My daughter is going to apply for some liberal arts colleges as an international student.
Need-based FA is very competitive for international students, but we are thinking of applying for it to some of them.
All of them declare to be need-aware, and most of them state they will 100% meet the demonstrated needs.
In the CSS profile, we are required to fill in “Student Resources”, in which how much the student expects to receive from parents and other sources for educational expenses.
What will happen if we put, say, $50,000 per year in the case of the total amount of tuition and others is $65,000? I assume the college evaluates her if she deserves investment of $15,000 per year. What happens, if they reach a conclusion that she doesn’t deserve that much?
(1) Reject admission. (If she applied for less amount of FA, she would be accepted, but once she demonstrates needs, she is regarded a girl with request of $15,000.)
(2) Accept and offer less amount of FA, intentionally lowering the “demonstrated needs” and/or proposing various ways to meet the needs.
(If (2) is the case, we don’t have to minimize the FA request amount, but I really don’t know how things are going.)
I reached out to the College Board, but they seem to be busy to answer this kind of questions.
It means that your “need” is determined, and the college covers all of it with financial aid, with at most a small amount of student work and student loan expectation.
However, the big variable is how “need” is determined, which varies widely between different colleges, resulting in very different amounts of financial and and net price. You need to try the net price calculator on each college’s web site to get an estimate. An additional warning is that if the net price calculator does not specifically ask questions that determine international student status, you need to check with the college whether international students will get the same level of financial aid as domestic students.
You probably do not want to put a number higher than the lowest expected parent contribution from any college’s net price calculator, if your goal is to maximize offered financial aid. (May differ if applying to need-aware colleges.)
Not a College Board issue/ it’s college specific
The answer to your question is - it depends. Either situation is possible.
Also note that when a college says it will meet 100% need, that means that they will meet what they think you need, not what you think you need. There may (or may not) be a gap between the 2.
@Neko-cute
The colleges are going to compute your financial need based on the income and asset information you put on the Profile form…not what YOU say you are going to contribute each year. Put whatever you want to put on that line…but the colleges are not stupid. They will take your financial data, and compute your kiddo’s financial need. Need aware colleges will use THEIR calculations if they use financial need in the admissions equation.
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usbalumnus Thank you. As you say, net price calculator doesn’t provide clear sense about FA for international students. Nor do financial offices of individual colleges. It was helpful to learn that how to determine the “need” varies between colleges.
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skieurope Thank you. I understood that with the colleges who determine our need independently from what we say we are ready to pay, then I don’t have to worry too much about the amount the money we request. Rather, the issue is whether we ask for FA or not.
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thumper1 Thank you. In a sense it is scaring because they might determine our need much bigger than we think and consider the candidate to be more needy. On the other hand, we don’t have to worry too much about the amount of FA we want. It is so complicated…
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Are you saying you have enough money to fund college studies in the United States without any need based aid?
^This. If that is the case, they will see that when you provide all the required financial information.
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thumper1 and intparent
If we cut down all the expenses except for the college cost, sacrifice our own little enjoyment in daily life and give up buying nicer apartment after retirement, we could pay for that. As long as the college worths such an investment, we are ready to do so. For us, net price calculator doesn’t work and I don’t know how they see our financial information.
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The colleges are going to take your annual income…and your assets (savings, checking, CD), and sometimes home equity, and they are going to determine how much THEY think you can pay.
Keep in mind…many…MANY colleges in this country do not meet full need for international students. Some don’t give ANY aid of any kind to international students. Some give limited aid. Some give the same aid regardless of country.
Cutting back on expenses will only work if you have $60,000 PLUS a year in discretionary spending.
Here is my suggestion…that’s about $6000 a month or so that you will need to fully find a private college education here. See if you can Bank $6000 a month for the next three or four months. Just try it. Can you really meet your expenses if you are putting that amount of money in a separate account for a few months? If yes…continue doing this and see how long it takes before you need to dip into that account.
If you find you can’t put $6000 a month aside NOW, then it’s unlikely you will be able to do so by tightening your belt when your kid is in college.
Also, what colleges are you talking about? You also need to understand that international student acceptances are in the very low %age for most colleges that meet full need. Your kid would need to be accepted to get that financial aid from the school.
To be honest, no one here knows if your kid is even a competitive applicant for admission…and that is the first hurdle the will need to clear.
ETA…read carefully each website for international student financial aid. You mention Holy Cross as a possibility for ED on another thread. This is what is on the HC website for international student financial aid:
Note…Holy Cross offers LIMITED funding for international students.
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thumper1 Thank you for your sincere advice. All you say totally makes sense. I appreciate your candidness.
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If you want need-based financial aid from the school, you will be required to complete a detailed form that reports your family’s financial information. That’s how the schools will see your financial information.
I think she means she has no way of knowing where she stands with regard to FA eligibility, as the NPC isn’t useful for internationals.
Whether the NPC for a given college shows a correct estimate for international students depends on the college. Note that many colleges’ NPCs do ask questions that would determine international status, which can presumably be used to give a correct estimate. However, it is likely that some or most will show worse or no FA for international students, since they may not promise as much or any FA to international students.
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BelknapPoint Thank you, and please forgive me for asking a basic question.
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brantly Yes. That is my point. Thank you very much for understanding.
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I know that funds for internationals are extremely limited in most colleges. I also know that requesting aid will significantly hurt her candidacy. We are ready to borrow loans in our home country to go full-pay.
But to some colleges, we might want to apply for need-based aid considering the cost-benefit balance.
Without counting the loan, our financial situation will probably look somewhat needy. I wanted to know what impact our statement of readiness will have on the admission scrutiny. I tried NPC, but due to the lack of my filing of tax documentation, the outcome didn’t seem to be plausible. I can easily imagine what would happen if we put, say, $30,000 gap per year on the application documents of selective colleges. So I don’t mean to do so.
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ucbalumnus Thank you. I didn’t know some colleges offer NPC addressing situations of internationals. I will search them.
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@Neko-cute
My opinion…I think you ar overestimating the benefit of NOT applying for financial aid for international students…t colleges that give it. The acceptance rates for international students from some areas is less %age than for general admission in any round anyway. Your student still needs to be in the ball park for accepted students at the school.
But mostly…if you need financial aid…you need financial aid, and should apply for it, unless you are prepared to be a full pay family. Some of these colleges that have generous aid are $70,000 a year. You need to also add in travel costs and health insurance…could be above $70,000 at some of these colleges. Are you really prepared to take almost $300,000 in loans for an undergraduate education? I will say…conventional wisdom here is…that’s too much loans for undergrad school.
If your kiddo is a competitive applicant for these selective schools…she is a competitive applicant. Maybe she will have a teeny edge for being full pay…maybe.
But this could also put your family in a financial bind for four years.
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thumper1 Thank you very much for your comment. The college list in front of me has always showed me the tough reality: how narrow the windows for internationals are. We have been struggling with this all the time. Even our private counselors only points her “defects”- fragmented transcripts and ECs, lack of hooks, etc.
But there are kids who are desperately struggling with disadvantage everywhere due to unexpected moves across the borders. Maybe I am the one who knows more than anybody how difficult for new comers to get in selective American colleges. Besides, colleges of my home country don’t open wide window to returnees either.
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I don’t want to borrow any loan. My husband and I really think paying $300,000 is more than absurd. Besides, we are not talking about Ivies or something. But if she couldn’t get in any college here, her chance in our home country would be even narrower. Thank you for your comments. I wish we could follow the conventional wisdom you pointed out, because we also have believed in it.