There is an interesting article of the politics of "no loan" policies and "need blind" policies and the interactions and intersections of these policies at Inside Higher Ed.
After reading it, what do you think? MIT is need-blind for all populations, including waitlist and international students. And our new "no loan" policy is available for families with incomes of $75,000 and less (with typical assets).
This certainly is a year of great change in the financial aid arena.
Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)
Posted by: Zeina Siam'12 on March 24, 2008
Posted by: NV on March 24, 2008
Posted by: M. on March 24, 2008
No loan system seems to be really problematic for low income families.
I didn't get my financial aid letter yet :((. Our postal service didn't work for the last four days, hope to see my Big Mail tomorrow
Than you, Daniel!
Posted by: ka '12 on March 24, 2008
Posted by: SK on March 24, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 24, 2008
"first" "damn, im second too slow for mit"
How is that fun?
What are the assests included in the post above?
Posted by: 0 on March 24, 2008
2. On the financial aid letter, where does the Student Contribution come from? How is that different from Self-Help?
Thanks
Posted by: Me '12 on March 24, 2008
Posted by: job'12 on March 24, 2008
Thank you
Posted by: Stephen Rigsby on March 24, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 24, 2008
Posted by: md '12 on March 24, 2008
[vote for kathleen hong!]
i know she's a writer and NOT applying to MIT, but read her mt. fuji answer! completely nerdy/fabulous!
and if it helps, i realllllly want to go to MIT in 2014. and i love my friends dearly. and she's my friend. so vote ! [or at least read the thing about mt. fuji!]
Posted by: maithreyi on March 24, 2008
@md '12
I wouldn't use the term "completely impossible" but I don't think it is likely. If you weren't awarded financial aid it means that, after looking at all of your families assets and liabilities, they found that there was enough wiggle room for your family to afford your education without a contribution from MIT. If you have circumstances that were not reflected in the IDOC you should get a hold of the Financial Aid office and try to appeal.
I just have to say though, $200,000+ a year is more than enough to cover two kids in college while still maintaining a reasonable standard of living unless you live in VERY expensive community (read: Beverly Hills) or have huge amounts of debt.
I got a little offended when I read your statement about still needing aid, coming from a poor (for California) community where the median income is $47k per household and the median price of a home is $350k (most of which are now negatively amortized thanks to the housing collapse) I have seen a large number of social and economic barriers prevent the majority of my community from escaping poverty. So from my perspective, families that fall into the highest federal income tax brackets should not be complaining about a lack of aid. Sorry, I just had to get that out. Good luck.
Posted by: Ian on March 24, 2008
Posted by: |Lex! '12 on March 24, 2008
Meanwhile, a student with $47k familial income can come out of college debt free and ready to live a high-rolling life.
Seems... rather insulting, huh, Ian?
Posted by: Current '11 on March 24, 2008
So, let me try to address these one by one:
SK, typical assets depends case by case. As an example, if we see a family who has a $20,000 income, but $500,000 in investments, that sets up a red flag for us and would be something we would review. What we are saying here is that we review on a case-by-case basis if assets are above the amount typically expected for a family with that income level.
Anonymous(1), assets in this case (less than a 75,000 income) mean equity in other property other than the home, business equity, liquid assets (cash, savings, investments) and other forms on non-retirement assets.
Me '12, financial aid for families earning less than 75,000 may cover other costs besides simply tuition. It will depend on the individual family circumstance. The Student Contribution is our expectation of what you will earn over the summer and contribute towards your educational expenses. This is different than your self-help, which is a measure of how much work or (if you prefer) loan you will take on during the academic year.
Job '12, we estimate that by working 10 hours a week you can cover the $2850 self-help. If your self-help is higher ($4750) you may need to work more hours or borrow some loans to cover this. Remember that any outside aid you receive also will go to reduce this amount. I would separate the two from each other in your planning. First make a plan to earn your student contribution during the coming summer. Second, make a plan for the year in terms of a work/loan balance. Given the demands of the MIT culture and Freshmen year, I would not plan on working (or "UROPping") during a term where you are also pursuing a vasity sport -- too much risk of overextending yourself there. Or if you are going to work, find a job with more limited hours than 10 or more a week.
Stephen, sorry about that. We had something miscoded on our system which we fixed today and you are now showing as complete and ready for review.
Anonymous(2), I hate spam too!!! But I removed it!
md '12, impossible? No. Unlikely? Yes. I would have your parent(s) call in to speak with a financial aid officer to see if there is anything in the review which we did not consider or whether there is anything in your family's financial situation which was not originally disclosed. We do review each case individually, so stating that unequivically you would or would not get aid is not possible.
maythreyi, good luck to her, but this is really not a place to post personal advertisements! In the future direct that kind of stuff on to one of the boards.
Ian, Lex, current, let's try please to keep things civil. Ian your first paragraph is (to coin a phrase) "right on the money" but every family has a unique story. We try to work with each family to find a financing plan which works for them and that takes their unique situation into consideration.
I'm not sure that a post war on this forum serves any real purpose.
Current 11, I judge based on this and other posts you've made that you are not pleased with our financial aid review of your situation. Rather than argue this on the blog, I would make the same suggestion I've made to others in the past. If you are not happy with our review, come and talk with your financial aid officer or with me directly. We are interested in listening to your case and working with you, if possible, to find a reasonable compromise.
Posted by: Daniel Barkowitz on March 24, 2008
Posted by: job'12 on March 24, 2008
You can always choose just not to use your self-help. We will pester you for a form, so why don't you tell us you plan to use it in the form or work, and then when you do not earn this money you'll be fine!
Posted by: Daniel Barkowitz on March 24, 2008
Posted by: Stephen Rigsby on March 24, 2008
@Daniel : Sorry, my feathers got slight ruffled. While I tried to avoid making blanket statements re-reading my comments I can see that I was a bit antagonizing.
Posted by: Ian on March 24, 2008
Posted by: LOVE on March 24, 2008
Listen guys, I know tension is high, so just be kind to each other. To borrow a quote from HSM (Oh, God, here I go), "we're all in this together!"
Now, back to more file reviews...
Posted by: Daniel Barkowitz on March 24, 2008
Posted by: Anonymous on March 24, 2008
Income -- or after tax income (including real estate taxes)?
Value of home/Equity in home?
Age and health of parents?
Obviously, I realize that investments, savings, etc. are considered -- but what about retirement savings -- are they counted? Or are parents supposed to rely on Social Security payments and spend retirement savings on MIT?
(BTW, I second "Current '11's" comment.)
Posted by: 0 on March 24, 2008
Daniel: Sorry for pushing towards a post war, but like I said, i was just voicing a pent up feeling. Thanks for being so nice with answering the questions, and for being so transparent with your immense wealth of uber-knowledge
Posted by: |Lex! '12 on March 24, 2008
Posted by: Rose on March 24, 2008
1) How do I send "Other Real Estate Value/D"?
I was contacted by Gary Ryan via e-mail and I gave him the information a month ago, but I have seen no update on my profile.
2) My parents do not file W-2's (my father is self-employed; he runs a business in which he is the only employee). I included a letter addressing this issue in my IDOC packet (which should be arriving to you soon). Do I need to do anything else?
I think that's about it for now. Thanx for your time.
Posted by: Alex on March 24, 2008
I just got my finaid from MIT today, and was pleasantly surprised--I expected to have to write off MIT entirely. Now I can still consider it. Thanks!
I do have a question. Because of outside scholarships, my self-help portion has been eliminated, so there's no work-study involved in my finaid package. However, my parents can't afford their full expected contribution. If I were to go to MIT, they'd probably take out loans for the $5000/year or so they can't afford out of current income, then expect me to pay off those loans after graduation (since student loans often have less favorable terms than the ones they could get). I'd much prefer to work during my four years at MIT to help cover that $5000 gap, but I have a sinking suspicion anything I earn, since there's no work-study component, will just reduce the grant amount from MIT. I want to help my parents cover the cost of an MIT education and keep debt low. Any way I can work that out?
Posted by: Katie on March 24, 2008
striving for the dream of MIT
Posted by: 0 on March 25, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 25, 2008
Posted by: Kris on March 25, 2008
she was just behind, and i wanted to help somewhere ! and i actually read the blogs religiously :D
sorry again!
Posted by: maithreyi on March 25, 2008
Posted by: 0 on March 25, 2008
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