Hi guys! To my understanding, the lions pride need-based scholarships are fairly new at TCNJ. See below:
“The College of New Jersey is excited to begin awarding Lion’s Pride Need-Based Scholarships. These institutional grants will be awarded to merit scholarship recipients who demonstrate financial need. Students must submit the FAFSA by February 15th to be eligible for a Lion’s Pride Need-Based Scholarship. The Office of Student Financial Assistance will work with the Office of Admissions to review FAFSA data before awarding Lion’s Pride Need-Based Scholarships in late March. Award amounts will be based on available institutional funds and the number of qualified candidates who successfully submit the FAFSA.”
I checked my financial aid award on the PAWS portal and I am a getting $3,000 scholarship per year. Is it just me, or does this amount seem fairly small? My EFC was zero and I honestly expected to be getting more. Were my expectations that off?
What have other applicants gotten in terms of the need based scholarship? do any of you know what the amounts runs from and to? Any insight/tips/information would be very helpful, thank you.
My EFC was 0 and I also got 3K. In theory, because it’s in PAWS as “offered” but won’t allow me to accept it.
I also got 3K. I also received the PELL, the TAG, and a merit scholarship. EFC 001053
@EverythingIsBlue thanks, i didn’t get my pell grant though? that’s weird
If your EFC was zero you should receive the Pell (max $5920 per year) and NJ TAG (max $7096) so combine that $13K with the $3K of merit and you have 16K in “free” money.
TCNJ Cost of attendance is $33K according to CollegeData.
33,000 - 16 = 17,000 left to pay.
You can only borrow $5,500 as a freshman.
17,000 - 5,500 = 11,500 gap in funds just for the first year
Where is everyone with an EFC of zero coming up with that money when you can’t (and really shouldn’t) borrow it?
I don’t mean to be a wet blanket, but I want to be a realist.
The 3K is a need scholarship—and personally, I need to call to ensure that I’ll get it because as mentioned it’s listed in my award but isnt marked “accepted” like everything else.
Anyway, I also got a merit scholarship for 8K. So even w/out the 3K, tuition/fees are virtually covered acc to most recent “total cost” on TCNJ website. That gets me in class, fed and housed.
COA estimates approx $2,600+ for “personal/miscellaneous” (I’d like to see that priced out into specifics) and over $1,000 for transportation expenses (???) that I’ll just have to deal with as the year unfolds. I’m more concerned with books but I’ve got until August to sort that.
(Ugh sorry can’t edit last post, total package contains TAG, Pell grant and Fed loans in addition to the Lion/need and merit scholarships.)
@ladygriff
33,000 - 16 = 17,000 left to pay.
17-8K in merit = 9K left
Even if you cut the Personal/Transportation cost of attendance in half ($1800), you still have 7K or so unaccounted for. Remember, this is per year, so even if you get a scholarship for this year (i.e. your high school gives you an award) you must consider the costs for the rest of the years. Not everyone graduates in 4 years either, so be careful to stay on track as those extra years aren’t free!
Again, not trying to be a wet blanket but to inject reality. You also probably haven’t accounted for the orientation fee, setting up your room costs etc. I’m not saying you can’t do it, I’m just trying to help you understand the scope.
I’d highly recommend you work and SAVE as much as you can from now until you leave for school. Once you are there, get an on campus job and work during the school year. Even a 10 hour work week can make a big difference. Work breaks back at home. See if you can become an RA/CA for free housing.
It wont be easy, you will see better off kids spending money like its Mardi Gras, but in the end you’ll come out with minimal debt and some great work experience to talk about in a job interview.
I actually appreciate the tips because I want to be sure I can get this thing done, so I don’t view that as a ‘wet blanket’ at all. I’d prefer to have the whole picture upfront so there are as few surprises as possible. I’m likely to pick up a job asap. 
Also applied for other scholarships.
I just logged into PAWS again and my Estimated Tuition Aid Grant (I’m assuming that’s TAG?) is 9,120 acc to what my eyes are seeing.
So I’ve got:
Estimated Tuition Aid Grant 9,120
Pell 5,920
Fed unsub/sub 5,500
Scholarship 8,000
Lions/Needs based scholarship 3,000
They’ve added that up to $31,540. I did call and speak to FA, they told me (to my understanding) that the Lions/Need is estimated and isn’t firm yet, which is why I can’t accept it now. She said, which is important imo, that the Lions/Need might be less than what’s on there today (it’s an estimate, of course). Also, they haven’t released this year’s total cost.
At any rate if prices are the same as last year (don’t expect that), I’m looking at about $4,460 (without the Lion/Needs, I’m going to plan that way instead of assuming what that final number will be, esp since even with Lion/Needs I still have to cover books, personal expenses etc.) which seems manageable enough if I start working/saving now and even more so if that personal/transportation number is lowered some.
Like I said, I’m all for anyone pointing out things I don’t see/expect so glad to have the convo. The office was really kind and patient to speak to.
Here’s the COA page for last year:
https://financialaid.tcnj.edu/files/2016/08/2016-2017-COA-BUDGETS-Undergrad.pdf
Editing too late, the COA number is 33,510 so I’d be looking at 4,970 approx, acc last year’s numbers, without Lion/Need. I think that’s right, I’m confusing myself now and it looks like I’ll have to call them back to ask more questions about what Lion/Need would/won’t cover if it does come through at the listed amount.
@ladygriff are you out of state?
Also, weird thing but i dont have my pell grant in the portal?
No, I’m in state 
I would definitely ring them up and ask where the Pell is/get an answer on that. It is a Federal award so it should be there if your Fed loans are listed I think?
@ladygriff I’m glad you are listening/hearing me. Don’t be afraid to ask for waivers for things like orientation, housing deposit fees. If you don’t ask there is zero chance they’ll waive it, but if you do ask, maybe they will.
You might even think, if you don’t have a job now, of looking for something like Panera, which is also on campus as maybe it would be easier to transfer in. My foster son did that with his job and it has worked out well. The manager from the hometown store recommended him to the college store.
From both my kids I’ll give you the tip to WAIT to buy your books. My daughter didn’t listen and bought books ($150+) that in the end she really didn’t need. Also, transfer as many AP credits as you can - don’t buy into the bullshit that you need to take the class at the college to learn blah blah. If you got a 4 or 5 on the test, you’re grasp of the material is just fine.
Best of luck, I spent four of the best years of my life at TCNJ and I wish you the same.
@ladygriff What kind of stats netted you the 8K Merit Award? That seems to be the max this year for merit.
@DemonDad I also got the 8K merit award, and I actually do not qualify for any need-based financial aid and am extremely lucky that my parents can easily pay full costs for me even at a private college, but my stats actually arent that high, and others I know who were accepted to TCNJ with much higher stats received less or no merit award. The merit awards are obviously holistically determined based on any number of different qualities that may cause the admissions committee to feel that the applicant is someone they want to entice into enrolling at TCNJ, and that isn’t totally dependent on stats. In my case, I think my application has me standing out as a strong leader particularly in community service and social justice type ways, and that is probably what got me the higher merit award.
@DemonDad, def agree with @kodiakandrosita . My overall stats aren’t as high as a few people I’ve seen round here and I was surprised to discover that it was the highest. I’ve got a couple of APs, all Honors classes otherwise, 3.9 uw (my school doesn’t do weighted), 1300 SAT (am still kicking myself for only taking it once). Have some decent ECs, my recommendation letters were good.
But if I had to guess, I’d guess I got a boost from being a girl going into a STEM field with across the board strong sci/math performance. I do really well in science especially. But I dunno, that’s my best guess.
They knew my fam has no money at all, which doesn’t seem like a “merit” thing but…? This whole college process was way more random on the colleges’ end than I expected.
Thanks for the info. My son received $5k with a close to 1500 SAT and other overall excellent stats. He was invite to honors at TCNJ as well.
@NJRoadie I think you are being very harsh. My daughters Financial aid shopping sheet lists Tuition/fees plus room/board as $28,608 for 2017-2018. Ladygriff has $26,040 in grants and scholarships. That leaves $2,568 before any loans (or outside scholarships.) Just because someone has an EFC of $0 doesn’t mean they don’t have any money to contribute.I understand you may be trying to look out for students, but giving a price that has almost $5000 in outside expenses is silly. The price will probably be higher because it is exactly what last year’s was, but she still has plenty to cover it.
Students who work full-time during the summer can probably raise ~$3k/year. If they work part-time during the year they can cover their living expenses (toiletries, spending money, etc).
@MomOf3DDs - Do you know anyone with an EFC of 0? I do, and I can tell you from my perspective it is not an easy thing to come up with that extra cash. Outfitting a dorm room, paying for all the up front stuff does not come cheap. You can’t get loans for that stuff.
@austinmshauri Do you have an idea how much TAKE HOME you’d get if you work 10 weeks, 30 hours a week at going rate of $10? And what minimum wage place gives you that many hours a week?
I’m harsh because I want to inject some reality into the situation for people, especially those who don’t have parents who attended college or guidance counselors who tell them more than “Go for your dreams!”
If you didn’t apply for outside scholarships back in the fall, I can promise you, they are all gone now. Even local outside scholarship applications were due mid March in my experience.