<p>My D has received a couple very nice fin aid offers with a lot of gift aid and very manageable "self-help". I wonder though, what this may look like next year. Assuming our financial situation stays about the same, can I assume that the aid will be about the same? Do the elite schools use gift aid 1st year to attract students and then change it up to loans in subsequent years? I've heard that Stanford may do this and that Princeton probably will not. Do any of you have experience (either unpleasant or pleasant) with changes in aid in subsequent years? Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>Well, I can speak for Stanford. Our son's financial aid package remained pretty much the same each year at Stanford. (He graduated in June.) There were only minor changes due to changes in our financial situation, and they even increased his grants the year he did overseas study, to make up for the increased cost. Thanks in part to some small outside scholarships, he ended up with only $7,250 in loans over the four years.</p>
<p>When DD received her F.A. package from Rice, I emailed my questions to the FA office directly, then printed out the answer and filed it away. I specifically asked how her package would change each year, as her first year package had no loans or self-help aid - just grants and scholarships. She is one lucky woman, because she will receive this each year... (we still have to pay our EFC, which has risen slightly as our income/her income has risen.) Seeing the F.A.'s answer to my questions (in print!!!), helped us make the decision of where she would attend. I know some schools increase the loans/work study/summer contribution each year, and students end up with $20,000+ in loans by the time they have completed their 4 years. I strongly urge you to email each college F.A. department after your kid gets his/her package, and ask all the hard questions! P.S. Don't forget to ask the requirements for renewing the merit aid, and what happens if your kid does not meet those requirements, etc... etc..</p>
<p>I can't speak for HYPS either, but my D LAC aid was stable all 4 years just went up and down a couple hundred when our income went up and down by a couple thousand</p>
<p>HYP will treat you well. There will be no unpleasant surprises after freshman year. That's one of the benefits of attending HYP.</p>
<p>You folks are lucky. Any grant (need based) aid we receive this year, we will not be eligible for the following year because next year two kids will be in college and after that only one.</p>
<p>My experiences at two institutions so far (neither HYP) was that FA was generous and consistent. The idea that any decent university would bait and switch like a used car dealer is unfounded. We even had one merit scholarship replaced by other aid when a gpa renewal threshold was not met.</p>
<p>I think that a lot of it depends on the school and their FA policy. Princeton has a no-loan policy so you will be pretty much assured that you have no loans during your 4 years unless you choose to borrow money for incidentals (example: eating clubs).</p>
<p>HY have provisions in place especially for low income families, so I guess as long as you remain with in those guidelines you should be ok. </p>
<p>Some colleges also have caps in place for the maximum amount of debt they allow students to graduate with (now is the time to really read the financial aid hand book on your college website, to look at the common data sets and to research the FA information from your school on the college board)</p>
<p>My experience is that the FA has remained pretty consistent (even when I got a 8500 bonus on december 31 which took my FAFSA EFC for a loop). Your EFC will go up as your income goes up. </p>
<p>In addition the student's contribution from summer earnings does go up a little each year as there is a little there is more of a shift for them to be active participants in their education. In addition, in subsequent years they do gain skills, have internships and other opportunities to make more money. (For the 2006-2007 year her student contribution will actually go down because they are on campus for 10 weeks for sophmore summer and out of the work force).</p>
<p>The amount of student loans probably will go up in line with the federal guidelines because students are able to borrow more as either a sub/or unsub stafford loan.</p>
<p>up to $2,625 their freshman year
up to $3,500 their sophomore year
and up to $5,500 for each remaining year</p>
<p>If your package has perkins loans they will probably be aligned with their guidelines for loans.</p>