pay the way
scholarship negotiation
How to Ask for (and r eceive!)
More Scholarship Money
BY ANGIE HAYDEN
It’s an exciting time of year for seniors—
acceptance letters are arriving and
scholarship award letters and financial aid
packages will be following soon! Here’s a little
secret to remember as those envelopes arrive:
the scholarship offers that schools initially
send might not be the best possible offer your
teen can get!
Did you know that once your teen receives scholarship offers
from colleges, you may actually be able to negotiate for more?
OUR EXPERIENCE
As my daughter was deciding where she would attend college
last year, two of the schools she loved offered her scholarships
that differed by around $1000 per year. She began to feel that the
school offering the smaller scholarship was a better fit for her,
but she didn’t want to say no to more money. In the end, one
short email was all it took and within a few days the admissions
office at her preferred school contacted us to let us know that
they had found an additional $1000 per year for her.
With one 5 minute email, we earned four thousand tax-free dollars. Over 4 years, that equates to almost an entire year of dorm
room costs, or around three years of student meal plans!
Cha-ching!
SO EXACTLY HOW DOES IT WORK?
LET’S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS:
Put it in Writing
You might think that a phone call is more personal, but if you
put it in writing you have a record of your request (and their response!). We chose to send an email to the admissions office, and
for good measure included a phone number and expressed that
we would be happy to speak with anyone who could help.
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Winter 2016
Choose the Right Words
Your letter or email doesn’t have to be lengthy or complicated.
Express that their school is your teen’s first choice, but their
decision must also be dependent on what makes financial sense
for your family so you are seeking additional funds to make it
possible. State clearly and succinctly the reasons you are requesting more money and that you would be grateful for any addition
help they can provide.
Justify Your Request
There are two main circumstances that are most likely to qualify
your teen for more financial aid or scholarship money:
• There is a significant difference in your family’s EFC (Expected
Family Contribution) on your FAFSA (Free Application for
Federal Student Aid) and your actual ability to pay for college
expenses. Have you had unusual medical bills over the past
year, recently lost a job, or received a cut in pay? If there is any
reason that your financial reality is measurably different from
what the FAFSA portrays, you should make it known to the
school in writing and be prepared to show documentation.
• Another school has made a more attractive offer. This was the
case with our daughter. When citing this reason in your request, it’s a good idea to include documentation of the competing school’s scholarship offer. Also keep in mind that a larger
dollar amount award might not necessarily mean a better offer
if the cost to attend is higher, so consider your out of pocket
expenses rather than the dollar amount of the scholarship and
base your request on that.
www.potentialmagazine.com