<p>Thank you in advance for reading my post. I am taking my daughter for a private meeting at Kings college in Pa on Monday. My daughter really has her heart set on this school which is a catholic school.She has already been accepted there. I am very worried about the cost! She keeps on saying " Mom they give 10,000 to 15,000 a year in aid every year to over 95% of the kids " Now I have been told from a friend that a student from another private college Desalles, was awared several thousand the first year but then not the second year.This poor kid had to transfer out because the cost was going to be far to high. Can anyone tell me if this is a catch with some colleges or PRIVATE colleges??? Do they give you all this money the first year and then students end up transfering out after their first year. I do not want to see my daughter go to the school she has been dreaming of and then have it be taken away from her after her freshman year. I would rather have her looking at more affordable colleges, which we have done, but I do not want to go to Kings on MOnday and have smoke blown up out behinds out money that is promised for possibly only one year!
I am new at all this and it so scary. I also want to be able to understand all this and know fact from fiction.
I want the best experience for my daughter.
Again I thank everyone who takes the time to give me advice with this. It means so very much to me and my husband.
Jessica</p>
<p>You need to read the conditions of any merit based financial aid award carefully so that you know the terms under which it will be renewed. Usually that is a minimum GPA requirement and taking a full time courseload.</p>
<p>Re: need based aid...you reapply for that every year. If the school doesn't meet full need, their award to you could vary from year to year. There is no way to predict the future awards. However, you CAN have a candid talk with the financial aid folks and ask "assuming our financial situation doesn't change, will my daughter's grant be the same or near the same in subsequent years?" No guarantees...but at least you will know their answer.</p>
<p>Keep in mind also, that if your D gets $10,000 for her freshman year and keeps the same award for four years, you will likely be facing increased out of pocket costs simply because the cost of attendance is likely to increase about 5% per year.</p>
<p>Here are some important things to know, and to ask about when you visit King's on Monday.</p>
<p>First, there are two types of "aid" that students can receive. One is called "need-based aid" which is based on the college's estimate of your family's ability to pay for college. The other type of money that colleges can award is called "merit" -- those are scholarships that are not tied to your family's need, but rather are awarded because a student has met certain standards, such as having certain grades, test scores, etc.</p>
<p>Let's focus FIRST on need-based aid, because it is likely that that is what your daughter is referring to in reading the marketing materials from Kings.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The figures of "$10,000 to $15,000" in financial aid are AVERAGES across the aid received by all students at King's, not a guarantee that your family will receive that amount. </p></li>
<li><p>The amount your family will receive will depend on your family's INDIVIDUAL financial circumstances. When you apply for financial aid, you'll be asked to provide a great deal of information about your family's income, assets and other factors. The Federal government and the college will use that information to decide how much they think your family will be able to pay towards your daughter's college costs. </p></li>
<li><p>The main financial aid application that colleges and the government will use to figure out what they'll expect your family to pay is called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Some colleges will also have their own forms and applications to look more closely at what you can afford, but for right now, let's focus on the FAFSA.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>You can not file the FAFSA until January 1. So, while some colleges may be able and willing to give you an ESTIMATE of the amount of need-based aid they might offer your family, you won't have a FIRM number until after you can file the FAFSA and other forms that may be required. Therefore, you should make certain that your daughter understands that she CAN NOT send in her enrollment deposit, or be sure of attending, King's UNTIL you get the actual financial aid award offer, sometime after January 1.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>In order to get an idea of what YOUR family may be expected to pay, go to this website: FAFSA4caster</a> - U.S. Department of Education Fill out the form, which basically asks for the same information as the FAFSA will. If you don't have exact figures for this year (2008), estimate as closely as possible. The FAFSA4caster will give you an estimate of your family's EFC according to Federal guidelines. </p></li>
<li><p>Go to King's website and look up the their estimate of total cost of attendance. Subtract out your family's EFC as determined by the FAFSA4caster. That will tell you the APPROXIMATE amount of need-based financial aid you'll need to receive from King's.
This figure is called "demonstrated need" by colleges. </p></li>
<li><p>Colleges will use federal and state grants, institutional grants, and student loans and work study to try to meet your "demonstrated need." In other words, based on your EFC, you <em>may</em> receive receive more OR less than that "average" amount of $10,000 to $15,000, and your aid package might be comprised of loans that have to be paid back and a work study job your daughter will have during college. There is no guarantee that even that "average" amount they list in their marketing materials is going to be ALL in grants (in other words, money you don't have to pay back or earn). You need to know your EFC BEFORE you go to talk with the financial aid office.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>But, this is very important: Very few colleges promise to meet the full demonstrated need for ALL students. Sometimes they do what is called "gapping" where they will offer an amount of financial aid that is less than your demonstrated need. Sometimes they will offer you mostly loans as part of financial aid. So, that $10,000 to $15,000 "average" financial aid award can mean many things, and your family MAY NOT get that amount. You might get more, you might get less.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>OK, some colleges use another financial aid application BESIDES the FAFSA to determine your family's EFC. Sometimes, for instance, they will consider your home equity and other assets that the FAFSA does not. So, after you have figured out your EFC based on FAFSA, you need to go to King's financial aid website and carefully read what other forms, if any, they require as part of the application process. If they require something else, that may change your EFC.</p></li>
<li><p>As I mentioned, in addition to need-based aid that you only get if the college determines, using their formula, you have "demonstrated need" some colleges also offer merit scholarships. That can help reduce the amount you will have to pay or borrow, but only if your daughter is eligible and only if King's or other colleges decide to award merit scholarships to her. It is not an "automatic" sort of thing in most cases.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>So, here are the questions you need to ask when you go into see the King's financial aid office on Monday with your EFC , your knowledge of what application materials they require for need-based aid, and your knowledge of any merit scholarship opportunties your daughter might be eligible for:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Do you promise to meet full demonstrated need for all admitted students?</p></li>
<li><p>If not, what percentage of students actually have their full demonstrated need met with need-based financial aid?</p></li>
<li><p>How does the average (or typical) need-based financial aid package break down here at King's? What percentage typically comes from grants that don't have to be paid back? How much debt from student loans do students graduate with here? How much work study do you usually include? Is that a realistic amount for a student to earn on campus each year?</p></li>
<li><p>How much has your cost of attendance risen over the last three or so years? Do you adjust your financial aid packages to keep up with any rises in cost of attendance? Are we guaranteed AT LEAST the same amount of need-based aid and merit scholarships the second year (and third and 4th) as we get in the first?</p></li>
<li><p>Based on our EFC estimate, do you think you will be able to meet our full demonstrated need through need-based aid and merit scholarships, or through a combination of both?</p></li>
<li><p>Since we can't file the FAFSA until after January 1, can you give us an EARLY estimate of our need-based aid package now, so my daughter and I can decide if we should also consider other schools where we might get more aid?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If King seems to offer MERIT scholarships that you think your daughter might qualify for, you should also ask the ADMISSIONS office these questions:</p>
<p>Do you think my daughter would be a good candidate for a merit scholarship? When will you make the decision about merit scholarship money? Is there a GPA my daughter will need to maintain to get the same amount of scholarship money in subsequent years? Are there any other restrictions on her getting the same amount in subsequent years? For instance, what if she needs to take a leave of absence for a semester due to illness or a family emergency? How will that affect her scholarship when she returns?</p>
<p>I hope this helps. If you email me at <a href="mailto:CZLAW@aol.com">CZLAW@aol.com</a>, I'll be happy to point you towards some good resources where you can learn more about financial aid. In particular, I would recommend that you go to ::</a> College Planning Made Easy | Inside Source for College Admissions Requirements and read the "paying for college" section under the parent's link. FinAid.org is also an excellent source of reliable financial aid information, but can be overwhelming when you are first learning.</p>
<p>Carolyn is quite the guru on this, and I am so glad she posted! Want to add a little info to her excellent advice.</p>
<p>According to 2004-2005 data, King College had 90% of its undergrads requesting financial aid. 79% of these were considered eligible for aid, and out of them only 21% got full need met. Most kids (78%) got about $14K in aid. 60% got the average amount of $6400 in grants. the rest was self help. 82% of the kids took loans with the average amount of debt for borrowers graduating the prior year being about $20K. Only 13% of the kids got merit money with the average grant being about $8k.</p>
<p>So if your D is about average for Kings College, that is kind of what can be expected. If her test scores and grades are such that she is in the upper 10% of those kids accepted, she can expect to get more than the averages. This is old data. The fin aid office can perhaps give you updated info.</p>
<p>According to King's website - over 95% receive institutional need based financial aid.</p>
<p>Here is a link to the Merit scholarships awarded by Kings and the criteria:
King's</a> College - Scholarships</p>
<p>If you have a great deal of need - as determined by your EFC from the FAFSA - you could be awarded a need-based grant, Stafford loans will most assuredly be a part of the financial aid package as well.</p>
<p>The figure of 13% of kids getting merit money seems low to me. From what I have heard from other parents King's works very hard to make the college affordable to families. You cannot expect to receive 100% of aid in scholarships and grants.
The figure of $20,000 in loans sounds about like the maximum one could borrow via Stafford loans and very reasonable. In other words, there aren't a lot of students getting huge private loans.</p>
<p>As for the DeSales student - DeSales also has a merit based scholarship program. A minimum GPA is required to keep the scholarship. Having one's merit scholarship revoked could force a student to leave school as the dollars probably won't be made up in need based grants.</p>
<p>The websites can be misleading. Financial assistance is not necessarily financial aid. Our high school considers payment schedule as financial assistance. Look at US NEW & World Report's Ultimate Guide figures for aid. And ask the fin aid office how the numbers really bear out. The numbers I gave are older, but most of the schools have little change from them. Also parent's PLUS are not considered fin aid in many of the sources I've researched. But some schools still consider that fin aid.</p>
<p>I have no idea how they came up with the 95% number.</p>
<p>Here is data from ::</a> College Planning Made Easy | Inside Source for College Admissions Requirements
Financial Aid Statistics</p>
<pre><code>* Full-time freshman enrollment: 557
* Number who applied for need-based aid: 523
* Number who were judged to have need: 459
* Number who were offered aid: 459
* Number who had full need met: 418
- Average percent of need met: 78%
- Average financial aid package: $16,128
- Average need-based loan: $4,140
- Average need-based scholarship or grant award: $12,479
- Average non-need based aid: $9,950
- Average indebtedness at graduation: $28,139 </code></pre>
<p>What this tells me is that 459/557 were offered aid. That is 82%. But if they count Merit aid in the financial aid numbers then some kids who don't have "need" could be counted as being offered aid. This is shown in the "$9,950 average non-need based aid" number.</p>
<p>My point is that King's is known for offering pretty good Merit and need grants - whether or not it will be enough depends on your family situation.</p>
<p>Call and talk to financial aid. They can be of tremendous help.</p>
<p>I am hoping the interview for my daughter and the meeting with Fin Aid goes well. I think I am learning some of the things I need to know. Thank you to all who gave me all this information to better prepare me for tomorrow, it is greatly appreciated.
With the grace of God this school or one of my daughter's other favorites will work out for her.</p>
<p>Do invest in the US NEWS & World REport Ultimate Guide. It gives you breakdown of average fin aid packages for many of the schools. Or just visit a bookstore and look up the info. There is a section in front that lists those colleges that are the most generous in merit and financial aid.</p>