How do you (and should you) ask college for more money?

[ValRN]

Anyone have any experience with asking schools for more money?

 

DS got a financial aid package from his 1st choice school. The "free" money is good, but we would still have to pay more than we can afford. DS wants to call the school and see if he can get more money. How would he go about doing this? Should he call the admissions office or the financial aid office? How should he word his request? If he can get the cost down to in-state tuition here, we will do everything in our power to  send him (even though we'll have to tighten our belt to pay that amount).

 

When elder DS went to college, one of the schools offered to give him more than it originally offered to get him to go there, so younger DS wants to at least give it a try. I've encouraged him to do so because the worst that can happen is that the school says no.

 

Any advice (either way) is appreciated.

[JanetC]

First, if you haven't yet done so, do some background research on the school - If the dream school is NYU, where they are famous for poor financial aid, chalk it up as a learning experience.

 

Second, how big is the gap? If your offers from comparable schools are 2 - 3 K less than this one, there are schools that will match that pretty easily.  If you need five figures, you're definitely going to have to come up with a strong argument.

 

Third, how strong is your case? Are there significant special circumstances that you can document that the financial aid office does not yet know? (Talk to financial aid about need-based aid.) Is your student in some way a special recruit that the school will hate to lose? (Talk to admissions about increasing merit aid.)

 

Generally, financial aid is an exception to the rule that the kid should call: schools know that the parent is the one footing the bill. You would call the financial aid office in most cases.

 

Other things to ask about while you are talking to financial aid:

How much have tuition and fees increased in recent years? Does grant aid increase when tuition does, or will this be added to the parent or student contribution?

 

If there is a sibling, what happens when older sibling graduates college or younger sibling enrolls in college? How will that affect the financial aid in this child's future years?

 

--Janet

[Crimson Wife]

We appealed DH's financial aid package and were successful in getting significantly more $$$ in grants but it required a TON of documentation as to why the school's assumptions were wrong. We submitted the appeal to the financial aid office.

[Kareni]

The college my daughter ultimately attended was in the middle of the pack as regards financial aid offers; however, we sent an appeal for more aid and included financial aid offers from two of the schools offering far better aid. One of the schools was about as selective as her favored school while the other one was slightly less so.  They ultimately increased their aid by another $2500.  Bear in mind though, that this additional grant was good for only one year.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[goldberry]

I don't know the details, but a friend of mine's daughter did this.  They needed an extra $2500 and the school was able to do that.

 

I agree with you, the worst they can do is say no.  

[SparklyUnicorn]

I appealed myself as a student.  I had to write a letter explaining extenuating circumstances.  The info they have to go by often does not include certain details.  I was awarded more money.

 

Just call the school and ask them what their procedure is for that.  As already said, worst they can say is no.

 

 

[Granny_Weatherwax]

We appealed for DS and were awarded more money. As stated by a previous poster, the increase was for one year only and we will have to appeal every year. We found that the schools we appealed both had links to forms through their financial aid office web sites.  The links were fairly easy to locate.  The initial form was one page, a statement explaining why we were appealing.  The subsequent filings were a bit more cumbersome; lots of supporting documentation had to be copied, faxed, or scanned.  It was worth it, however, as both schools awarded more $. One quite a bit, the other not so much.  

 

ETA:  I did all of the calling and paperwork.  Nobody seemed to mind.  Now that DS is a registered student, the school isn't as willing to work with me.  FERPA has kicked in.

Edited March 16, 2016 by ScoutermominIL

[mamato4]

What we did was to send the school the award letter from a comparable school that was offering more money, along with a letter making the request. DS was given $3000 more per year for four years. In my case, that was a very worthwhile $12,000 question. My neighbor did the samet for her high-stats ds and the school he's in now totally matched the money another school was giving him.

 

I have a friend this year whose FAFSA EFC is lower than what the school expects them to pay so he's going to appeal using that.

Edited March 16, 2016 by mamato4

[MorningGlory]

We are in the midst of doing this right now with ds's #1 choice. I'm finding it very stressful. So  :grouphug: , OP. 

My son began the process with his enrollment counselor, but it has since moved into my husband's hands, and dh is now dealing directly with the financial aid office. 

 

There is a reason that I don't enjoy car shopping...