whatever looks goods to them and in smaller, pricier sizes. (For example, I buy chapstick in bulk at club store - son bought ONE on a field trip and paid as much for ONE as I paid for SIX!!!
I also don’t expect to see a huge difference in grocery bill, because during son’s junior and senior years of high school, he ate a lot of meals away from home already.
Also, any money that my kid earns, gets spent on fun stuff - movies, weekend trips, hobbies, dates, gas for fun stuff, extra clothes, etc - the same as now - so don’t expect too much improvement there.
I think this happens mostly at larger schools and/or schools that have some dorms that are “deemed” better because they are newer or have been recently refurbished.
It makes sense - why should someone have to pay the same amount for a double room in an old “out of date” dorm as someone in a double room in a brand new or refurbished room.
anyway, my original point was to be “aware” of the possible differences in dorm costs AND meal plans within the same school, because a school will often advertise its cheapest plans on the TCA webpage or in the college books.
Hmm, most of the universities we looked at didn’t use cheapest room and board on TCA that was publicized. If specific Freshman dorms, then used that cost. If not used an average of dorm costs taking into account double rooms across all their dorms. And food costs usually took into at least 14 meals a week. Common data sets require higher level food plan costs.
Just a comment about private colleges and aid. 10.000 is nothing at those prices, but some private colleges like Drew give more. My son knows some students that got 1/2 which makes them close to some public or other private schools. Some got scholarships with grants and loans. We originally got 3/4 from Drew but that was resinded because our financial situation changed.
My son didn’t go to H.Cross or Fordham but got close to 1/2 . You just have to be careful how much the tuition may go up later.
We were looking at our public colleges in CT and they are all going up 4% a year I was told (but have to check into it myself) but other public schools don’t rise as much.
Also we found the estimated expenses freshman year were much more than we spent, re books, entertainment, etc. But that’s just our experience.
My point wasn’t that every college does this… my point was to watch out for colleges that do this. We saw this frequently. I just wanted to help others keep themselves sane.
Debruns… “Just a comment about private colleges and aid. 10.000 is nothing at those prices, but some private colleges like Drew give more. My son knows some students that got 1/2 which makes them close to some public or other private schools. Some got scholarships with grants and loans. We originally got 3/4 from Drew but that was resinded because our financial situation changed.”
I think this thread is about merit scholarships - not scholarships based on need. One of the purposes of this thread is to help those with high stats (and, often high EFC’s) find merit $$$ because they won’t qualify for anything else. Many universities are very generous when “need” can be demonstrated. Universities like Drew are not that generous with merit scholarships - which is why the point was made that the $10K per year they offer in merit scholarships is a pittance.
My post was about merit scholarships…my son lost part of a grant, not his scholarship. All the rest were scholarships based on merit. I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear. His merit at Drew and his roommates were very generous, but I know that isn’t across the board. Another poster who had a son pick a different school almost got a full ride at Drew (if he got 1400+) but had at least 3/4 offered to him. He was coming from CA. Without her permission, I’ll just post part of her PM message:
At the time my son interviewed at Drew, he told the admissions officer he had a 1290 SAT and 4.5 GPA. He was told if he could raise his SAT to 1400, he could get a full ride. He took the ACT a few months later and scored 31 (equivalent to 1400 but decided to go to Boston)
But we have Geico Car Insurance, and since our kid is more than 150 miles away from home with no vehicle, we don’t pay a CENT for insurance - AND she is covered during the summer and breaks when she is home and driving our cars. (Except, of course, it seems like she is never home.) And we do find that we pay a less for food, etc. But, I suppose it depends on your household. 