Student is accepted to school, with a large scholarship that will cover approximately 50% of the total cost (tuition, room and board, etc.). Less than 24 hours later, student receives email from studio teacher saying hope you received the exciting news and really would love to see you in the fall. Student IS excited but would like to see if there is a possibility of more funding, as even 50% of total is a lot to pay. What should student write back to teacher?
Write back that he is likewise thrilled at the prospect of studying with teacher but that he is uncertain if the aid offered, though generous, will be sufficient. If he was not offered any departmental monies, he could inquire if any are available that he may qualify for.
Good luck!
Make sure you contact the financial aid department. At my son;s school there was a process and a deadline for appealing a financial aid award.
Do you still contact financial aid if you didn’t file a fafsa?
Generally, no. At most schools, opting out of the fafsa and CSS means you’ve opted out of any need-informed packaging. Some schools actually still require same even for merit.
I’m guessing though that if someone opted out of the financial aid process, perhaps they weren’t particularly concerned about the final package price.
In the case of the OP, its possible to be notified of a large award and still get an even more competitive final package, but if course that depends on a member of variables.
ha. We care about final price. So is merit negotiable even if you don’t qualify for financial aid?
Yes, merit can be negotiable if you do not qualify for FA. If you are trying to negotiate, the school will ask to see offers from other schools as part of negotiations to see where they stand against other schools. A few schools will offer room/board allowance and academic merit as well as the talent merit. Check the FA office information page to be sure you have applied for all possible forms of aid. Another thing to remember, if the student is planning to work in college, the on campus jobs will go to work study students first. To get a WS, you have to qualify for aid and complete the FAFSA. Once the WS are placed, other students are placed in jobs.
I would contact both the teacher and the financial aid office (merit scholarships from what I have seen generally come through the FA office, they handle both, but there could be variations, lots of schools out there!). A teacher depending on the program can influence merit aid and it never hurts to have allies when negotiating. Put it this way, if you don’t negotiate, you won’t get anything, so what do you have to lose?
Thanks, everyone, for your help!