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Needs based grants for higher income families


DawnM
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I was talking to a parent this weekend at my son's high school.  Her son is going to a state school next year and her son just found out he is getting a needs based grant.

 

I thought needs based grants were for lower income families?  She did too and was surprised.  

 

She will have 2 in college next year, so would that be part of the reason?

 

She doesn't work, but her husband is a Physician (family practice).

 

What do you know about needs based grants for higher income families?

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She may want to read the small print. My dd was awarded a merit/need four year, full tuition grant at a state university. It was offered to her due to the merit stipulation, but they were very upfront that if the need-based element was not determined to have been met, the scholarship would be rescinded. It was rescinded the first week of classes. She was expecting that though as she already knew she wouldn't quite meet the need-based requirement.

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She may want to read the small print. My dd was awarded a merit/need four year, full tuition grant at a state university. It was offered to her due to the merit stipulation, but they were very upfront that if the need-based element was not determined to have been met, the scholarship would be rescinded. It was rescinded the first week of classes. She was expecting that though as she already knew she wouldn't quite meet the need-based requirement.

 

Oh wow!  That is crazy!  And you put your income in when you applied and received the grant?  

 

I don't pretend to be an expert, but I can tell you that:

 

(1) Our EFC is astronomically high (more due to net worth than high income)

(2) We have two in state schools (full pay for both)

(3) We've never heard of any needs based grants

 

Yeah, I haven't either, and neither had she.  She just expected to pay all but the scholarship amount.

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Having 2 students does change the FAFSA EFC number by dividing the total EFC between the 2 students*, so the college will now see an EFC amount that is less for each student -- so yes, that could have been just enough to make the student eligible for need-based aid. 

 

It may have been a grant that was awarded due to having completed the CSS PROFILE, which requires more specific financial information, but can also provide a more complete realistic picture of the family's overall finances.

 

It may be that it is a state grant that is both merit-based and need-based, so the grant (or the school) may have a higher threshold on the "need" in order to find enough students who *also* meet the merit requirement, in order to award the grant $$.

 

 

* = I can't seem to find anything that explains how that EFC number gets reduced -- it's not cut in half, but I think it's something like 2/3 as much...?? Hopefully 8FillTheHeart will jump in as I have a dim memory of her explaining this before from a long-past post. ;)

Edited by Lori D.
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The FAFSA formula multiplies the one child EFC by half.

The Profile is believed to multiply the one child EFC by two thirds.

 

The FAFSA is a public formula published in federal regulations. The Profile formula is not published.

 

But here is a blog post repeating that conventional wisdom

http://www.thecollegesolution.com/when-two-children-head-to-college/

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That brings up another question I have as I too will have 2 in college this next year.

 

One is already there.  When will most schools let you know about next year's amounts for continuing students?  Now I am wondering if we would qualify for anything.

 

 

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Some schools have funds to give need based grants to students from families with not-so-low incomes.

Many of the top private universities give generous aid to families with even higher incomes. I am very grateful that my kids' colleges give us some need based aid. I am surprised since you say this is a state school, because public colleges struggle with underfunding, but no, need based aid for middle income families is not unheard of.

 

Edited by regentrude
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California has a middle income scholarship. My kids’ previous pediatrician closed her family practice and joined a large medical group because of income stability. She said it wasn’t easy being self employed and she is earning more as an employee. Our family dentist on the other hand makes more money being self employed but her husband is in a well paid job so they don’t need a stable income from her dental practice.

 

“The Middle Class Scholarship (MCS) provides undergraduate students, including students pursuing a teaching credential, with family incomes and assets up to $165,000 a scholarship to attend University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) campuses.â€

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California has a middle income scholarship. My kids’ previous pediatrician closed her family practice and joined a large medical group because of income stability. She said it wasn’t easy being self employed and she is earning more as an employee. Our family dentist on the other hand makes more money being self employed but her husband is in a well paid job so they don’t need a stable income from her dental practice.

 

“The Middle Class Scholarship (MCS) provides undergraduate students, including students pursuing a teaching credential, with family incomes and assets up to $165,000 a scholarship to attend University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) campuses.â€

 

Since she was quite surprised by this, I assume that means he is not going under or having financial difficulties.  

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That brings up another question I have as I too will have 2 in college this next year.

 

One is already there.  When will most schools let you know about next year's amounts for continuing students?  Now I am wondering if we would qualify for anything.

 

My school does not let continuing student know until late, I think it was mid to late May. That gives them time to process all the incoming students, yet it's frustrating because you don't know exactly your award amounts. 

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California has a middle income scholarship. My kids’ previous pediatrician closed her family practice and joined a large medical group because of income stability. She said it wasn’t easy being self employed and she is earning more as an employee. Our family dentist on the other hand makes more money being self employed but her husband is in a well paid job so they don’t need a stable income from her dental practice.

 

“The Middle Class Scholarship (MCS) provides undergraduate students, including students pursuing a teaching credential, with family incomes and assets up to $165,000 a scholarship to attend University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) campuses.â€

The Middle Class scholarship exists but is very limited and basically underfunded. We received a tiny bit on my daughter’s freshman year and then no more.

Edited by Mabelen
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I am very new to this and I am TERRIBLE with the lingo, but I will share with you an anecdote from a recent (our first) college visit.

 

I had a meeting with a financial aid advisor. Her main point in talking with me was:  Fill out the FAFSA. According to her, she deals with a whole lot of families who don't bother because they assume they won't qualify for any needs-based aid. She told me that some form of needs-based assistance will kick in at incomes under $300,000, so she encourages everyone to complete the FAFSA as a starting point. Because my daughter is a sophomore, we had limited time, and MY main questions were about merit aid, I didn't get into the specifics of what type of aid she was referring to (and I have already accepted the FAFSA as an inevitable part of the process.)

 

It seems, to me at least, that there are always parallel tracks in the aid process:  There is the federal component (FAFSA) and then the individual school component. I have found it very easy to get confused between the two, and I think that fuels a lot of the "how can this be" questions. Given what the financial aid officer told me, that would fit with what the OP's friend reported. Maybe it's part of some schools' calculation of need?

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I am very new to this and I am TERRIBLE with the lingo, but I will share with you an anecdote from a recent (our first) college visit.

 

I had a meeting with a financial aid advisor. Her main point in talking with me was:  Fill out the FAFSA. According to her, she deals with a whole lot of families who don't bother because they 

Where my son chose to attend - if you do not fill out the FAFSA you get neither need-based nor merit aid.

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She doesn't work, but her husband is a Physician (family practice).

 

What do you know about needs based grants for higher income families?

 

I just want to ask if you are certain this family is high income.  FP is not a high paying specialty, and they could be paying back some serious med school loans.  She may have been reticent about revealing personal financial info.  

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I just want to ask if you are certain this family is high income.  FP is not a high paying specialty, and they could be paying back some serious med school loans.  She may have been reticent about revealing personal financial info.  

 

 

I wondered this too - as well as family size.  Sometimes a family can have a significant income but is offset by household size/income ratio.  

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I haven't heard of that either.

 

I wonder too if the family is truly high income, or maybe they have some special circumstances unknown to you.  

 

We are definitely not in any high income bracket, at one point had three children in college at once, and still never qualified for any need-based grants -- only loans.  Thankfully we did get some good merit scholarships;  it was necessary to fill out the FAFSA to get them.

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I am very new to this and I am TERRIBLE with the lingo, but I will share with you an anecdote from a recent (our first) college visit.

 

I had a meeting with a financial aid advisor. Her main point in talking with me was:  Fill out the FAFSA. According to her, she deals with a whole lot of families who don't bother because they assume they won't qualify for any needs-based aid. She told me that some form of needs-based assistance will kick in at incomes under $300,000, so she encourages everyone to complete the FAFSA as a starting point. Because my daughter is a sophomore, we had limited time, and MY main questions were about merit aid, I didn't get into the specifics of what type of aid she was referring to (and I have already accepted the FAFSA as an inevitable part of the process.)

 

It seems, to me at least, that there are always parallel tracks in the aid process:  There is the federal component (FAFSA) and then the individual school component. I have found it very easy to get confused between the two, and I think that fuels a lot of the "how can this be" questions. Given what the financial aid officer told me, that would fit with what the OP's friend reported. Maybe it's part of some schools' calculation of need?

 

We had heard this as well.

 

We did not bother for community college, but did for 4 year college.

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If the word scholarship is in the award letter then more than likely a merit award - colleges don't use the term "merit".  Income level may come into play for these as well.

Grant.

 

As was stated, the word GRANT was used.

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I just want to ask if you are certain this family is high income.  FP is not a high paying specialty, and they could be paying back some serious med school loans.  She may have been reticent about revealing personal financial info.  

 

Depends on what you call high income I guess. 

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