Key Strategies For Financial Aid
Boarding schools are expensive – typically in the 40,000-$45,000 range. After you swallow your gum (ulp!), remember to relax and look at the bigger picture. Long gone are the days where only the Rockefellers and the Kennedys are going to these schools. The schools often have large, even huge, endowments primarily for the purpose of helping students, who are otherwise a great fit for the school, be able to afford it too. Many of the schools purposely reach out across the country, to find motivated students from all walks of life – it makes for a much broader, diverse boarding experience for all.
So, if like our family, you could use a little help, you can follow these four key strategies to improve your chances of receiving financial aid. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, 50% financial aid, or even more, at one of the top schools in the country IS possible.
Start early – position your family for success!
The first time you think about financial aid, may be when you sit down to fill out the PFS (Parents Financial Statement). O.K., if that’s where you are right now, move on to item number 2. But, if you can, consider what you can do early on to position your child, your family, for success in the financial aid:
Try out summer school at a boarding school the year before. Yes, it’s an added expense, but consider it a cheap investment in learning how your child will do in a boarding environment. And, it has the potential of REALLY turning up the motivation for your child – making him or her work hard to excel during the summer, AND into the fall of application year.
Have a frank discussion with your child. Assuming its her/him that wants to go to boarding school (not just you), then letting them know that a successful 12 months leading up to applications is going to better position them for admission AND financial aid. After all, the school is thinking about bringing in motivated, capable, and diverse students. Financial aid is a tool to help make it affordable, but your student has to demonstrate motivation and capacity. I’d suggest you not make it TOO much pressure on the student – it can work against you. Simply having a discussion, while out taking a walk around the neighborhood, can do wonders to help your child realize that if THEY want it, THEY control their destiny.
Assuming your child responds well to the discussion, remind them that teacher recommendations are all-important too. We sometimes think that good test scores and great grades are all that’s needed, but we’ve heard many a story where a student did nothing but study, and was petty and demanding in middle school. It stand to reason that any private school will be looking closely at teacher recommendations to try and get a feel for how well your student rises to a challenge, but also how they get along with others, are they self motivated, do they come to class with a smile on their face?
Fill the Aid Forms Accurately!
The PFS (Parents Financial Statement) was created by the National Association of Independent Schools (https://sss.ets.org/pfsHome.do ). Take the time to read through the materials thoroughly. You’ll probably end up submitting your information on-line, but it’s wise to fill out a paper version, and get all your doubts, questions, answered before you submit – it’s hard to correct mistaken impressions later.Remember though, that the PFS is just a tool – and it doesn’t fit many families circumstances. There is a small space for your to give a brief explanation of some of the items on the PFS, but if financial aid is important to your ability to send your child to school, consider sending a letter directly to the school. The PFS gets filled early – allowing you to see what recommendation is being sent to the school before you have to complete your application. So, if if the SSS organization “got it wrong” (as they did in our case), you still have a golden opportunity to explain extenuating circumstances.
Some of the items that the PFS just doesn’t seem well set up to measure, and that you can reasonably make a case for:
- Changing financial circumstances – if you are on a variable pay plan, or have a recent or fluidly changing medical situation, your LAST YEAR’S tax information may not be very reflective of ability to pay TODAY. Explain it.
- Historical perspective – things that affect your ability to pay today. An example might be that you only recently started saving seriously for retirement. The PFS attempts to lump back retirement plan contributions into your “available funds” going forward. YOU on the other hand, may be starting late and NEED to contribute to your own retirement. May not play well with all schools, but if your student otherwise is very attractive to the school, an impassioned explanation of why you couldn’t save much earlier in life (divorce, job changes/losses, etc.) may help.
- Losses in investment value – the PFS does ask for values of all assets, including investments. However, nowhere do they ask for the value of retirement accounts. So, while the schools might reasonably expect a well-heeled family to wait for the market to rebound, when the losses are in a retirement plan, it makes a better case for the need to continue to contribute – especially if you’re starting late.
Be ready to negotiate!
First, if the circumstance fit, recognize that if you truly need financial aid, you have nothing to lose by negotiating. Some of the schools either don’t have the resources necessary to fill all needs, and/or, have so many good applicants that they don’t feel much pressure to negotiate. However, if you’ve positioned yourself early, and are prepared to respond quickly, you are in a better position.Typically, you’ll get your response to financial aid simultaneously with your admittance letter. No acceptance, no aid – makes sense right? But if you consider that when you DO get accepted, it certainly is an indication that they would like for you to attend. IF the aid offer is not what you expected, it’s a good idea to contact the admissions/financial aid office quickly (and I mean within a day or two). First, it shows interest, but more importantly, many of the schools will be actively, furiously, trying to complete their final student bodies. THEY need to make decisions, respond to parents & students quickly too – so that a strong candidate doesn’t go elsewhere!
So, ask what you can do to explain any extenuating circumstances quickly, and then send your follow up letter (e-mail) quickly too – financial aid committees will likely be meeting frequently, making modifications as needed, very early on in the days following the receipt of acceptance letters. Be one of the first to respond with a well-constructed, well-thought out argument.
Be nice!
We said a “well-thought out argument”, but that’s not the same thing as being argumentative. O.K., so your child got accepted at multiple schools, and maybe even got a better financial aid offer elsewhere – but it doesn’t help to threaten or argue. Consider first that financial aid officers are people first, and dealing with an unpleasant parent can only make them LESS likely to want to help.It’s helpful to remember that ANY financial aid offered is a gift – often built from many, many years of donations and support from grateful graduates – who desired to pass on the benefits they experienced to those less able to afford it. Be grateful, and think and talk like you appreciate the sacrifices that have been made to get you to the stage you are now. And, then, make a reasoned request if it absolutely is a “deal breaker” for your family.
Hopefully, you’ll have started early, prepared well, and negotiated fairly – and will end up with enough financial aid to make your preferred school possible – Congratulations! Thank your school’s Admissions and Financial Aid officers one more time, and send your success stories to www.BoardingPOV.com – we’d love to hear them, and share them with others!
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