What financial aid reward should I expect?

Hello,
I am a first-generation student who will be majoring in Computer Science and Economics this fall. My family is very underprivileged, and our income is below $20,000 a year. My estimated family contribution is 0 and I have no money in savings. I won a national scholarship of $25,000, so I have a little bit of wiggle room, but not much considering Northeastern’s hefty tuition. The net price calculator gave me back a very low number, so I’m hopeful, but many of my friends have told me that Northeastern gives horrible financial aid and I’m dreading the thought of giving up going to my dream school because I’m too poor.

Does anyone have a rough estimate of how much my tuition would be?

It really varies, but in straightforward family income situations, it can be generous. It’s not worth giving up, it just means tempering expectations in case it is indeed unaffordable. Personally, I had an EFC under $1K and family income under 20K and got very generous financial aid. Do note that any package will include federal loans / work study. Good luck!

It’s really hard to estimate these kinds of things. In my experience, Northeastern financial aid has been pretty good. My family usually makes 6 figures a year and I did get a small scholarship, but I also got $27,000 in grants each year, although I do have a sibling in college. I wouldn’t stress out about it, there’s nothing you can do until you get your financial aid package. You can always try to appeal it if it isn’t what you expected.

@Liloesq Do appeals tend to work, or are the majority rejected?

Also, I wish all the scholarships I applied for would get back to the applicants sooner. If I were to win more money, it would be a lot more helpful to know about it before committing to a university.

@PengsPhils You make me hopeful. I simply can not let myself get into debt, so I hope they are as generous with me as they were with you.

Honestly I don’t have any experience with appeals, but I know that if they are successful, they usually won’t increase your aid that much unless there’s a special circumstance.

Keep in mind that outside scholarships don’t stack with aid. If you get scholarships, Northeastern tends to reduce your aid to account for it.

NEU will allow outside scholarships to replace loans first I believe, and they may stack it over merit scholarships, but not need based. https://studentfinance.northeastern.edu/applying-for-aid/undergraduate/types-of-aid/scholarships/outside-scholarships/

@twicemama @Liloesq I have to pay 8,000 a year but I have 2,000 in work-study and an outside scholarship of 25,000 so not bad!