<p>My sister applied and got into IU this year. We both live together with our mom (in-state), who makes under $50k annually and is in the process of paying off our house. Our EFC is under $5k. Despite the fact that the state determined that we had so little money to pay for our education that they gave us Pell Grants, IU has decided to give us $0 in aid. Our total costs, after all that the government has given us, is about $12k/year. This is in addition to the fact that I, her brother, am also attending school at UChicago and paying $19k/year. How the hell does IU expect us to pay $12k+$19k = $31k/year when our expected financial contribution is under $5k, even under in-state tuition? Moreover, wouldn't this approach illegality by state standards? I know that IU is under no obligation to pay our entire EFC, but to pay none of it is absolutely ridiculous.</p>
<p>Something is not adding up here. You said your EFC is under $5000. Is that both of you or per student? My question is how is your family paying $19,000/year at U of C on $50,000 year? I guess U of C didn’t meet your need either if you’re paying that much. Did your sister return the FAFSA on time–3/1 deadline? IU is under no legal obligation by the state to provide financial aid for your sister beyond what the federal and state governments provide. You are aware that the state has cut the budget for higher education? You are aware that the state does not fully fund IU?</p>
<p>It’s also possible that there had been an error. Has anyone in your family called IU Financial Aid yet to get clarification?</p>
<p>Yes, U of C failed to meet my need, despite the fact that they claim to cover 100% of it. But as is clear on these boards, Chicago is kind of infamous for using its own “special formulae” to determine need instead of using EFC as calculated by FAFSA.</p>
<p>I checked the FAFSA, and it says that it was submitted in mid-February before the deadline. However, it also says that IU failed to process it until mid-March… could this be the reason why we weren’t given any aid? But this would be IU’s fault… we submitted it and they just apparently didn’t process it for an entire month. Now, I’m aware that the state has cut the budget and that they’re under no obligation to pay anything to us, but it strikes me as morally corrupt to fail to give a single dollar to a single parent who’s trying to put two kids through college on a <$50k/year salary while simultaneously trying to make payments on her house. </p>
<p>My mom did contact IU financial aid today. They said that this is her final aid decision. I told my mom to go talk to them in person in Bloomington in a few days because frankly, this is going to bankrupt the family. I really don’t know what else we can do if they won’t give us any money, though. She will be taking to them a copy of her own financial records, my college tuition statement, and a few other documents. Is there anything more we can do? According to College Board, IU on average covers 90% of student’s need. Why have they decided to cover 0% of our need, specifically, though, especially when we need it desperately?</p>
<p>(By the way, the <$5k EFC is for both my sister and me together. So it really should be <$2.5k for each of us individually. In other words, IU is leaving upwards of $10k/year in need unmet. In fact, since Chicago halves the expected family contribution when 2 family members are in college, I will actually be paying less at Chicago than my sister will be paying at IU next year, which is really disturbing since Chicago is an expensive private school with infamously subpar aid.)</p>
<p>What loans did IU offer your sister?</p>
<p>Well, since UChicago is decreasing your costs maybe that will free up some money for your sister’s education. Housing at IU can be significantly less costly if your sister applies and gets accepted into the residence scholars housing. We have also found that the miscellanious expenses that IU includes in their COA is grossly overestimated; ie a cost conscientious student will not spend nearly what is forecast. If you list your sister’s FA offer it would make it easier for people to offer advice. Did your sister qualify for any of the automatic merit awards? I do know a student who applied by the Nov. 1st deadline and erroneously not awarded her merit award. The school did correct the error. Also, if Pell was awarded, did your sister qualify for ACG? I think that Pell recipients who (for Indiana residents) have received the Academic Honors diploma qualify for the $750 federal ACG. (Terminology may be incorrect here as I know the labeling of the diplomas have changed since my children graduated).</p>
<p>When collegeboard shows that IU meets an average of 91% of need, that is including federal aid. So IU is not meeting 0% of your need; you haven’t posted what was awarded so I can’t tell what percent of need was met. Also, has your sister set up online
access to her eStudent account with Indiana’s Department of Education? I don’t know if any state grants have been awarded yet; both of my D’s online accounts indicate that nothing has been awarded yet but all info is ready. The state has a May 15th deadline for any FAFSA updates/corrections when considering the state grant awards. Your sister can go online and see if the state has indicated that she may be eligible for an award. These are based on EFC and amount of need.</p>
<p>IUB is part of a statewide system. Probably everybody in the state lives within an hours drive of an IU regional campus or a big state school like Purdue, Indiana State, Ball State. IUB is under no obligation to give non-merit aid when in-state students have the option to go to state school campuses that they can commute to. Your sister is in a need-based situation, and the regional campuses and other state schools may be her best option. 25% of the people who go to the regional campuses could get into IUB but they can’t afford it and don’t have the stats to get significant merit aid from IUB. You are comparing apples to oranges by comparing aid at IUB and Chicago. All aid at Chicago is de facto merit aid because if you were not merit aid worthy, you wouldn’t have got into UChicago in the first place.</p>
<p>IU gives a ton of scholarships. Did you not qualify for any of the automatic scholarships? And by automatic, I really mean automatic - if you get above a 1340 on the SAT and a 3.8 in high school, your full tuition is covered (9,000) if you’re from in state.</p>
<p>whaaaat?? covers in-state tuition if you get a 3.8??? dude, I’m getting 2,790 from IU Pell grant and my GPA is a 3.6/ sat 1780… maybe I’m getting less cuz I applied late. Do you know what’s the max. IU Pell grant??? can I beg for more???</p>
<p>The pell grant is a federal grant, not a state grant. It is completely based on your EFC and would be the same amount of Pell at any school you go to (whether the school costs $5,000 or $50,000). The max Pell is $5,550 but that requires a 0 EFC. If you are getting $2790 Pell then I am guessing your EFC is around 2700-2800. You cannot get more pell than your EFC makes you eligible for.</p>
<p>
I maybe misunderstanding your post so just wanted to clarify. When you say "our EFC do you mean you each had an EFC of around 2500 and you are adding them together to come up with the 5,000? There is no “our” EFC - each of you have your own individual EFC. The EFC produced by FAFSA for each of you already takes into account that there are 2 of you in college. So if your sister’s EFC is 5,000 then 5,000 is *her *EFC. If I am misunderstanding your post then just ignore my comment.</p>
<p>swimcatsmom, I wrote it wrong. the estimated federal pell grant is 3,400. but then IU is giving me IU Pell Promise Award for 2,790. I wanted to know what the max. was for IU Pell Promise Award and if I could get more since my dad has been unemployed since Jan. (only my mom is getting any money…$30,000/year approx.)</p>
<p>Ah - ok. I don’t know anything about the IU pell promise award, only about the federal pell.</p>
<p>You should talk to the school about your Dad being unemployed. They may not be willing to make any sort of immediate adjustment but it does not hurt to ask. Plus they can tell you if there is a possibility of an adjustment down the road (if your dad remains unemployed) and what documentation you would need to provide.</p>
<p>Thanks! I’ll call on Monday. :D</p>
<p>tinytao–Turquoise is referring to the automatic merit scholarships that are awarded without regard to financial need. The priority deadline was 11/1 and extended to 12/1. The 1340 SAT score referenced is out of 1600 (CR and M) not the total 2400 score. (Actually it’s a 1330 required.) The smaller merit scholarships require a minimum 3.7 GPA. The largest requires a 3.8. There is no automatic scholarship for a 3.6</p>
<p>The priority date for the automatic scholarships was in February I think?? Maybe even January. I’m not sure - they are a very sweet deal though. I think the highest is 9,000, then they give 5,000 and finally 2,000. Good luck with financial aid and everything!</p>
<p>Oh thank you rrah. Oops I just saw that. I guess that answers the question then! Hope it all works out</p>
<p>For anyone whos family income has changed significantly since the end of '10 (ie. job loss, divorce, death of family member, extraordinary medical expenses, etc.) you can file a Special Circumstances Appeal with the college for extra financial aid consideration. And I did see on the IU website that for anyone who will receive any Pell Grant money, IU has the Pell Promise Award where they try to cover the difference between the Pell Grant and the remaining cost of tuition. Purdue also has a “Pell Promise”, but it is only for 21st Century Scholars, I believe. IU’s is for anyone receiving any Pell money. You’ll have to look it up on their website and give them a call!</p>