<p>Due to an odd issue with our small business my parents' income for this past year is greatly exaggerated. My EFC from the FAFSA is a ridiculously high 38,000. My family has already made it clear that they cannot help me pay for college over the next four years, and I plan on attending law school after that. Is there any hope of negotiating with financial aid offices at schools in order to receive a different scholarship package or am I totally out of luck?</p>
<p>The short answer is yes. In fact, many schools have formal procedures for adjustments to aid packages. Once you are admitted to a school and receive a fin aid package, go ahead and make the request. Avoid words like “appeal” and “negotiate” in favor of “review” and “adjust.”</p>
<p>It depends…</p>
<p>Some schools have strict policies of not reviewing.</p>
<p>Some schools have little aid to give - except for federal or state aid - so a review isn’t going to get you anything.</p>
<p>Some schools will adjust a few thousand, but it sounds like you need nearly all of the EFC to “go away.”</p>
<p>Frankly, with an EFC of $38k and the statement that your parents can’t help you “at all”, it’s very, very unlikely that any school could make the difference that you need.</p>
<p>It’s not like you can say…“hey, my EFC is $38k, but for XXXX reasons, my family can only pay $30k, so what can be done to make your school affordable.”? </p>
<p>no…your problem is that your parents can’t pay ANYTHING…there’s virtually no chance that a school is going to adjust a $38k EFC down to …what?..some small number that you can pay with a $5500 student loan???</p>
<p>What are the facts? </p>
<p>With a $38k EFC, how much do you expect the school to drop your EFC to? And how would you pay that “new amount”? Keep in mind that your FA package will already have a student loan in it, so you won’t be able to borrow to cover your EFC.</p>
<p>*Accepted:</p>
<p>Bellarmine (22k per year in scholarships)
Kentucky (Recently submitted Academic Scholarship App.)
Cincinnati (Cincinnatus Scholarship)
Michigan- Ann Arbor campus
South Carolina
Southern Methodist</p>
<p>Waiting on:
Pepperdine
NYU *</p>
<p>OK…you’ve applied to a few out of state publics and NYU. I can tell you that those schools aren’t likely going to give you an adjustment for need-based aid. OOS publics have to reserve their need-based funds for instate students.</p>
<p>did you apply to ANY financial safety schools? Those are schools that you know that you’ll get accepted to and you know FOR SURE that you have all costs covered with ASSURED scholarships, small fed student loans, and/or family funds.</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>Just my opinion, but you were very poorly advised as to which schools to apply to.</p>
<p>Like the posts above say, you seriously need to explore options that fit your family’s budget. Check out your in-state options and also consider community college & transfering to a 4-year school. As posted above, while SOME schools can make SOME adjustments, it’s not realistic for most of them to drop from 38K to nothing or even four digits, especially in these challenging economic times. You need a financial safety that you’re likely to get into and your family can help you pay for.</p>
<p>Don’t see schools that are known for significant merit aid or financial safeties at all in your list (if the above is correct).</p>
<p>If this past year’s income was truly a “blip” not to be repeated for your family have you considered taking a gap year? Then you could apply anew for financial aid with more realistic income numbers.</p>
<p>I am an Ohio resident so UC is my financial safety school. The tuition there is actually less than the sticker price for my high school. I’m trying to set a realistic cutoff goal for indebtedness after undergraduate study in order to eliminate some schools from this list, but I haven’t figured out what the number is that I can be comfortable with. For those of you who have put kids through college what do you think a reasonable number is? </p>
<p>I am the first one in the family to attend college so we really have no clue about what to think. </p>
<p>For the FAFSA the income question got a bit murky. My parents had to take a personal loan to finance a building project when they opened up their business a few years ago. This year they made some cuts in order to free up the money to be able to have the business repay the remainder of that loan, but the money was paid to them from the business and the loan was paid from there. They had to claim this payment on their income taxes and it nearly doubled their income. REALLY not a good time to have that done. Will colleges be willing to adjust for that or am I out of luck?</p>
<p>At most financial aid offices you can request a review of an aid package based on changes in your family’s financial circumstances. You can then provide additional information not available through FAFSA and CSS.</p>
<p>How much is your Cincinnatus? Will it cover a good portion of tuition at Cincinnati?</p>
<p>In terms of loans, I would encourage students to graduate with as little debt as possible, especially if graduate work of some kind is under consideration. On the other hand, many people take out a loan to pay for a car in the $20K range – so I think $20K over four years is not excessive for a college degree. But that’s strictly a financial comparison – attending college and getting a car are very different.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>A $20k loan ($5k per year) isn’t going to do much for this student if the parents can’t contribute much. However, I agree that the student shouldn’t borrow much more than that.</p>
<p>I am an Ohio resident so UC is my financial safety school. The tuition there is actually less than the sticker price for my high school.</p>
<p>Can you commute to UC? If not, then you also have room and board costs…and books. </p>
<p>It sounds like the student attends a private school. How much is that? will your parents contribute at least THAT much towards college costs? </p>
<p>YOU can borrow the following amounts for federal student loans</p>
<p>frosh 5500
soph 6500
jr 7500
sr 7500</p>
<p>To borrow more than that (not recommended) your parents would have to co-sign. If they won’t agree to that, then you won’t be able to borrow more. It’s not a good idea to borrow more than that anyway.</p>
<p>Actually, since you want to attend law school, you need to borrow as little as possible for undergrad. You’ll need to save your borrowing power for law school.</p>
<p>How much was your Cincinnatus award?</p>
<p>“A $20k loan ($5k per year) isn’t going to do much for this student if the parents can’t contribute much.” </p>
<p>Depends on the Cincinnatus amount, and whether UC is commuting distance. Also, it’s unclear whether parents will contribute some or nothing. $5K may not help at all of the universities, but it might make U of Cinci a reality. In any case, the question was more general – what is a reasonable amount to borrow?</p>
<p>The rule of thumb that I use is the amount that the student is permitted to take under Stafford and Perkins loans. That is still on the high side, in my opinion. If the parent can match that amount in PLUS that gives a family of a freshman $11k in loans for that year, split between parents and student. AI also believe that a student should be able to make about the amount he borrows over the summer, during the spring semester, over breaks, etc, Especially if the student starts a part time job NOW during the final term of high school–yes, my son is doing that. Again if parents and students can split that amount, it comes to another $11K in college money. If there are some savings to be tapped that gets thrown into the pot as well as merit money. That’s about what you can afford for college unless there is room to do more in any of those areas.</p>