How Final Is a College’s Financial Aid Offer?

This is an excerpt from a New York Times blog Q & A with Brian Lindeman, the director of financial aid at Macalester College in St. Paul:
 Families should know at least four things when they compare financial aid offers:

1. How much will I need to pay to the college (how much is my bill)?
2. What other costs do I need to be prepared for (textbooks, travel to and from campus, personal expenses, other fees)?
3. How much will I need to repay after college? What will be the required monthly payment and how long will it take to repay my loans?
4. Are there factors that might cause my financial aid to change after the first year? (Issues that can sometimes cause year-to-year fluctuation include grade point average requirements for renewal of scholarships, family members who graduate or enter college, or significant changes in family income.)

There is a lot of information in a financial aid package so at Macalester we offer this video tour to our families.

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Q: How does a student improve his or her chances of getting financial aid that doesn’t need to be repaid?

A.There are some obvious pitfalls that should be avoided:

• Don’t be tardy with your financial aid application.
• Make sure you check the answers on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or Fafsa, and other application materials to be sure you haven’t overstated your assets.
• Avoid the common Fafsa mistakes.
• Don’t be shy or embarrassed to let the college know about unusual circumstances that may affect the family’s ability to pay for college. Unusually high medical expenses or a recent job loss are examples. My recommendation is that you write a short letter describing those circumstances before you receive a financial aid result. If you then receive a financial aid package that doesn’t seem to fit your circumstances, follow up with the school’s financial aid office to ask how they took your special circumstance into account.

Please note that there is no rainbow you can follow to a pot of gold. You don’t need to visit campus and meet with the “right person” or make sure that the financial aid officer is impressed by the student’s wonderfulness. (If there is money for wonderfulness, it will be distributed during the admission process in the form of a merit-based scholarship.)

Q. How final is an institution’s financial aid offer? Is it etched in stone? Penciled in? Drawn in sand?

A. Most financial aid offices will not respond positively to simple requests for more aid. We generally won’t improve financial aid packages in response to a financial aid offer from another school. In my office, our goal is to provide a financial aid package that makes Macalester financially feasible. We know that the student will almost always have a lower-cost option.

Over the years, I have had hundreds of conversations with parents that start with, “My daughter loves Macalester, but we are really struggling to figure out a way to make it work financially.” The next step is a conversation about the content of the financial aid application. We sometimes uncover factors that were either misinterpreted initially or weren’t reported. Sometimes we can provide more aid.
Families who are wondering whether to ask questions about financial aid should know: You will not be the first or the last to do so. A parent of a student who asks for more aid needs to be ready to hear “no,” but there’s no reward for silence.

Q. What’s the worst thing a student could do when comparing financial aid offers?

A. I think the most common mistake I’ve seen is the failure to understand cost and value in the long term. Too often, I talk to parents who are choosing between schools based solely on the first year’s cost.

Students and parents should be thinking about the total cost for degree completion. How many years will it take to graduate? What will student and parent debt load be at graduation? How might sibling enrollment affect financial aid availability in the future? Are there other factors that might affect the availability of financial aid in future years?
Similarly, families should be considering each institution’s value as a multidecade return on investment. For traditional-age students, the college years can be a crucible of intellectual and social development that shapes a person’s life far beyond the first job after college. That doesn’t mean that parents and students should sacrifice everything else to choose the “perfect” school but it can sometimes mean that it’s a good idea to stretch for the right fit.

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http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/how-final-is-a-colleges-financial-aid-offer/?src=recg

How to afford 'the right fit'?

It’s not even April and many Churchill seniors have already been accepted to college. I recently spoke with the mother of one of those seniors, who does not want her or her child’s name in this article due to privacy concerns. Her joy about her child’s acceptances is mixed with financial fears.

To optimize financial and academic odds, the senior applied to 15 colleges, some testing optional and other requiring SAT/ACT scores. After receiving acceptance letters from several top colleges with the right academic support, however, the family is concerned that a top college could be financially out of reach, even after factoring in merit aid and low cost student loans.

The family has experienced that the more competitive the college is, the less free funding its financial aid package will contain. While the student’s first choice did not offer any merit aid, other colleges are tempting with up to $35,000 of free funding based on academic accomplishments and other factors represented in the student’s applications.

The preference is to minimize costly loans and rely on merit aid, which requires the student to maintain a certain grade point average, but doesn’t need to be paid back. News stories about debt-laden college graduates who toil at unpaid internships or low wages are common and scary. “College can become a debt sentence,” says private finance adviser Suze Orman, who tells parents to entirely avoid private student loans.

Today, a private undergraduate degree can cost around $250,000 while a SUNY/CUNY degree is within reach for a fraction of that price. A private college, however, may offer merit aid that can make the price variation less dramatic. Applying early for financial aid can pay off because there is a first come/first serve aspect. The family submitted the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and CSS profile as soon as applications were accepted (January 2013). In addition, the student applied early action to several schools, which was a confidence booster.

Working with Churchill’s college guidance office, the family has also done a tremendous amount of independent research, which the mother thinks is typical for the Churchill parent body.

“Churchill parents are savvy, otherwise we would not have children at Churchill,” she says.

Additional financial aid links:

www.direct.ed.gov  

http://collegecost.ed.gov

Summer programs that prepare for life after Churchill

There are many programs that prepare high school teens for transitioning to semi-adult life. Several colleges offer summer classes of varying degree of academic rigor. Some of these programs award college credits while other mainly focus on giving students a taste of independent life away from home and how to function in a college setting.

While many of the private colleges' summer programs are expensive, City University of New York (CUNY) offers a tuition free six week summer college program. Click here to read interview with a Churchill student who attended College Now. Not all colleges accept credits from College Now, but if you are considering a CUNY school you will be able to accumulate college credits in advance during a College Now summer. College Now is free for Churchill students and NYC public school students.

Other teen programs focus on community service, language immersion and exposure to other cultures.

A limited list – feel free to contribute:

Ithaca College offers one week or three week summer college classes to prepare high school students for college.

 

Brown University has an extensive summer program and I know of students who went back for seconds.

Curry College and  Landmark College are top LD colleges that offer college programs for high school students during summer.

NOLS:  A parent brought up this college credit leadership program at a recent Parent Breakfast. Expensive, but scholarships are available.

Wingspan is a tuition free summer acting program.  A Churchill student who attended enjoyed it very much. No college credits offered.

Visions Service Adventure offers international community service programs during the summer for teens of various ages. The cornerstones of the programs are meaningful service, cultural immersion, adventure and community building.

Global Works is another company with many years of offering community service immersion programs in foreign cultures.

Free mock ACT and SAT tests

Several companies that offer SAT and ACT prep classes also offer free mock ACT and SAT tests. If you decide to do a mock test, make sure to apply for extended time. One of the companies that offer mock tests is Bespoke. Some current 11th grade students have taken tests at one of Bespoke's locations and given positive feedback. Visit Bespoke's website to view multiple test sites and times:

http://www.bespokeeducation.com/mock_testing.cfm

New guidance program prepares students for life after Churchill

To better prepare students for success after high-school, Churchill has created a new comprehensive four-year program where high school guidance counselors Deborah McEntee works with 9^th and 10^th graders and Erin Hugger counsels 11^th and 12^th graders. In addition, head art teacher and Churchill veteran Dennis McKonkey trains 9^th and 10^th graders in self-awareness and self-advocacy. 

 “We're very excited about this new program” Deb said in a recent interview with her and Erin at the new 6^th floor guidance office.

Churchill high school counselors Deborah McEntee and Erin Hugger at the guidance office.

Deb has a background in special education and counseling and Erin used to work as college guidance counselor at Chapin School on Manhattan’s Upper Eastside. Both Erin and Deb have Master’s degrees in school counseling and are New York State certified school counselors. Last year Deb worked as assistant high-school guidance counselor at Churchill.  

Student centered process

The new guidance program is student centered and starts in 9^th grade where students analyze their strengths, weaknesses and interests, learn time management and are exposed to various career options. In 10^th grade, students are slowly introduced to start thinking about post high-school.  10^th graders will begin to make the connection between their own work ethics and how that translates into their career choices and life after Churchill. Students are introduced to Naviance, a computer-based system with a multitude of resources and data on where previous Churchill students have applied to college, been accepted and attended college, their test scores and grades.

In junior year transition preparations become more focused. Building on the foundation laid during the first two years, Erin works with students to plan a path that leads to their desired future endeavors. Most Churchill students attend four-year colleges and tend to do well. Churchill alumni have a retention rate above 90% from college freshmen to sophomore year.

In the beginning of the second semester of 11^th grade, Erin meets with students and their families to discuss college, gap year programs/vocational school options. Student interests and needs, high school grade point average through the first semester of 11^th grade and PSAT scores factor in to this discussion. Spring of junior year/summer after junior year is the time to start working on a resume, visiting colleges and begin drafting the college essay. Students who have an essay draft at the start of 12^th grade are in good shape, Erin says. She calls the transition process “a family affair” and recognizes the vital part parents and other support persons play and the importance of communication between them and the student.

The fall of senior year can be intense. Families and students have follow-up meetings with Erin, finalizing their college lists, gap year/vocational school plans. In school, students attend weekly transitioning classes and college/career planning and preparation learning how to handle college admissions interviews, writing personal essays and working on other writing assignments required for admission packages.
"Start early and stay calm," Erin advises. 

Test prep and college reps at Churchill

Erin and Deb are currently in the process of meeting with test prep companies that have experience working with LD students to explore the possibility of offering a SAT/ACT prep class at Churchill. At Churchill, students are offered to take ACT/SAT at school twice a year (spring and fall).

Another new part of the process is the visits to Churchill by college representatives selected based on their colleges’ LD support and suitability. This fall some 20 college reps are visiting Churchill. In addition, both guidance counselors tour colleges and evaluate alternative post high school programs. Over the past summer Erin visited Northeastern University, Curry College and Clark University, three schools where Churchill alumni have enrolled.

Workshop: Is My Child Ready for College?

Identifying Support for College Bound Students with Learning Differences 

Workshop at the MAIAA Parent Resource Center

October 11, 2012  btw. 6:30-8:00 pm 

Guest speaker - Sherri Maxman, College Advisor

Sherri Maxman will discuss the process of college placement for students with Learning Differences. What are some specific things to think consider for your child when determining a good fit? 

Group size is limited to 12 people. 

Location: 

417 E. 90th Street, 6H 

New York, NY 10128 

Fee: 

$35.00 (non-refundable due to small group size)

Refreshments and light snacks will be served. Please contact Colleen Mariani at colleen@maiaanyc.com or 917-747-2146 to reserve your spot.

MAIAA- A Parent Resource Center
(212) 426-3742
www.maiaanyc.com

Pay less for testing for ACT/SAT extended time

Last school year (2011/2012) I had my son, then a 10th grader,  tested so that he could obtain extended time on the SAT/ACT and get accommodations in college. I did not feel that it was necessary to pay between $5,000-7,000 for this service. Instead I paid $600 and he was tested during the February break at Hofstra by a Ph.D student supervised by her professor, a certified clinical psychologist. After meeting with the testers to discuss their recommendations, I verified that these were consistent with those on his IEP.

Contact information for universities that offer low cost psycho-educational evaluations:
Teachers' College 212-678-3262 (fills up quickly, call early)
Fordham University, 212-636-6483. (fills up quickly, call early)
Hofstra University in Hempstead 516-463-5660
Adelphi University 516-877-4844 (supposedly charges $500 for testing, but did not answer the phone)

The NYC Department of Education performs psycho-educational evaluation for free if you belong to the NYC school system.