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We compared the net cost of attendance of the three schools that our son was considering. Once they saw the "gross price" less grants and scholarships, they matched the net cost by increasing their grant.

We did this in the form of a letter with a spreadsheet that we backed with the admittance/grant & scholarhips letters that we received from the other schools.

They increased his grant $20k over four-years.
quote:
Originally posted by BaseballmomandCEP:
Also, set a personal appointment with Financial Aid to discuss.

Avoid calling it 'pricing' (they cringe at the thought that they are negotiating prices like car dealers). Ask for their professional discretion in reviewing your circumstances, to see if there is any leeway in awarding additional grant money.


funny you say that..I said to the college coach this past weekend that this is going to end up to be like negotiating for a used car
I agree with Baseballmom. We had the most success when we were able to have an appointment with the Director of Financial Aid who controls the money. We were very honest and said he would not be able to attend unless he received X amount of money. They met our money with a grant. One other school he received $0 and another he received academic money only.
quote:
Originally posted by LauraZA:
I agree with Baseballmom. We had the most success when we were able to have an appointment with the Director of Financial Aid who controls the money. We were very honest and said he would not be able to attend unless he received X amount of money. They met our money with a grant. One other school he received $0 and another he received academic money only.


what were some of the specifics you used to get extar money? comparisons from other schools? the next step for me is negotiating prices between 3 or 4 different choices..This process starts after completing the fafsa?
Wog,

I would also have a very clear cut outline of your 'case' for need based aid. Yes the FAFSA gave lots of info, but are there other circumstances? For example, how much home equity has declined, or the fact that college savings plan has diminished, or even, age of the primary wage earner (if you are an old you-know-what like my husband!! ) they can factor in other non-fafsa financial considerations.

Also yes of course how mcuh you are getting from other colleges.

It goes wihtout saying, but be polite and respectful, the FA folks take their mission very seriously. Once a student is an admit, they want him to become an enrolled student (yield is important) and coach interest can help. But they also need to protect resources for people with even higher need.

Depending upon the school, you may be pleasantly surprised at results.
Going to college is getting to be like buying a car. The stated tuition etc. charges are like the sticker price. Then they try to see how much they can get (net) out of you and label the rest as "dealer discount."

Oops, sorry, I meant to say "financial aid."

It's getting hard to tell the difference.

Some day I fully expect to have the college tell an applicant that the deal is only good if they take it now, because someone else is looking at that spot in next year's freshman class and it might be gone if they wait another day. Or maybe, the assistant dean of admissions will need to go into some back room to talk with the head dean to "see what we can do."
HaHa Midlo Dad - I agree with you, but the fact is that pretty much happens today. First, with the ED and coach support "triangle". In that case coach describes how he can get things done with admissions in ED but not in regular decision, so the kid has to make a choice now. Second, after the financial aid packages go out, it is perfectly acceptable to compare aid packages offered by several schools and then ask your desired school if they can match something. Aid packages get "matched" all the time. Very creepy.
My son received 6 D3 financial packages. He picked his top 4 based on which schools were his favorite, not price.

I was very carefull to not share the information about the the other offers at first beacuse I was not just interested in them matching our best offer but truly giving us a tuition we could afford. If they new our best price was say 12,000 net we may never have received anything better.

We let them know we were talking to other schools. We also pointed out several of his other intrests, such as sining in choir and his service to the community. Every school agreed to review his case and each one came back with a better offer. Several of the schools that was their best offer. Two of his top 4 schools though offerd more.

We would not accept an offer till we were told there was no more twice.

In our expierience we were told that the school would match our best offer. The best offer was not nesacarily an offer we could afford so we chose not to share our best offer till negotiating a best offer.

One school asked how much we could afford. we gave them the price and they could not meet it, till we told them he was going someplace else, at that point they asked again and I had a feeling they woudl meet it. Son had already had his heart set on two other schools though and at that point it was not worth it to save a few thousand dollars a year for him to go to his fourth choice.

Good luck.
Ask for their professional discretion in reviewing your circumstances, to see if there is any leeway in awarding additional grant money.



what are some of the specifics that would work in lowering the costs?

example:father commuting 60 miles per day and paying 1500 a year in parking costs?
possibly include overpriced insurance premium costs because of two teenage boys who cant drive?
what are some tips on getting a review? self employment ? not being able to predict income?? thanks ,,crunch time is here

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