Congratulations if you have received your acceptance letter for your dream school! Now, let the fun begin...calculating tuition costs for 2024-2025 will be a patience exercise.
The Department of Education finally released the updated FAFSA at the end of 2023. After significant delays and challenges, families are struggling to complete the form which serves as a significant factor for most schools when offering financial aid packages. The FAFSA collects family financial information and assigns a code based on the new Student Aid Index (replaces the Expected Family Contribution). Every college will be different in applying the new equation to determine needs-based aid...one thing is for certain, there is an error that may cause additional headaches.
It appears the Department of Education did not adequately account for the increase in inflation that hit everyone in 2023. Due to this oversight, some students may not qualify for enough financial aid to cover the costs of their education. Read more here. Perhaps in a foreshadowing of events related to an enrollment decline and the delayed FAFSA release, many top schools have frozen their tuition in the last year or more. Schools like Purdue, University of Illinois and others have maintained the same tuition costs in an effort to encourage applicants, acceptance and even completion rates.
It's still going to be a circus for many families trying to assess the best school for their hard earned money...and one that is also the best fit for incoming freshman. In recent weeks, I have heard from several families trying to sort out the offered aid, scholarship options and tuition based on everything that is currently in flux. There are a couple sources that may help. First, check out the Tuition Tracker website. While schools that have frozen tuition in the last few years may be a challenge for 2024-2025, a baseline cost related to family income is still possible - and VALUABLE. If you are comparing two or more schools, I recommend the website to give you a feel for what previous students have received in aid packages. Additionally the data can be dowloaded and statistical analysis software can be used for advanced investigations...we won't have robust data until next year for this class though!
Another resource is the College Inflations Calculator. Depending on your schools and if tuition has been frozen or not, you can predict what a four-year degree may cost and how your aid package helps or in some cases, may hurt if not renewable. This calculator may help with predicting your 2024-2025 costs...I said "may" because the SAI code is still an intervening variable that may skew your results. Again, welcome to the circus!
My recommendation to families investigating schools and their is a financial aid/need factor, be sure to get everything in writing from the financial aid office. It may take some extra time given the FAFSA delays to schools, but well worth the wait. After all, colleges and universities are dependent on student enrollment...it's in their best interest to provide accurate information or risk losing students.
Questions? Feel free to reach out and discuss. I am happy to provide resources to help you navigate these crazy times.
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