Calyx. Thank you so much. I also try to add to a spreadsheet when I have time but nothing like you do and the transporation thing caught me by surprise as we were leaning toward Buff Honor for either nursing or biomed. Now not sure as that makes Bing without aid about like Buff with aid. Albany and Brockport are way less than either one at this point but not her favorite. Still looking at some of the so-called “elites” but they are not even going to be close financially even in the unlikely scenario they fully meet EFC which they will not. Got into U Rochester on Friday but financial aid — forget it. The learning curve has been horrible. Thank you so much for your input. You have really helped us!!!
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No worries we are in the same boat UB it’s literally almost the same amount of money as Lemoyne, Ithaca, etc. where we’ve gotten merit and scholarship money … there’s some other private schools where we’ve gotten zero aid and then there’s Geneseo, which surprisingly offered my son a merit scholarship, (we are instate) and a possibility for my son because he would like to continue playing lacrosse as a student athlete. He really likes the coach there. We are still waiting on Syracuse, which I think is coming out this Friday. Good luck. We’re nearing the end hopefully and decisions will be made shortly. Process has been excruciatingly painful lol.
Agree. We were surprised that the SUNY schools gave merit aid (also in state). I figured they thought they were affordable already. Varied a bunch too. 3K Buffalo, 6K Albany, and Brockport 6K plus first year room fee waiver. Kind of surprised us and made even some of the private schools with up to 35K scholarships still twice or more SUNY. Still waiting on a couple. As you said, the process has been excrutiating and I think worse for the parents. My D seems relatively unconcerned. LOL
Most SUNYs give merit to the top tier students. Except Binghamton. They are very stingy to in-state students. Making the Bing/Geneseo/Buffalo weekend trip this weekend. Geneseo/Buffalo would be the most affordable for us. Binghamton the least. Stony Brook have merit aid too but the lowest of the five my D23 applied too. Also got aid to New Paltz.
My D20 got a lot of aid from Albany merit and a dorm allowance. But chose Binghamton instead (with no merit aid).
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Yup. The perplexing news is that from what I read on the Bing thread, Bing is giving a lot of aid to out of state people but not in-state. No idea if that is true but seems quite unfair as we are paying Bing with our tax. Good luck on your tour this weekend. Lot of traveling. We didn’t apply to Geneseo as D is doing nursing but heard good things.
Binghamton has been completely removed from my options because of how stingy they are. I recently received the presidential scholarship from Buffalo (I had previously received 8k in scholarships from them) so it’s almost free for me, a great option if my top school doesn’t work out!
Congrats on the Presidential. We had hoped for that and it would have made the Buff choice clear but only got Honors and the 3K award and then realized that barely covers the billable 2.5K transporation fee that we didn’t know existed (can you believe that?) Just got the U Rochester aid award (no scholarship but national grant) which put us at $45K UR vs Buff at $27 after awards. Makes the decision pretty difficult. It isn’t getting any easier.
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FYI. I know you think I’m wrong but that 2k transportation fee is not billable.
Us this link to see what I mean: https://www.suny.edu/howmuch/netpricecalculator.xhtml
The direct cost for Buffalo is $25.5k. All the rest are estimated expenses.
And yes there is a Transportation Fee lumped I. Will Al the other fees that is $242 a semester. But that is already included in the $25.5k.
Congrats on the scholarship. My D23 wanted that as well. Would have made Buffalo. a bargain. It’s pretty much a full ride for you if you can stack that with your 8k (if per year).
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Thank you! College is so expensive 
, I hope everything works out for you guys
I’m hoping I can stack, I’m currently getting in touch with them to find out. (If not, it’s still way more affordable than my other options, even if not free). And thank you!
Well hope you are correct but when you get your final Buff FA letter you will see why I agree with Calyx910, who actually called UB to confirm and I am figuring that into my calcs just like she is doing.
Hi there! I’m a 2019 Presidential Scholar graduating this year. Congratulations on getting the scholarship! The presidential scholarship doesn’t stack with the other Honors College merit awards (pride of NY & provost), sadly. If you have any outside scholarships, other UB scholarships, or financial aid (Pell, TAP), those will stack. I’m not sure what your EFC is but I had more or less a full ride between the presidential scholarship, pell, and TAP. I dormed freshman year but moved off-campus to save money. If you decide to go that route, you will have your excess scholarship and aid money refunded to you up to the total estimated COA ($29,728.00) - tuition+fees. UB is unique in that there are a lot of good, cheap off-campus housing options by UB south (my rent for a single room has been between $400-600/month) and there’s transport via the university stampede bus to north campus, so you don’t necessarily need a car. You can also go the RA route for free housing and meal plans later in your college time, with the excess aid refunded as well. I was in the same boat as you worrying about how I was ever going to afford college, but the presidential scholarship has allowed me to graduate debt free. Congrats again, it is an awesome opportunity!!!
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@DadOf2Kids is correct, there is no billable 2k transportation fee. The mandatory transportation fee is $242.25 per semester right now, being billed alongside all the other mandatory fees (technology fee, health services fee, student activity fee, etc). The 2k~ transport cost you see on the Estimated Cost of Attendance is simply an estimate for how much flights/trains/ubers/car payments/gas/insurance or whatever else might cost, but it is incredibly variable and depends on your child’s unique situation. It is just an estimate, not billable. The financial aid office is always really confusing and difficult to work with, so it is very likely this got mixed up in your conversation.
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Thank you so much for your response! I received a 5k pride of new york scholarship and a 3k SEAS women’s empowerment award (I’m assuming this one does not stack as well, correct me if I’m wrong). So a little bit bummed it doesn’t stack :/, but it definitely still makes it a reasonable price! (about 10k left, my family can contribute about 4-5k a year so getting a job will take care of the remaining cost) It’s definitely reassuring to have an affordable option to go to if nothing else works out. And as you said above, if I move off campus, it’ll be much cheaper. Once again, I really appreciate your response!
You will need to confirm with your advisors but I think there is a chance for the SEAS scholarship stacking since it is not from the Honors College. The presidential scholarship does replace the pride of NY, though. The stipulation with the Presidential Scholarship is that it cannot exceed the estimated cost of attendence (the $29,728 figure I mentioned above) along with any other financial aid or scholarships. If you had like 20k in financial aid from other scholarships/pell/TAP, for example, the presidential would adjust to just 10k since your full need has been met. The full “college experience” with dorming and meal plans is definitely pricy, but I like that the location means you don’t necessarily need to dorm, unlike more rural colleges where there aren’t a lot of off-campus housing options. Just something to consider when you make your decision!
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I thought Pride of NY was 3K. That is what we got. Typo?
No, it was originally 3k, and then I got a follow up email that it was increased to 5k and that I was given the 3k women’s empowerment seas award alongside it. Here’s what the email said: “Your initial scholarship award, the prestigious Pride of New York scholarship (non-tuition) offer has been increased and is now valued at $20,000, or $5,000 annually over four years.”
Nice. We were not so lucky. Only 3 K here so far.
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hopefully you get more
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