Y-O-Y Consistency of Institutional Financial Aid

Paying for College
1

<p>Would be interested in hearing comments from parents with S/Ds currently in college regarding their experience with year-to-year consistency of financial aid (need &/or merit-based) awards from schools across the board. Getting ready to send S1 off next fall and financial aid - and its consistency in subsequent years - will definitely be a major factor in where he chooses to attend. With most major factors being equal/remaining the same (ie. family income, meeting academic achievement standards, average rate of inflation, etc.) from year-to-year, I'm wondering how realistic it is realistic to assume that the cost to attend for 4 years at the same institution will remain approximately the same when adjusted for inflation. Specifically, also curious if anyone has had any 'bait & switch' type experiences where an exteremely generous amount of financial aid was awarded to an incoming freshman only to see subsequent year awards dramatically reduced above and beyond any major changes in one's student/family situation.</p>

<p>Obviously asking the right questions and getting things in writing from the financial aid department will go a long way towards eliminating any confusion on down the line. Any other specific recommendations/suggestions to follow in trying to 'nail down' the cost of a full 4 years?</p>

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<p>It would probably be more helpful if you listed the schools that you’re concerned about.</p>

<p>People have had different experiences at various schools.</p>

<p>Also…some schools don’t give you more aid when a sibling begins college.</p>

3

<p>Washington U STL
Trinity University
Santa Clara
Gonzaga
Puget Sound
Seattle U
U of Portland
St. Mary’s College (CA)
Willamette</p>

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<p>We have never encountered any type of “bait & switch tactics.”<br>
With 4 children going for 11 consecutive years & 5 years of “overlap” it seems easier during “overlap” years. 3 Private schools, 1 public school involved. </p>

<p>If your income & your assets don’t change drastically from year to year, you should not see much increase in your EFC, IMO. </p>

<p>If you are a single parent & decide to re-marry, that changes everything, especially for a CSS Profile school. A student at a Profile school with a mother & stepfather & a father & stepmother, means that school will be looking at 4 incomes, if all 4 work! </p>

<p>Buy “Paying For College without Going Broke” Kalman Chany, 2011 Edition.</p>

5

<p>I would hope that need based aid would increase with tuition costs, assuming everything else stayed the same. </p>

<p>I’d guess that most merit aid would be a flat rate and would not increase with inflation.</p>

<p>It is worthwhile to read the fine print of the merit aid offers. Some have requirements that are extremely difficult to meet, particularly if a student is in a very competitive major. For example, if a student has one difficult semester, will the merit aid be gone for good, or will it be able to be restored if grades improve?</p>

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<p>At Willamette aid stayed pretty much the same year to year. Our costs went down when D moved out of dorm and into an apt.</p>

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<p>DD went to Santa Clara University. She received a small university grant that actually increased by about the same percentage as the tuition increase each year. Hers was a merit/need grant and she had to maintain a certain GPA and it was guaranteed for the four years. Even when her EFC doubled the last year (brother was out of college) she still got the same grant. BUT you need to ask there…some of their need based grants do not have a merit component and are recomputed based on your need each year.</p>

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<p>*Washington U STL
Trinity University
Santa Clara
Gonzaga
Puget Sound
Seattle U
U of Portland
St. Mary’s College (CA)
Willamette *</p>

<p>A few of these schools do not meet need (like Seattle, Portland, St. Mary’s, and maybe some others). Do you realize that?</p>

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<p>Actually NONE of the schools on this list guarantee to meet full need. That was NOT the OP’s question. The question related to whether aid would be about the same from year to year.</p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids - yes, we realize that not every school on the above list will meet all of our son’s financial need. We also understand that certain schools - WUSTL, Puget Sound & Trinity - are not need-blind as well. His list of schools was picked primarily based on his own prefrences related to academics (business), location and personal fit with the understanding that he may or may not be able to attend certain institutions even if accepted depending on where the individual financial aid offers come in. He’s also applying to a couple of other financial ‘safety’ schools, as well as waiting to see if he’ll be able to take advantage of some NMSC finalist scholarship offers if he makes the cut in February.</p>

<p>As thumper1 mentioned, our primary concern is whether or not it is realistic to be able to forecast a relatively steady total cost of education based on the INITIAL financial aid award package all other things staying relatively the same from subsequent year-to-year. Just trying to educate ourselves and gather as much pertinent information as possible so he’s able to make an informed decision when it comes time to commit next spring.</p>

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<p>*Actually NONE of the schools on this list guarantee to meet full need. That was NOT the OP’s question. The question related to whether aid would be about the same from year to year. *</p>

<p>Oh I know…I just wanted to make sure that the OP understood that. There have been some posts from people who thought that schools take EFC and then cover the rest. The term EFC is so misleading/confusing!</p>

<p>And…what I should have said was that if schools don’t guarantee to meet need, then how could a family have any assurance of similar aid year-to-year UNLESS the school has some written policy somewhere that aid won’t change unless family finances change. (BTW…if the school has such a policy…print it out and keep it in your records!!)</p>

<p>Without some kind of policy assurance from a school that doesn’t meet need, how would a family know for certain that a need-based grant wouldn’t be reduced at some point (or worse, disappear!) because the money is needed to attract incoming freshmen.</p>

<p>Of course, merit-linked scholarships awarded by the school aren’t going away as long as grades are maintainted and the scholarships are not “one year only” stipulations.</p>

<p>* He’s also applying to a couple of other financial ‘safety’ schools, as well as waiting to see if he’ll be able to take advantage of some NMSC finalist scholarship offers if he makes the cut in February.</p>

<p>*</p>

<p>Unless your son has some kind of GPA issues, has a sub 1960 SAT, or is a discipline problem at his school, your son WILL very likely make the cut. Those who don’t make the cut cause the problem themselves by having poor grades, not doing the paperwork, too low of an SAT, and/or being a discipline problem at school. NMCorp doesn’t reject kids who meet the basic req’ts of GPA, SAT, properly filled out paperwork, and good behavior.</p>

<p>Rejection letters get send out around Jan 7th, so if you haven’t gotten a rejection letter by mid January, you’ll know he made finalist. If for some odd reason he gets a rejection letter, immediately submit an appeal. </p>

<p>So…as long as your son is “issue free,” you can rest assured that he will make finalist. </p>

<p>Which schools has he applied to that will give NMF scholarships?</p>

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<p>@thumper1 - what was your impression of your DD’s education @ Santa Clara? Worthy of their COA and high western regional institutional ranking? SCU is at the top of S1’s list. We have heard nothing but great things about the school, but it’s our understanding that SCU is not overly generous when it comes to awarding financial aid (in general). He’s appears to be a good it academically, but financially it’s a ‘reach’ school for him depending on aid.</p>

<p>@csleslie51 - how did your D like Willamette?</p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids - which schools has he applied to that will give NMF scholarships? </p>

<p>Arizona, Gonzaga, UTDallas and Idaho (we’re ID residents). UA, UTD & UI are the most generous, covering anywhere from 70-85% of COA. He received those offers shortly after semi-finalists were announced. Anyone know if most NMF scholarship offers that will be offered are already sent, or is there a possibility that other offers may be forthcoming once finalists are announced? I would assume that all offers have been sent already as later offers (afetre finalist announcement) would be pretty late in the game application-wise.</p>

<p>Is that 1960 SAT cut-off a number you have personal experience with or just a guess? S is thankfully ‘issue’ free, although he did not score as well on the SAT (1990 - twice) as the PSAT (211). 32 on the ACT, so go figure. All out of our hands now, so here’s hoping for the best.</p>

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<p>1960 SAT was the number given by NMCorp this year.</p>

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<p>That’s good to know that 1960 is the actual number. Thanks for the information.</p>

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<p>I’m sending you a detailed PM. Short story for everyone else…Santa Clara is expensive but it was worth EVERY nickel we spent on it for our daughter. We were fortunate to be able to do this. EVERY nickel of my salary went to Santa Clara for four years.</p>