<p>I'd be interested in hearing from students and parents who've been caught in the FAFSA/CSS-PROFILE trap if they've found a way out.</p>
<p>Our daughter's been accepted, but with only a miniscule amount of need money. The FAFSA/CSS-PROFILE formula says we can afford to pay over $37,000 per year, a sum that bears no relation to our real-world ability to pay. Our financial advisor says "after four years, that would leave you [us] destitute." That's an exaggeration, but only slightly so - we're nearing retirement age, and it would wipe out a huge portion of our savings.</p>
<p>Unless some solution is forthcoming, the concept of need-blind admission looks like a very unfunny practical joke for those who are neither poor nor wealthy.</p>
<p>Yes, of course. The point, though, is that Rice makes much of need-blind admission, and goes so far as to state this: "We meet 100 percent of a student's financial need based on financial aid eligibility." Since financial aid eligibility is decided by the profile rather than financial reality, in our case that statement is false.</p>
<p>That's a real problem, and one that I have faced as well. Basically, we qualified for no need-based aid, though I was lucky enough to get some merit aid. My parents have given what they are willing/able to give each year (not as much as the bill), and the scholarships and loans will cover the rest. This is not a problem with Rice, specifically, but with colleges and universities nationwide.</p>
<p>True that the problem is endemic. But I'm pretty sure that no other university that my daughter applied to stated this: "We meet 100 percent of a student's financial need based on financial aid eligibility." The fact is, it's not true.</p>
<p>Leonard, it IS true for us and others we know attending Rice. Our EFC is exactly what the FAFSA says it should be. Rice is meeting our "need" as defined by the FAFSA. I guess some people have other assets/situations addressed by the Profile - so maybe their "need" will be different from the FAFSA numbers.
[quote]
But I'm pretty sure that no other university that my daughter applied to stated this: "We meet 100 percent of a student's financial need based on financial aid eligibility."
[/quote]
That's because most schools do NOT meet 100% of "need" - they meet less because they don't have the endowment /funds available to do so. You would get LESS need-based financial aid from them, unless they were trying to entice your daughter to attend with special incentives (preferential packaged needbased aid, or straight merit aid). Did you do your homework before your daughter applied and run your budget numbers through the FAFSA estimator and the PROFILE estimator? If so, you would have seen what your EFC was expected to be. It is higher than comfortable, yes - but this has nothing to do with Rice. All the universities use the FAFSA, some privates add in the Profile. I'm sorry that you aren't getting as much aid as you would expect, but it's not correct to say that Rice in lying.</p>
<p>There are at least two points here, really, but they all turn on one thing: the FAFSA calculation of EFC is not realistic.</p>
<p>I've checked around with several with several other parents, and they've said the same. Our financial advisor did, too. I spoke to someone in Financial Aid at Rice, and she said "Yes, we hear that a lot." </p>
<p>The point is that this is known to be the case, yet the university professes to meet 100% of need. It doesn't, and they shouldn't say they do. </p>
<p>As far as I'm concerned a university can charge whatever fees they wish, and dole out aid as they wish. But be straightforward about it; don't raise false hopes.</p>
<p>"Our EFC is exactly what the FAFSA says it should be. Rice is meeting our "need" as defined by the FAFSA. I guess some people have other assets/situations addressed by the Profile - so maybe their "need" will be different from the FAFSA numbers."</p>
<p>-- Yes, real need can be enormously different from the FAFSA calculation.</p>
<p>"Did you do your homework before your daughter applied and run your budget numbers through the FAFSA estimator and the PROFILE estimator?"</p>
<p>-- Yes, I did. And the resulting figure was absurd. I was silly enough to think that an institution professing to meet need, apparently with no shortage of funds to do so, and with long experience in seeing that FAFSA figures can be unrealistic would take the EFC predicted by FAFSA with a healthy grain of salt.</p>
<p>
[quote]
We meet 100% of a student's financial need based on financial aid eligibility
[/quote]
...and financial aid eligibility is determined by FAFSA and PROFILE.
[quote]
The point is that this is known to be the case, yet the university professes to meet 100% of need. It doesn't, and they shouldn't say they do.
[/quote]
They profess to meet 100% of need as determined by FAFSA/PROFILE. :) Do you think they should just take your word for how much money you need? They go by figures established by the government. It is not raising false hope. (And if your darling kid gets a job, they can pay for books, cell phone, all misc. expenses, you pay tuition,room and board - and you will save $2-3000. cause kid is not at home eating your food and using your hot water and driving your car ... you may find you can afford college after all! )</p>
<p>I don't know. I think Rice is pretty clear. The key phrase is "based on financial aid eligibility." This translates to "based on the FAFSA/PROFILE calculated need" NOT "based on what you want to / are able to pay."</p>
<p>On almost all websites of colleges that meet 100% of "demonstrated need" (meaning again, the need as calculated by the FAFSA/PROFILE) there is similar wording.</p>
<p>For example: </p>
<p>Harvard: "Financial aid is awarded only on the basis of determined need....Each student's demonstrated financial need is fully met with a combination of loans, jobs, and scholarship assistance."</p>
<p>Yale: "For the past 30 years Yale has admitted students without regard to their ability to pay for their education -- a policy called "need-blind" admissions -- and has met the demonstrated financial need of all admitted students."</p>
<p>Stanford: "The Financial Aid Office awards all aid on the basis of demonstrated financial need." and "Subject to the availability of funds, we are committed to meeting the calculated financial need of all students who apply on time and meet all requisite conditions for aid."</p>
<p>Georgetown: "Georgetown awards financial aid funds on the basis of demonstrated financial need. The University is committed to meeting 100% of the full demonstrated financial need of its' eligible undergraduates."</p>
<p>Like Anxiousmom said, some schools don't claim to meet 100% of demonstrated or calculated need because they want to be free to make you pay MORE than your calculated EFC. Compared to that, I'd say Rice is pretty generous.</p>
<p>I don't think Rice has intentionally raised false hopes. Rather, they used language that is in common use and is generally accepted. Just because you didn't know what they meant, doesn't mean they lied to you.</p>
<p>That being said, I completely agree that the EFC is not always realistic for certain families. But that's the system.</p>
<p>rice is being perfectly true and correct. they base need on fafsa just like pretty much every other college in the country. they certainly should say that openly because it is a good thing. if your estimation of need is different from fafsa's, however, that is an entirely different story.</p>
<p>Question:
So, I got back my Rice financial award letter, and basically I'm getting $4500 in loans/work-study and then $14,000 in grants. Okay. So our family's EFC is $21,000 and we are in no shape to pay that. </p>
<p>So, I've been applying to a bunch of mostly local scholarships and winning some here and there so that I can help my parents out with the EFC. I've already reached the $5,000 mark so should I just stop there since Rice will now start to take out money from my grant amount? Is there a way to not report these scholarship monies to the universities? I feel like there's no point for me to apply for more if Rice (or any other university for that matter) is going to let me use that money as part of my family's EFC. . .</p>
<p>"On almost all websites of colleges that meet 100% of "demonstrated need" (meaning again, the need as calculated by the FAFSA/PROFILE)"</p>
<p>Yes, I'm aware of that. I'll try to make myself clearer.</p>
<p>a) The FAFSA (etc.) can and at least sometimes does wildly overstate a realistic figure for family contribution. </p>
<p>b) When it does, it is meaningless.</p>
<p>c) Institutions know that the figure can be wildly off, yet some continue to insist (cynical reading: pretend) that the wildly-off figure actually does represent reality.</p>
<p>It's no consolation, justification, and certainly no rectification that they all do it. And it's disingenuous at best to continue to "advertise" meeting need, when that refers not to real-world need, but arbitrarily-established thresholds arrived at by one-size-fits-all formulas.</p>
<p>"rice is being perfectly true and correct. they base need on fafsa just like pretty much every other college in the country. they certainly should say that openly because it is a good thing. if your estimation of need is different from fafsa's, however, that is an entirely different story."</p>
<p>If establishing an accurate estimate of real-world need is the point of the FAFSA exercise, it can't be a different story.</p>
<p>Sheflower: You have to report that money. In most instances the organizations will write the check to the University. The scholarships will reduce your self help portion, then the grants and then EFC. Many colleges believe that student's familiy is obligated to pay for their child's education. </p>
<p>If you just can't pay, you should contact the finaid office and perhaps inquire about some of the things they may have missed.</p>
<p>If your familiy in UNWILLING to pay, you do not have much room to work.</p>
<p>One way to help your parents is to get a summer job and earn few thousand dollars.</p>
<p>"I don't think Rice or for that matter any other schools are mis-leading their customers."</p>
<p>Perhaps not intentionally. But they're apparently going by need only as calculated by the peculiar FAFSA, which at least one Rice financial officer knows can produce some very unrealistic figures via-</p>