Don Betterton, former Princeton financial aid officer, on appealing
Act quickly, there is little time
Financial Appeal
Competitive Appeal
Usually along with your offer of admission comes your financial aid letter. Some schools, like Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, however, send a link to have you log on to their financial aid site to view your financial aid package. Whether paper or digital, the key question is: does the financial package offered allow you to attend without incurring painful debt?
Last year, I had a number of students who were admitted into some of the top liberal arts colleges in the country: Reed, Whitman, Occidental, and Vassar among them; yet, their joy of being accepted was soon forgotten by financial aid packages that did not adequately address Need (as you might remember: Cost of Attendance (COA) – Effective Family Contribution (EFC) -which is calculated from the FAFSA form-= Need).
As an example, if you’re planning to attend Bryn Mawr, its COA is around $56,000; let’s assume your EFC is $17,000, then your ‘Need’ is $39,000. In its financial aid package Bryn Mawr offers you $19,000 in grants and scholarships and in loans $5,800. There is still a gap in your Need of: $39,000 - $24,800 = $14,200. When you go to College Navigator, you notice that Bryn Mawr, in grants and scholarships, on average, awards around $27,000. You’re hoping that it might be more generous with your package. Since the Bryn Mawr website states that it will attempt to satisfy need ‘with a need-based Bryn Mawr grant’ you’re hoping that you might be able to obtain more aid. It’s time to engage in the financial aid appeal process.
Appealing a financial aid decision, or asking for ‘reconsideration of the original award,’ occurs often. Colleges usually hold back 10-15% of scholarship/grant monies in a reserve for appeals. Don Betterton, a former 30-year veteran Princeton financial aid officer, wrote an article on the appeal process, http://www.simpletuition.com/pay-for-college/plan/financial-aid-award/the-financial-aid-appeal-process/ ; well worth reading though many of its highlights follow.
Rule number 1: get the appeal process in motion as quickly as possible. You need to be done before the May 1st deadline. The contact number is likely on the award document you received; call and ask politely (always be polite throughout the process) the procedures you need to follow. Sometimes issues can be handled by phone, though be prepared to send the office more information to validate your claims. Betterton, however, strongly suggests meeting, in person, with the financial aid department. Assuming that flying to Bryn Mawr is not possible, arrange to have a phone discussion with an aid officer, the higher ranking the better.
The word ‘negotiate’ is not popular among the financial aid officers (for obvious reasons); instead use a term such as ‘discuss’ or ‘clarify’. There are two kinds of appeals, financial and competitive.
Financial is the far more common. The appeal focuses on the need to reduce the EFC number. In short the school is too expensive and a family cannot incur ridiculous debt loads for their student to attend. In most cases a family will need to supply necessary supporting documents: income taxes, list of assets, special circumstances…anything that will sway the counselor to reduce the EFC.
The other is a competitive appeal. This is usually reserved for private schools. Public schools usually give their best offers up front: few have the resources to negotiate. Generally, the most selective schools have policies that allow them to counter competitive offers (and have the scholarship resources to compete). In all likelihood, the school you approach will want to see copies of the other schools’ financial award letters,
The financial aid office will never give you a worse financial package as a consequence of an appeal. If anything, you’re going to be better off, or the same as you were before you entered into the discussion. Furthermore, according to universitybusiness.com, ‘…the yield on admits who appeal is typically higher than the overall yield on the class.’ Your appeal, in other words, shows your strong interest in the school, and your interest in saving money. I can’t think of a better way to bond with your first choice college.