What does full need met mean?

Paying for College
1

<p>I just ran some of the net cost calculators on the websites of some colleges that were listed as "full need met" for financial aid and the results have made me realize that the term full need met is a nebulous one. There was a $10,000 difference in EFC between the colleges.</p>

<p>If I ran the calculators correctly, then each college has its own definition of the term. I did notice that while the calculator questions and format were similar, a few of the colleges added additional questions that may have changed the calculations.</p>

<p>Asking a parent to come up with, say, $5,000 a year for college vs. $15,000 a year (after student loans and work-study) could completely change their ability to send their child to that school.</p>

<p>If anyone has any experience sending their child to one of these schools let me know whether they found the net cost calculator to be accurate, and if they were unable to send their child there because they were not able to come up with the EFC the school required.</p>

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<p>Your assessment is correct. “Meets full need” means meets full need as the college defines it. And yes, $10k (or even less) can significantly impact your child’s decisions about where to attend school.</p>

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<p>As has been stated in this forum repeatedly, the net price calculators tend to be accurate . . . unless there is a family business, a parent is self-employed, or there are significant assets. At that point, results can vary dramatically, and we’ve had reports here of families expecting significant aid who ended up with no aid at all. And yes, when that happens, the student usually ends up not being able to attend the school.</p>

<p>But even without those variables, financial aid awards can vary dramatically from one school to the next. We had one family on this forum that reported a $20k spread between their student’s most generous and least generous offers! Different schools calculate need differently, and they also package their awards differently. So one award might consist almost exclusively of grants, while another is quite loan-heavy. One might include work-study, while another does not. Health insurance, study abroad, a winter “interim” program, etc., etc. might be included, or might not be. And it’s likely that not all of these differences will be readily apparent in using the net price calculators.</p>

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<p>Net price calculators also are not necessarily accurate if there is foreign income, rental properties, secondary real estate, or divorced parents (for schools,suing non-custodial parent information, or where child/spousal support is received).</p>

<p>Those NPC work best with W2 income and typical assets.</p>

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<p>Your net price calculator can also vary in the case of divorced parents especially if one (or both) have remarried.</p>

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<p>There was no family business, secondary real estate or income etc- it was one of the “cleanest” calculations possible.</p>

<p>While my post did talk about net cost calculators, the bigger point was regarding “full need met” colleges. The point was that “full need met” may mean something different to the colleges vs the parents, and something different to various colleges.</p>

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<p>When it comes to the world of college financial aid, “meet” and “need” have very Orwellian definitions. Act accordingly.</p>

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<p>Since different schools have different endowments/resources and THEY get to define what your need is, the results will differ. Some have generous formulas, and some don’t. Some use home equity, some use little or no home equity. Some expect students to contribute more, some don’t.</p>

<p>You’re expecting them to use the same formulas, but they don’t.</p>

9

<p>There have been a number of parents and students who have posted on these boards who have not been able to come up with the contribution that the school required, when they knew up front that it would be that approximate amount, still applied, and when the final financial aid package arrived, it was as the NPC would calculate it. Heck, I’m one of them. Knew up front that some schools that my kids applied to were unaffordable at the NPC price, but gave ot a whirl anyways. In some cases, some merti money kicked in and we ended up with more than expected and that opened some possibilities. </p>

<p>The NPCs are averages so they tend to be more accurate at those schools that gurantee to meet full need, do not have a merit awards and when the family finances are straightforward with no family owned business or other unusual situation involved. </p>

<p>Those students who need financial or merit money to go to certain colleges should cast a wider net than those that won’t to have more flexibility and choices, IMO. When cost is a factor, and you don’t know for sure what the final cost is going to be, you put in more chances in hopes that something you like a lot comes up. I have seen financial aid packages from schools that claim to use the same methodology as another, end up with very different aid packages, and other board members have reported the same. So it pays to shop around. </p>

<p>It is particularly important, really to me, the most important thing, to have at least one, maybe a few school that you know you will be able to afford and that you know admissions will occur. That can be any of your local public options, some commuting options at privates that have traditionally been good to students from a given high school with your student’s stats, and school with some guaranteed awards at test score and grade threshholds that you student has. Admissions has become quite competitive these days, so a options like the state flagships and the schools most in demand, have gotten so that getting in is even an issue, and then one has the financials to consider.</p>

<p>There is nothing wrong with adding some lottery ticket schools into the mix, but both student and parent should understand that they are exactly that and that cost is an issue as well as acceptance. For some it would be a trauma worth avoiding; having a scenario where a student is accepted to some highly desired schools and parent can’t afford them. For my kids, for example, it was not. They just swept those offers off the table and focused on the affordable ones. And sometimes, maybe there are some good surprises. We got some of those too, not many, not much, but some.</p>

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<p>We got started before NPCs but our experience with meet full need- they listed their calculated parent and student contributions, for a total. Subtracted that from total COA and met the balance with a grant and work study. No loans in there. We did choose to pursue student loans and some Parent Plus, to meet that family contribution. </p>

<p>What’s important, in general, is that different colleges can calculate “need” per their own formulas. Some will include a loan figure to meet your need, right off the bat, not leaving this to your discretion. Thus, reducing the amount of grants. You can usually learn more about their particular loan policies on their web sites.</p>

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<p>Thank you for your replies. </p>

<p>You’re right, we do need a “financial safety” just in case. It sounds like the best strategy is to pick as many colleges that would fit your child’s needs as possible, including state and possibly community colleges, then narrow it down by using their net cost calculators, and then apply to a large group of those, hoping as cptofthehouse says, that some may offer a better deal than the college calculator provides.</p>

<p>The toughest part is that if your child, in this case my son, wants to live on campus you’re automatically talking 10-12K for room and board even if they were able to land the elusive full tuition scholarship.</p>

<p>At least there is CC to provide some guidance.</p>

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<p>Different schools which each claim to “meet full need” can vary in their net price based on:</p>

<ul>
<li>How they calculate EFC (expected family contribution). I.e. do they use federal methodology from FAFSA, or do they have their own methodology using additional CSS/Profile information?</li>
<li>How big of an ESC (expected student contribution of student loans and work earnings) they expect. This can range from about $4,000 to $10,000. At the lower end, the student can cover it with either a Stafford loan or work earnings; at the higher end, the student likely needs both a Stafford loan and work earnings.</li>
</ul>

<p>Net price <= EFC + ESC at a “meets full need” school (note that net price includes all costs not covered by grants or scholarships; any amounts covered by loans should be included in it). But many schools do not actually “meet full need” anyway, so the net price may be higher than EFC + ESC (some public schools “meet full need” for in-state residents, but not out-of-state residents). Of course, whether the school is actually affordable depends on whether net price <= AFC + ASC (actual family contribution + actual student contribution).</p>

<p>Note that the net price calculators can be accurate for a simple financial situation, while they show differences in net price due to differences in each school’s financial aid methodology as described above.</p>

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<p>Artie, it’s really a tough situation, because even the meet full needs schools, the most generous ones , tend to require a student contribution above and beyond the family’s contribution, and I’ve been seeing some mighty hefty amounts requred from teh student. A tough go for a family who might be counting on the student working over the summer, during the school year, and taking out some Direct unsub loans towards the family contribution. It’s kind of a slap i the face when a no loan, full need school has that student contribution, since the loan has to be taken out to meet the student contribution if the student cannot come up with the money through work or savings, and the family cannot cover it.</p>

<p>Merit awards are can also be bittersweet and not helpful for families who have financial need, in that unless such scholarships exceed the need, they just replace it. A kid who gets a school scholarship of say $20K is not going to get that ON TOP of the financial aid package s/he might have gotten if s/he had not gotten that award. It is applied directly to the defined need, and then a fin aid package is put together to meet the new need figure. tt can be downright galling.</p>

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<p>You’re right, we do need a “financial safety” just in case. It</p>

<p>I would suggest having 2-3 financial safety schools because if they end up being the only affordable schools, then your child will still ahve a choice and won’t feel railroaded into one affordable school. Having a choice is good for morale.</p>

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<p>No. More than one.</p>

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<p>Ah, cross-posted with above.</p>

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<p>Full need also may mean a different amount than EFC - if attending an OOS public college. </p>

<p>Public colleges are not required to offer full need to OOS kids.</p>

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<p>This FA business is not as clearcut as I first thought-glad I have this forum. Thanks.</p>

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<p>Artie, my son went to a meets-full-need college. Their online calculator gave us a very accurate prediction of his aid. On top of the parents’ contribution, the college expected him to work summers. I believe the first summer they expected $1500 from him, in subsequent summers it was $2000 – and he was able to earn these amounts with his summer job. One summer they waived it because he was working in an unpaid internship. He was also expected to earn money from work study during the school year for his personal expenses.</p>

<p>Their FA package was very fair and very generous, but yes he was expected to contribute and so were we (parents). As a family with a modest income I won’t say it didn’t pinch, but it was manageable and we are very grateful to the college.</p>