<p>my parents need to start planning their money now, so i need to ask this - supposing i got 40k for my freshman year, will my financial aid likely remain 40 k per year until my senior year?</p>
<p>All other things being equal, yes, your FA would likely remain approximately the same for 4 years. Any change in income or assets could, of course, change that (assuming we're talking about need-based aid here).</p>
<p>You must apply for FA every year, and it is recalculated every year. In addition, the "mix" of aid (grant, loans, work-study) may change every year.</p>
<p>There are no guarantees.</p>
<p>My son's grant fluctuated, but his scholarship didn't. Every dollar we made over the original amount seemed to be deducted from the upcoming years grant. That might not be the case in each college, but it bears looking into.</p>
<p>It might if your circumstances change.</p>
<p>Merit based aid (scholarships) often has some sort of requirement to keep it. For instance my daughter has to maintain a minimum GPA and a certain number of hours per semester or she losses that money.</p>
<p>Need based aid (such as grants) has to be re applied for every year. If your families financial situation changes then the aid may change. For instance if the family income is $25,000 when you apply and you are awarded aid of $40,000 for year one that would likely change for year two if the family income increased to $100,000.</p>
<p>Our EFC went down this year and my daughter's grant money increased. This was partly because she became eligible for a grant she was not awarded last year. Also certain grants vary in amount based on the year of your education. For instance the ACG is $750 freshman year and $1300 sophomore year and goes away after that. The SMART grant is not available till years 3 and 4 and then not in year 5 (if there is a year 5). So there are a lot of variables.</p>
<p>It's also important to remember that the cost of attending a particular college may go up while you are in school. If your initial financial aid is $40,000 but the school raises its price $2500 a year, you actually would need MORE finanicial aid each year to cover your costs, not the same amount.</p>
<p>Each college has its own financial aid policies concerning how they treat returning students. Some colleges work hard to cover any increases with institutional grants, others tend to tack on more student loans and work study each year. Also remember, that the cap on subsidized student loans goes up each year you're in college, so it is possible for your family to end up paying the same amount out of pocket, but having your loans increase from year to year and that actually adds to your total expenditure.</p>
<p>So, it's a good idea to directly ask the financial aid office of each school you are considering about: how their cost of attendance has changed in the last three to five years, how institutional aid changes as costs go up, and whether your student loan amount is likely to stay the same while you are in college. There are also some resources online for researching and comparing this information (google: College Opportunities Online for the US Dept of Ed website for one source).</p>