As a middle class family, we have been looking for guaranteed merit scholarships and/or hoping to get a good aid package from a generous private (which of course are the most selective colleges and therefore a reach). I really haven’t been looking at financial aid from OOS publics, but I was running the NPC through the College Board for colleges not on D’s list because it is so easy once you save your info.
University of New Hampshire has an OOS scholarship of 10k a year which my D qualifies for, but that was not enough to make then affordable. But, when I run the NPC, it shows an additional 12k a year in financial aid grant money. Woohoo!
Currently, our only “certain” financial safety is Temple with an automatic full tuition scholarship. With the difference in the published COA for both colleges, the net price for both is almost the same.
Does anyone have other examples of OOS publics that “surprised” you with financial (not just merit) aid?
@BrownParent >>wow, that’s exciting. I just ran it for someone and nothing. fyi comma in wrong place on scholarship line.<<
I remember someone else getting a good result from UNH from OOS. Maybe the school does “preferential pkging”.
Did the student that you ran it for have merit-worthy stats? I think the OP’s child has stats in the equivalent ACT 32-33 range.
@palm715 One thing I notice is that the OOS tuition is $29.5k, yet the merit is only $10k. Then the “need” award is $12k. The total is approaching full tuition…leaving about $7.5k tuition uncovered.
So…perhaps the school’s strategy is one where they don’t want to give a large merit award (full or near-full tuition) to those without need or at least a good bit of need…hence the preferential pkging …which is really just approaching what Temple (and other full tuition schools) is giving for the same stats.
It appears to be a cost-saving strategy for UNH…avoiding giving a big award to someone w/o need. But, in cases like yours, it works!!
As for other OOS publics… You could try the NPC at UMich, but I’m not sure if their attempts to “meet need” for OOS students is mostly for the really low income or not. Try it and see. Of course, UVA and UNC might give a good result.
What is your EFC?
Why is Temple your only certain financial safety? Alabama would give your DD free tuition as well. And if she’s a CS or Eng’g major, an add’l 2500 per year.
Every school is different so make sure you read everything. I had run it for Michigan before my kid got in and what they offered was no where near what I got thru the NPC. So remember it is just an estimate and is no guarantee of aid
@palm715 If your daughter is applying to UNH for engineering, there is also a full tuition scholarship that she can compete for. There’s an extra essay, I think it is called the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences Industry Scholarship. I believe UNH awards two of these. My daughter was on the short list for it last year, but the two students offered it accepted the offers.
@buckeyeinmd << . I had run it for Michigan before my kid got in and what they offered was no where near what I got thru the NPC. So remember it is just an estimate and is no guarantee of aid >>>
You’re the second or third parent that has said this in regards to OOS aid for UMich.
What kind of aid did the NPC show and what were you offered?
Do you have any unusual circumstances…like…business deductions, owning other properties, lots of home equity, rental income, etc?
@mom2collegekids How would business deductions affect aid? I have a small business (proprietorship) and have deductions so my actual income is less than what I take in.
Some colleges add back business or real estate deductions, so that they are using revenue instead of net income from the business or real estate as the “income” for calculating financial aid. You can run the NPC twice for each school, once with the usual income, and once with revenue instead of net income for any business or real estate income to get a more pessimal estimate.
ok that does not seem right cause my business expenses are not income. Perhaps this explains why we couldn’t get aid in the past despite running the online calculators. if this is the case, then I would have been better off working for someone else because net income is net income. They should not consider revenue because I have costs and Im only a very small business.
@cali60 I have no idea what your particular deductions are, but in other cases, the following expenses that some business owners take sometimes get added back in:
cell phone plans, particularly if one uses the same phone for personal and business.
car expenses, leases, etc. if one uses the same car for personal and business
car insurance
gas
meals
depreciation
home related expenses that get deducted if a person runs their business out of a portion of their home.
the above sort of expenses tend to get added back in.
Certainly not all deductions get added back in.
and of course, any retirement contributions get added back in.
@cali60 It’s a strange way to think about it from a business perspective, I know. But things do work differently when you’re not a salaried employee, having others covering the taxes and fees for you.
From a college’s perspective: You’ve deducted your cell phone expenses from your business income. You’d have a cell phone anyway, so it’s a perk of working there, aka a kind of benefit/income. They account for that by adding back your cell phone expenses. Same for just about all car expenses. When salaried people get significant perks like cars or car allowances, in general it is (or should be) added to their gross income, and is reflected on the W-2.
Note – each college combs through your taxes and decides on its own what to allow and what not to. They may have no problem with your cell phone bill – it was just a random example. And I’m not without sympathy; I file a Schedule C myself.
