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Financial Aid
Many families are understandably concerned about meeting rising college costs. However, you should not allow your financial situation alone to determine which colleges you will consider, because all colleges offer financial aid packages of one kind or another. Indeed, the institutions with the highest price tags often have the largest financial aid reserves, and thus should be considered accessible by all families. Any candidate for admission to college should apply for financial aid if his family feels that they may not be able to pay the entire cost either immediately or in the future. Early in the senior year students should be sure to check the financial aid deadlines and the forms required by each college they are considering.
There are two types of financial aid: need-based and merit-based. Need-based financial aid constitutes the major portion of assistance available for post-secondary education. Eligibility for need-based aid is determined by the difference between the cost of attendance and the expected family contribution. Many colleges also provide a variety of loan and payment options for parents. Your parents should consult with the financial aid office of the colleges to which you are applying for details. Merit based aid is generally given to students in recognition of special skills, talent, and/or academic ability.
We will try to inform you if any colleges to which you are applying offer merit awards that require a special application and will be pleased to nominate you for any scholarship dollars for which you are eligible. In addition, there are a few web sites where you can access information on scholarships. Several of these are:
In his helpful book, Discounts and Deals at the Nation's 360 Best Colleges, Bruce G. Hammond, provides a great deal of information about the financial aid process as well as details regarding scholarships at 360 colleges.
Students applying for need-based financial aid should acquire a College Scholarship Service Profile form in early October and submit it to the College Scholarship Service (CSS). The US Department of Education's Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which forms the basis for most colleges' decisions on financial aid, is available in December and should be filed as soon as possible after January 1st. Both the CSS Profile and the FAFSA are available in the College Office as well as on the Internet, where they can be submitted electronically. These forms contain questions concerning student and parent income and asset information. Comprehensive instructions are provided for completion of the forms. Income and expense items correspond with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) references and definitions. Many colleges also require that their own financial aid application be completed and that families submit complete copies of their federal income tax return. Students and parents may go to www.pin.ed.gov to request a PIN (Personal Identificaiton Number).
Colleges review the information you provide to determine your family contribution and financial need. The family contribution includes a parent contribution, student income contribution, and student contribution from assets and/or benefits. Your family's income, assets, debts, family size and extenuating circumstances are considered when determining the family contribution. Parents with special or unusual circumstances should discuss their situation with the financial aid officer at the colleges to which their sons are applying. The College Board website (www.collegeboard.com) includes several calculators, including one (click here) that allows you and your parents to derive an Estimated Family Contribution.
Financial need is the difference between what it will cost a student to attend a college and the family contribution. After your financial need has been determined, most colleges will award financial aid as a "package". The package may include a combination of scholarship or grant (money that does not have to be paid back), loan (to be paid back after the student leaves college), and campus employment (money earned while in school and sometimes related to the student's field of study). Normally, the majority of aid comes from the college's own resources with the balance coming from Federal government sources.
Please consider this warning regarding additional sources of scholarship assistance. Many students apply or compete for scholarships from private sources, and some families sign up with one of the many companies that offer help in finding scholarship opportunities. While you might win one or more of these scholarships, they do not usually add up to a great deal of money (compared to your overall college expenses), and you might not feel that it is worth the time and effort to file applications and write essays. Secondly, you must report these additional sources of aid, and your college may reduce your financial aid award (normally the loan or work study portion) by that amount. And finally, most of the "financial aid consultants," as many of these companies call themselves, are not worth the money they require you to pay before they will help you. In most cases, the "opportunities" they list for you are readily available to you as a matter of course in applying for financial aid, or can be looked up in one of several publications. In other words, be careful of misleading promises from these companies, and feel free to ask us about their specific claims before spending your money on them. As a general rule if a company asks you to pay for a scholarship search or opportunity, BEWARE.
Many students and parents want to know if applying for financial aid will affect their chances of admission. The answer is that it might, and it might not. While many colleges still claim that they do not consider a family's ability to pay when they evaluate candidates, in fact almost all do consider it for at least a portion of the applicant pool. If you need financial aid and are a borderline candidate for a particular school, your financial status might affect your chances of admission or might result in an insufficient aid award if you are admitted. While "need-blind" admissions would prevail in an ideal world, few if any colleges have unlimited financial aid budgets. The stronger you are as a candidate for a given college, the more likely it is that you will be admitted and receive sufficient financial aid. Thus, if you will need financial assistance, we strongly recommend that you apply to at least two colleges where you will be a very strong candidate.
District of Columbia residents planning to attend a Public college or university in the United States, should investigate the new DC Tuition Assistance Grant Program which has been established to pay the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition up to $10,000 per year. This funding is for tuition only, and is paid directly to the participating college or university. In addition District residents attending Private colleges in the Washington Metropolitan area may receive up to $2500 a year. Details about this program, including those colleges and universities which participate are available at www.tuitiongrant.washingtondc.gov/facts.htm.
Fee Waivers: If you are receiving substantial financial aid to attend St. Albans, you may be eligible for fee waivers which can partially cover the cost of SAT registrations as well as application fees for colleges. You should see Mrs. Sturtevant or your college counselor to establish if you are eligible for a fee waiver.
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