<p>My son was accepted to Lehigh ( engineering school), as my wife and my self do not make much money, 52,000/yr, he recieved a generous grant of $32,000, along with work study etc. This package makes Lehigh affordable this year, however I am concerned wether this $ will be there next year. His second choice is Maryland College Park ( accepted to Engineering School). College park is more ( they didn't give him much $), but at least I know this number will not chage too much. I really like Lehigh but I don't want to see the old " Bait and Switch", if the $ dries up he will have to transfer out ( probably back to college park), and I do want to see that happen. The financial aid office told me as long as our financial situation stays the same the grant $ will be there. Any thoughts would be helpful, May 1 is around the corner.</p>
<p>Lehigh sets aside so much money for need based aid, that it is downright stingy about merit based aid. My daughter (a sophomore) hasn't heard of anyone who had need based aid cut, as long as family finances remained the same.</p>
<p>As an example of how things can change, my brother's EFC for his children changed depending on the number of kids he had in college at one time. (Though they were not at Lehigh.) When he had two in college at one time, more need based aid was given. When that dropped to one, his EFC went up and aid went down. If your current EFC is based on something like that, things could change. Need based aid is calculated off EFC.</p>
<p>But no Bait and Switch that I know of.</p>
<p>Since I know Lehigh well and am close to UMCP, let me say that they are very different schools: small vs HUGE, one hour from major city vs one Metro ride to major city, and so on. My daughter preferred the smaller school atmosphere and didn't even apply to UMCP. I am also very wary about what can happen to tuitions at state universities like UMCP. Everytime there is discussion about the state budget, there seems to be talk about raising tuition at the UM system. That's not to say that tuition hasn't gone up at Lehigh. Every year, and I know what it will be for next year, Lehigh has raised tuition more than the annual inflation rate. But I think a university like Lehigh is more protected than UMCP and the whims of the state legislature.</p>
<p>Like Financial Aid said, if your situation stays the same, the money will be there next year. I'm in my third year, and my grant has actually gone up each of the last 2 years to cover the tuition increases.</p>
<p>From my experience, there is no bait and switch at Lehigh - you just need to make sure you get at least a 2.0 for grants, and 3.0 for scholarships. Different scholarships have different academic requirements.</p>
<p>Quote from recent article about Lehigh's new financial aid policy: "Some facts about Lehigh’s current financial aid policy: more than 50 percent of current Lehigh students benefit from Lehigh’s financial aid policy; of those who receive aid, Lehigh meets 96 percent of their demonstrated need; financial need is reviewed annually to ensure that awards remain consistent with each student’s financial situation; financial aid is Lehigh’s second largest annual expense; and, with this announcement, the financial aid budget for undergraduate students for the coming academic year will exceed $54 million—the highest level ever."</p>
<p>PLEASE do not worry about the bait and switch tactic; it does not exist at our university.</p>