Hi, My D was awarded the Presidential and invited to the honors college but it’s still too expensive for us. She’s in the Rubenstein school of the environment, but I’m wondering if she took on a double major of botany or forestry if they would give her the tuition exchange reduction? It would reduce costs by 11k a year for us which could make it affordable. Botany and Forrestry are not available in MA and seem to fit with her major. Who would we ask? Admissions? Financial aid? Anyone done this? Thanks.
One of my daughter’s friends is doing this. I’d start with the Financial aid office.
Does anybody here have any more info about how this works, why the tuition cut, etc? I am in precisely the same position as OP, except admitted to CALS. I’ve never heard of this option before but it sounds enticing, if doable…what exactly is involved?
The New England Board of Higher Education web site is the best source of info.
The basic deal is that the New England public colleges agree to discount tuition of $7,500 annually for out of state residents for specific programs that are not offered by a home state. The list of discounted programs varies depending on your home state and the state where you want to attend. In the case of a MA resident attending UVM botany would qualify. The full set of discounted programs for MA residents is listed here and there is a FAQ at the back of the document
http://www.nebhe.org/info/pdf/tuitionbreak/2015-16Brochure-MASSACHUSETTS.pdf
I would not assume that your need based aid offer stays the same if you take advantage of a tuition discount since it reduces the total cost of attendance, not your EFC. Hopefully the merit aid would not be impacted but the possibility exists that it could also be reduced. You probably have to talk to admissions to see if the student can be accepted into the specific program and check with Financial aid to see what the impact is. Of course room and board charges remain the same since this is only a tuition discount.
Have you gotten your need based aid award yet? Good luck
I spoke with the financial aid office and the answer is you CAN stack the tuition exchange and merit money. Merit is not impacted. You do have to let them know ahead of time if you are doing this, and you have to call the registrar. My understanding is that it is 11k per year of credit from MA to VT. Each state exchange is a different amount–it’s a formula on the difference between tuitions. We haven’t gotten our need-based aid yet. Thanks for the input!