Groveling Time
**No College Coffee Talk this morning: I'm on the road, depositing my daughter back in college after her break (public transportation is beneath her, apparently**
Well, it's that time of year when most colleges are issuing estimated financial aid awards. Many parents are staring at these offers and wondering, "Where's the beef?"
Here are the top three categories of appeal (I call it "negotiating", but that's definitely NOT the term used by financial aid officers). Note: no matter what your argument is, you must present new information that the college didn't have, previously.
1. Drop in income. Financial aid eligibility is heavily dependent on income. But that income is from two years ago. Example: if you have a Class of 2024 student, your 2022 Adjusted Gross Income is the most heavily weighted factor. But if your income dropped in 2023, maybe because of a layoff, or your business income dropped for any number of reasons, the financial aid office would have no way of knowing. So you tell them about it on appeal.
2. Unusual expenses. The financial aid applications are pretty empty of places to describe your expenses. So if you have a MAJOR, unusual expense: unreimbursed medical, attorney fees from a divorce or bankruptcy, major repair to your home, supporting other family members in a significant way, again, the the financial aid office won't know about it. So tell them on appeal.
Note: if you live an a high cost of living area, like Long Island, where we are, or the Bay Area, the Washington DC or Boston suburbs, etc. etc. etc., that is not NEW information, because your address goes on the financial aid applications.
Second note: if you try to say you need more money because you spent a lot on your kids' summer camp or other tone-deaf arguments, I'd like to point out that the average financial aid officer makes a very modest, frequently sub-100K, income. They might not find that argument relatable, or feel sympathetic. (Yep. Actual example from the archives.)
3. Better offer from a competitor college. My favorite argument, because I love to ruthlessly and mercilessly pit colleges against each other. "You're my top choice college, but College B offered a better package. Is there any way that you could reevaluate my eligibility for merit or need-based aid?" But your colleges must be roughly on the same tier. Example: Boston College would not care about an offer from Scranton, in all likelihood. But it could be swayed by an offer from Villanova or Georgetown.
Final comment: this year has been weird with financial aid, to say the least. Hundreds of thousands of FAFSAs are incorrect. So another category of appeal is just that: correcting a mistake, which could mean a FAFSA glitch, or a mistake you made -- maybe you filled it our incorrectly, by over-including assets you should not have disclosed, such as retirement accounts.
Obviously this is just a summary and there's a lot of devil in the details. Here are some resources to help with appealing:
How to Negotiate Your Crappy Financial Aid and Merit Aid Offer - the book.
"Done With You" Appeals Training Course
For local parents with Class of 2025 and younger children:
Thursday, April 11: Bryant Library (Roslyn, NY) Library workshop on the "secrets" of multiplying your odds of admission to a top college, and closely-guarded strategies to cut college costs by 56.2% or more, even if you think that you can't possibly qualify for anything...
...so that you can comfortably afford tuition for all of your kiddos without scrimping on your lifestyle or raiding your retirement savings! Here's where to register (15 spots left):
Over and out!
- Andy Lockwood