<p>Do you guys think that Columbia's replacing loans with grants can suggest that Financial Aid will increase for us in general?</p>
<p>Not at all. It's the same formula-- it's all based on your EFC. And, loans are replaced only for families making less than 50K.</p>
<p>yeah i realize that. what i meant was: do you think even if our family made like 60 or 70k, we'd have more grants over loans this year than like last year
IE: will financial aid in general be better for most who need it</p>
<p>No. Nothing about financial aid is changing besides the loans to grants for 50K and below.</p>
<p>thats what they say
but the reason that happened is that there has been some recent significant alumni donations
it could mean that financial aid could get better in general</p>
<p>This is a marketing gimmick. If the were going to do additional stuff for families with 60-70K in income, they would say so.</p>
<p>you never know...
a school's generosity towards financial aid can correlate with the amount money they have/receive</p>
<p>they aren't gonna say something like: oh, financial aid will be slightly more generous this year because some alumni have recently been very generous</p>
<p>
[quote]
you never know...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I do know. It's the same EFC computation they used last year. The formula is no different for anyone. They just wipe out all loans for families under $50K.</p>
<p>Columbia has 5 billion dollars in the bank account. They could easily be more show more "generosity" if they wanted to. Columbia gives aid based on need, not for the purpose of "generosity."</p>
<p>it's a little-known fact, but Columbia does have at least two types of merit scholarships that I know about - one for I.I. Rabi scholars (physics hotshots), and one for each of 4 types of Scholar programs (John Jay scholars, Global Scholars, CP Davis scholars, and something else I can't remember now). Rabi scholars get funded summer internships and other perks, and status as one of the other Scholar types can get your financial aid loans converted to grants.</p>
<p>...The latter of which is within the rules for the Ivy League since the initial award is need-based. Other ivy league schools do similar things, they just don't publicize it much.</p>
<p>Good post. The point, though, is that they don't do those things for "generosity." It's all for the purpose of recruiting. </p>
<p>
[quote]
...The latter of which is within the rules for the Ivy League since the initial award is need-based. Other ivy league schools do similar things, they just don't publicize it much.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm sure they all play games with the "no scholarships" rules. I got some presidential scholar thing from Cornell which was actual merit money that wasn't by any means need-based. I don't know how they get away with that.</p>
<p>Similarly, all the schools somehow inflate the amount of "need" that their star athletic recruits need, in light of the prohibition against athletic scholarships.</p>