I'm going to cry; financial aide changes

[Starr]

Dd finally selected a small, private liberal arts college. I called to be sure the financial aide package was good. We were there a few weeks ago and everything was fine. They said there might be some changes due to something they questioned but didn't make it sound like a problem. She would not give me any other approximations. Today a letter came and they want $10,000 more. :svengo: Dh called and sent them more info and we'll know more Monday. But talk about scramble to find something else if this doesn't come down. We had already fixed our financial limits and dd turned down a very competitive state school but now, now I am going to cry. :crying:

[*LC]

That is crazy. That is a huge difference (no matter how much you are paying) to throw at you this late in the game.

 

I've never figured out those cute little icons, but I wanted to send you a big hug. Ughh. Hopefully, it will all work out on Monday. i hope you have a busy weekend planned with no time to worry about this craziness.

[Trilliums]

:grouphug:

 

I hope it works out. I agree, what a big change for them to tell you about now. Maybe it was some kind of mistake.

[creekland]

Wow! :grouphug: That is incredibly annoying and frustrating and would make me very angry. I'm going to assume it's all legal and based upon some financial records - if not - then I'd wonder if they could even do such a thing (offer something, then change their minds to that large of a degree). If it is all legal, I'd still be hopping mad, but you probably can't do much.

 

If they can't work it out soon, I'd recontact the state U and see if she can re-accept. I know in the mail/e-mails we got from the other colleges middle son turned down, they said to re-contact them if anything changed. I don't know if that goes out to everyone or not though. I sort of assumed it did.

[Gwen in VA]

How incredibly frustrating! I agree that that sounds either illegal or (which it probably is) buried in the fine print of the award letter. I've never heard of anything like this happening before.

 

I pray that you make contact with the college on Monday and manage to work everything out. And if for some reason you can't work things out, I really pray that State U is open to her going there.

 

How dreadful. :grouphug:

[Starr]

Thanks everyone. I don't see the big change either. I have noticed that all packages say the final number comes after you accept. I guess they take another look at those who accept and mostly they don't change much. Of course once a child is admitted who wants to go through the anguish of finding another school. I know it will work out in the end but I feel bad. She's had so many things go off course for her during this process. She's one of those students this shouldn't happen to but did. I could be an admissions coach now. And I thought I knew what I was doing. I'm mostly annoyed because the financial aide person caught the mistake and we checked into it, called and agreed with her but she wouldn't give any rough figures based on that until a week later.

[Jane in NC]

Put me in the category of another who has never heard of anything like this before. What I find to be surprising is learning of the change after the May 1 date!

 

If the change is due to erroneous information you unknowingly submitted, I think they have a leg to stand on. If the change is due to missing information, it would seem that they would have requested it long beforehand.

 

Some of the colleges want copies of 1040s before students are given their aid packages. Initially this blew me out of the water, but perhaps this is to avoid misunderstandings later in the process?

 

How frustrating for you! I hope that the financial aid office will reconsider given the challenge they are presenting to you this late in the game. Or that the State U will reconsider your daughter.

 

Best wishes,

Jane

[Teachin'Mine]

:grouphug: No BTDT, but if your daughter is interested in that state univ., I'd give them a call and see if they'll take her. What I'd be worried about with the other school is that even if you can negotiate something for her first year. as they dropped the ball in letting you know a better ball park figure at least, they aren't held to what they'll do the following three years. If the other school was a good choice, I'd go with that and hopefully there won't be any surprises.

[KirstenH]

That happened to me midway through college. Three weeks before the start of fall semester, they contacted me and demanded $15,000 additional. I couldn't afford to go back and it was way too late to transfer somewhere else. I'm still bitter about it.

[Jane in NC]

That happened to me midway through college. Three weeks before the start of fall semester, they contacted me and demanded $15,000 additional. I couldn't afford to go back and it was way too late to transfer somewhere else. I'm still bitter about it.

 

Did they give a reason for rescinding the financial aid?

 

This just blows me out of the water, by the way. :grouphug:

[Barbara H]

Unless it was in correction of a misinformation from the original application, it doesn't make sense. This is not a typical thing to have happen and I would try not to panic until you can have a real conversation with an administrator in the financial aid department. I would suggest going straight up the chain to speak to someone in authority and please let us know what happens.

[KirstenH]

Did they give a reason for rescinding the financial aid?

 

This just blows me out of the water, by the way. :grouphug:

 

Yes. My self-employed father made $5,000 more that year than he had made the previous year, which pushed us into a different bracket. (How $5,000 justified $15,000 more in expenses, I'm not sure.) The problem was, my parents refused to pay for college at all, so I was working full time to pay whatever financial aid didn't cover, and it was all on me. FAFSA absolutely would not consider me independent before the age of 23, so I was out of luck. I still don't have a degree. I don't mean to be a downer, but these things can happen. It's VERY important to get a FOUR-YEAR commitment to financial aid from your school of choice. I just assumed since it all worked out at first, the aid would continue. Not so. I was not the only person at my school to whom this happened.

Edited May 5, 2012 by KirstenH

[Jane in NC]

It's VERY important to get a FOUR-YEAR commitment to financial aid from your school of choice. I just assumed since it all worked out at first, the aid would continue. Not so. I was not the only person at my school to whom this happened.

 

I don't know of any schools that give four year commitments to financial aid. Schools that give merit aid usually promise it for four years provided that the student maintains his end of the bargain: minimal GPA, number of credits, etc.

 

For one thing, most colleges first look at federal aid available, i.e. Stafford loans and Pell grants. Pells depend on income status as do whether Staffords are subsidized or not--all subject to annual change. Hence FAFSA becomes an annual ritual for college parents.

 

I'm sorry that your parents were non-supportive of your post-secondary education.

[Brenda in MA]

I was not the only person at my school to whom this happened.

 

Kirsten,

 

I'm so sorry to hear about this. I've also never heard of such a dramatic change in aid. Since you said that you weren't the only person this happened to, would you mind sharing the name of the school with us so we can avoid that place?

 

Brenda

[KirstenH]

Edited for privacy reasons.

Edited May 5, 2012 by KirstenH

[KirstenH]

I don't know of any schools that give four year commitments to financial aid. Schools that give merit aid usually promise it for four years provided that the student maintains his end of the bargain: minimal GPA, number of credits, etc.

 

For one thing, most colleges first look at federal aid available, i.e. Stafford loans and Pell grants. Pells depend on income status as do whether Staffords are subsidized or not--all subject to annual change. Hence FAFSA becomes an annual ritual for college parents.

 

I'm sorry that your parents were non-supportive of your post-secondary education.

 

My aid was a "University Grant." It was unclear whether this was merit or need-based aid, and as a 16 year old, I didn't know enough to ask. I had a 4.0 average and maintained a full course load. I was completely taken by surprise when the money was pulled, as were several other people I knew who lost their grants. The entire thing coincided with a push toward building a new sports complex, so we sort of chalked it up to a change in financial priorities for the school, but I have no idea whether that was really the reason or not.

[Jpoy85]

That happened to me midway through college. Three weeks before the start of fall semester, they contacted me and demanded $15,000 additional. I couldn't afford to go back and it was way too late to transfer somewhere else. I'm still bitter about it.

 

This happened to DH. Hes still upset too.

[Starr]

I'll be sure to find out more specifically about the next years as well. The person I talked to before indicated it stays the same but I think I need more than that. Yes dh did some weird thing but we told her before we committed to the school and she wouldn't even ballpark the change. She didn't make it sound significant at the time.

[Chris in VA]

Starr, just curious, but did this have anything to do with the way you as clergy are paid? (Housing allowance....)

 

Also, did your dd apply to the ECW for a scholarship? I forget what state you are in, but there's a good chance they offer one. Ds gets about $1200 a year from our diocesan ECW. You might check into it.

 

Hope it all works out.

[tex-mex]

:grouphug: No BTDT' date=' but if your daughter is interested in that state univ., I'd give them a call and see if they'll take her. What I'd be worried about with the other school is that even if you can negotiate something for her first year. as they dropped the ball in letting you know a better ball park figure at least, they aren't held to what they'll do the following three years. If the other school was a good choice, I'd go with that and hopefully there won't be any surprises.[/quote']

:iagree:

Having attended a private college, I strongly agree. Go with your gut as they already dropped the ball with $$ figures. I would also go back to the state college as a fallback or plan B.

[Starr]

Starr, just curious, but did this have anything to do with the way you as clergy are paid? (Housing allowance....)

 

Also, did your dd apply to the ECW for a scholarship? I forget what state you are in, but there's a good chance they offer one. Ds gets about $1200 a year from our diocesan ECW. You might check into it.

 

Hope it all works out.

 

Chris, the housing allowance was added in but I wonder if the forms indicate we pay all our own social security taxes. Anything we should know that is helpful? If so send me a pm. Thanks for the info on ECW. I don't think they do it here but it's worth a check? Nice pun, huh?

[Samuel]

Small liberal arts colleges, with a few very rich exceptions, care about headcount. Even if they are discounting tuition heavily, whatever you pay is part of their financial calculations. I would find out who has the authority to change the aid package, explain the circumstances, and suggest that if the college can't do better, you are going to have to consider other options. I would be ready to go up the food chain, and I expect that you will get someone to listen. At the same time, call the other schools on the list and see what they can do.

[Halftime Hope]

I don't know of any schools that give four year commitments to financial aid. Schools that give merit aid usually promise it for four years provided that the student maintains his end of the bargain: minimal GPA, number of credits, etc.

 

For one thing, most colleges first look at federal aid available, i.e. Stafford loans and Pell grants. Pells depend on income status as do whether Staffords are subsidized or not--all subject to annual change. Hence FAFSA becomes an annual ritual for college parents.

 

I'm sorry that your parents were non-supportive of your post-secondary education.

 

Several colleges we looked at had top merit aid awards that, like you posted above, were guaranteed for 4 years, renewable if the student met certain requirements. One college offered a full tuition merit scholarship, another offered a lump sum (which could easily fall short of meeting the student's needs as the costs at the college rose each year), and a third merit offer was a high percentage of the freshman year tuition, but then the amount stayed the same each year, not changing as tuition rose.

 

Two colleges we looked at offered fixed tuition costs for the four years a student was there, one as a matter of college policy, another for a reasonable fee.

 

Nice details to be aware of as you project the costs.

Edited May 10, 2012 by Valerie(TX)

[Starr]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and advice! Private school offered a little :( more, State School accepted deposit late :) , still waiting for wait list update next week on favorite school.

[Widdershins]

Another option that may or may not be palatable: If nothing else surfaces, consider a few community college classes and reapply for next year.

 

What they are doing sounds unethical at the very least. College is a big decision and they know it. Hopefully, it's not a way just to get money out of you. Either way, waiting might be a good option simply so that you don't feel like you are pressured into a decision that you might come to regret later.

[Brenda in MA]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and advice! Private school offered a little :( more, State School accepted deposit late :) , still waiting for wait list update next week on favorite school.

 

I'm really sorry to hear about the outcome with the private U, but really glad to hear that the state U accepted a late deposit. Here's hoping that the wait list school comes through with good aid!

 

Brenda

[Teachin'Mine]

Also glad to hear that she can go to the State U and hoping for good news from her favorite one.

[creekland]

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and advice! Private school offered a little :( more, State School accepted deposit late :) , still waiting for wait list update next week on favorite school.

 

Thanks for the update! I'm glad the State School was still an option and will be hopeful for you with the waitlist.

 

I went to a state school and loved it even though it wasn't my first choice. We couldn't afford my first choice. It all turned out just fine - better than fine. I truly loved where I went.

[Starr]

:svengo: She was offered another grant. Costs are narrowing. While I'm so thankful for options I am exhausted by it all. Advice to all, ask for more you never know what will happen!

[creekland]

Awesome! So does this mean she's back to choice A?

[FaithManor]

Thanks for the update! I'm glad the State School was still an option and will be hopeful for you with the waitlist.

 

I went to a state school and loved it even though it wasn't my first choice. We couldn't afford my first choice. It all turned out just fine - better than fine. I truly loved where I went.

 

 

Dd's first choice was not University of Michigan, but since she didn't want college debt and would have needed about $5000.00 per year in student loans and especially if she lived on campus at her first choice school, she opted not to attend there. She was disappointed at first, but you know what, U of M has been an absolutely GREAT school for her!

 

I tend to think that in most cases, these things end up somehow being for the better though the student can't always see that at the time.

 

Faith

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Dd's first choice was not University of Michigan, but since she didn't want college debt and would have needed about $5000.00 per year in student loans and especially if she lived on campus at her first choice school, she opted not to attend there. She was disappointed at first, but you know what, U of M has been an absolutely GREAT school for her!

 

I tend to think that in most cases, these things end up somehow being for the better though the student can't always see that at the time.

Faith

 

I think that after a few semesters, the student has trouble considering other options. You get so emotionally invested in where you ARE going to school that it's so much harder to visualize what life might have been like under other circumstances.

[Teachin'Mine]

:svengo: She was offered another grant. Costs are narrowing. While I'm so thankful for options I am exhausted by it all. Advice to all, ask for more you never know what will happen!

 

That's awesome!!! More options are wonderful!!!

 

I'll bet she goes from having no good choices to having to decide between 3! :001_smile:

[kmitchell]

I had the same thing happen. Keep at the college about giving more money. Don't sound desperate. Express that you have options. I can feel your emotions. It is horrible.