<p>I am the parent of a Trinity University (San Antonio) student. We received a generous financial aid offer for his freshman year, but in each succeeding year they have cut the scholarship money considerably. </p>
<p>I feel we are the victims of the old bait and switch. He is now a junior and they are offering several thousand less money than when he was a freshman, even though our family income has dropped about 40%.</p>
<p>Watch out for the initial offer. Find out how the continue to offer money after the first year. My wife made repeated calls to the financial aid office, but never received a return call.</p>
<p>We are very upset about the situation. I do not know if this happens at other universities. Our other son is going to University of San Diego, and they have not pulled this trick.</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing your story this should be another cautionary tale to parents and students when checking out colleges.</p>
<p>You have raised and excellent point that as parents and students we need to ask up front about the school's financial aid policy especially if something seems unclear. From reading Trinity's FA policy I see that they give need based aid, but they do not meet 100% of the demonstrated need. This off the bat means that there is going to be some gapping in the FA, if not now then down the line. this is pretty much what happened to your son. You probably feel trapped because son is now a junior so transferring at this stage is really not an option.</p>
<p>Do you know the average amount of students debt at graduation from this school? A good rule of thumb is that student should graduate with no more than 20,000 of debt.</p>
<p>the average FA award is $ 14,484 which includes </p>
<p>average need based grant award of $ 11,972 </p>
<p>Average self help award of $ 3,303 </p>
<p>Average need based loan $ 2,279</p>
<p>RENEWAL OF NEED-BASED AID
At Trinity, we are committed to continually assist students financially, provided that students file the required forms (for aid renewal) by the deadlines indicated and continue to demonstrate similar need, along with maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress. </p>
<p>To me this is a very ambigous statement because the school does not tell you exactly what this means. For your family not only has your need changed, you now have a greater need but they gave you less money.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response. What really gets me is that Trintiy has us over a barrel and they know it. The university has all the facts and info, and each incoming group of freshman parents are financial aid virgins. It's really a one-sided fight. I don't know how common this is at other colleges, but parents need to be informed of what happens after the first year.</p>
<p>Is this common at other universities? What can I do to help warn other parents? One of the reasons we picked Trinity is that they advertised the availability of a lot of grant money. We never saw any of it, even when we documented a 40% reduction in family income.</p>
<p>I'm mad about this and don't want to take it laying down.</p>
<p>Yes, this is common at other universities. There is NO guarantee that first year aid will continue at the same rate. This <em>should</em> be common knowledge, but as you see from your own experience, parents often overlook this is in the joy at getting aid in the first place. It's easy to get stars in your eyes when it is a school that your child wants to attend.</p>
<p>Your story should be a cautionary tale to other parents.</p>
<p>I'm sorry about your situation : ( I'm unclear which steps you have taken to get this resolved. Have you tried calling the Trinity Finanicial Office again and asking that a review be done with your current income figures? You say your wife has called - have you tried? If your income is 40% less, there should be an adjustment in the FA offered! Have you put this issue in writing and sent it to the head of FA, with CC to the president, dean etc? I'd like to encourage you to POLITELY persist in your quest for reasonable finanicial Aid - if your kid is happy with the school. We've heard good things from people who have been involved with Trinity U, so I'd hate them to get a bad rep - unless they really are being unfair.</p>
<p>Somemom, are you sure it was USC? USC promises to meet 100% of need, as determined by USC, if the forms are submitted on time. I am intimately familiar with the aid granted to two current students, which has been generous and consistent.</p>
<p>I am not personally acquainted with it at USC, but the year we were choosing schools, the forum (might have been the princeton one) had several people report that all their generous aid from USC in years one and two became tons of loans in years three & four. We considered that as one factor in our choice and did not take the risk. When my D was at the end of year two, some parents posted here that their grants, etc. had become loans at USC, so it certainly seems true, though admittedly it is from postings here. I paid attention as we were seriously considering USC as an option. The thing is the schools consider loans to be meeting need in the same category as grants, I do not ;) Maybe this only happens to a select few in some financial middle ground? I'd be interested to hear what happens with the kids you know, maybe they have changed?</p>