Can you negotiate college tuition?

[DisneyFan32WI]

My daughter was accepted to a small, private college in Florida for the fall of 2016. She received a very poor scholarship offer of only $1,500 per year which makes this school too expensive for us. She applied to another private college and received $12,000 scholarship per year, but it isn't her first choice. Here are my questions:

1. Can I call to try and negotiate a better price for her?
2. She applied under the "early decision" plan which makes her ineligible to apply to any other school from this point on. We did the early decision application because it was supposed to give the best scholarship and the fastest decision. I think it's a slap in the face based on the dollar amount they are "giving to her."
3. What happens if she ignores the letter that has clearly told us she has to withdraw her applications from other colleges and has to commit to this one? Can they sue us for breach of contract or something?

Any help is very much appreciated. This is very frustrating.

 

[justgrace]

I just went through this last year!

1. I don't believe that you can negotiate college tuition. I'm pretty sure it a set in stone thing. But it's worth a shot calling the school and see what they say.
2. I've never heard of a school making you ineligible to apply to any other school if you apply during early action. I applied under early action to several different schools and never had a problem. I wonder if it's a Florida thing?
3. I don't think they can sue you for looking at different colleges. How would they know that you are applying to different colleges?

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

I was wondering how this school would even know if she applied elsewhere. Here is the direct quote from the school in her acceptance letter we received today:
"In accordance with the Early Decision agreement, you are now required to contact any other college to which you have applied and withdraw your application. You are not permitted to submit any further applications. In addition to your required deposits, we require students confirming their intentions to enroll at XXXX College to complete our enrollment forms."

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

Sometimes you can meet with them and see of they have any other scholarships through the school to offer you(that are different than need-based or academic).

 

[Bec3b1g]

I'm interested in reading the responses to your question. My understanding is that you are bound to attend, which is a big disadvantage of early decision. I'm not sure what happens if you don't follow through.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm interested in reading the responses to your question. My understanding is that you are bound to attend, which is a big disadvantage of early decision. I'm not sure what happens if you don't follow through.

That's my understanding as well. I also always wondered what would happen if a student was accepted but the financial aid wasn't adequate.

 

[Hrhpd]

My daughter was accepted to a small, private college in Florida for the fall of 2016. She received a very poor scholarship offer of only $1,500 per year which makes this school too expensive for us. She applied to another private college and received $12,000 scholarship per year, but it isn't her first choice. Here are my questions:

1. Can I call to try and negotiate a better price for her?
2. She applied under the "early decision" plan which makes her ineligible to apply to any other school from this point on. We did the early decision application because it was supposed to give the best scholarship and the fastest decision. I think it's a slap in the face based on the dollar amount they are "giving to her."
3. What happens if she ignores the letter that has clearly told us she has to withdraw her applications from other colleges and has to commit to this one? Can they sue us for breach of contract or something?

Any help is very much appreciated. This is very frustrating.

According to the College Board website, your daughter is required to attend the ED college. In the article below, it outlines the risks of applying ED, since students cannot compare financial aid packages.

Although, there is a line in there that might give you an out. I would call the college and tell them the financial aid package is not considered adequate compared with another package you received and see what they say.

• Agree to attend the college if accepted and offered a financial aid package that is considered adequate by the family.

https://professionals.collegeboard.com/guidance/applications/early

 

[mom2rtk]

According to College Confidential, your daughter is required to attend the ED college. In the article below, it outlines the risks of applying ED, since students cannot compare financial aid packages.

Although, there is a line in there that might give you an out. I would call the college and tell them the financial aid package is not considered adequate compared with another package you received and see what they say.

• Agree to attend the college if accepted and offered a financial aid package that is considered adequate by the family.

https://professionals.collegeboard.com/guidance/applications/early

The phrasing on that link still seems to leave some wiggle room.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

Thank you for that bit of information I may be able to use to either get a better financial aid package....or an out.

 

[Poohforyou]

First off, early action and early decision are two different things. Early decision is binding assuming the acceptance comes with an adequate financial aid package. It can't hurt to go back to the school but don't expect much. I don't know who advised that early decision would give better financial aid but that really isn't true in many cases.

 

[Hrhpd]

Here are some more: https://www.unigo.com/admissionsadv...y-binding,-or-can-i-still-get-out-of-it/553/1

 

[PlutoPony]

Yes you can try and negotiate better financial aid. You cannot negotiate the actual tuition they charge.
The big downside to Early Decision (ED) is that it takes away your ability to compare financial aid offers from a variety of schools, as you have found. ED is typically not recommended for students who MUST have a level of financial aid.
Schools do honor ED of other schools. From what I understand, your high school guidance office is often where schools find out whether you have gone ED at another school, there maybe be a notation on your HS transcript indicating you have done ED. Schools do talk among themselves, and ED declines aren't common. So if you are interested in other schools, especially in a similar regions or niche market, that info may get passed on.
At this point your best bet is to talk to your HS guidance counselor and see what she advises. Some ED schools allow you to decline if you can show them their offer doesn't meet your financial needs and creates a hardship. Burden of proof is on the student and I don't know much about the process.

Btw, there's a difference between ED and EA (early action). While ED is binding (although not in a legal contract sense), EA is non-binding.

HTH

 

[happily single]

I would call the admissions counselor and ask what can be done to increase the scholarship. Just last week we visited a college that dd18 had applied and been acceptedmto. They offered a large scholarship. When we toured the college the admissions counselor told us the scholarship was based her her Jr year gpa (which was terrible). He said if this semster gpa was higher to send him an email asking him to re-evaluate the scholarship. We are just waiting for thr grades/gpa to post next week before asking for more money

 

[aprilchem]

College professor here - I work with our Admissions Office fairly frequently, and IME they will not pursue you if you decide not to accept the Early Admission offer (meaning they say it's binding but it's really not). I found that sometime you can negotiate the scholarship award, but only if they really want your daughter to attend. Given the low amount they offered I'm guessing she doesn't have the numbers to make her on of the top prospects - we really cater to those students because they raise our average GPA, SAT, etc.

 

[js]

First off, early action and early decision are two different things. Early decision is binding assuming the acceptance comes with an adequate financial aid package. It can't hurt to go back to the school but don't expect much. I don't know who advised that early decision would give better financial aid but that really isn't true in many cases.

I was going to say the same thing. I work in a small private expensive college. I sure hope your dd college advisor did not advise your dd about ED since they were most mistaken. You should only apply ED if you have all intenions of attending, regardles of financial aid (or lack of). I would also be upset if I was your dd's advisor and if I didnt tell you to apply ED, that you are recinding the acceptance. Doesnt put the advisor or school in a good light.

I hope Im wrong but I dont think you will have much wiggle room for extra money unless her scores are much higher than the norm and in the very upper area of who they accept. But, given the little money they offered, Im guessing this isnt the case. Go onto collegeconfidential. Its a board like the dis but for colleges.

Good luck! I have a dd graduating from college early next month and applying to law school (she attends Muhlenberg and was ED) and a ds who is graduating HS and a recruited baseball athelete who had his college confirmed before Halloween so I know the stress.

Come back and let us know how you make out. I hope all goes as you hope.

 

[AlohaNow]

I guess I'm old school, but I truly don't understand this 'early decision' stuff where people say they are 'required' to attend if accepted. Ummm, if the financial aid isn't good, a student clearly isn't going to attend. If you don't complete the enrollment forms or pay the fall semester tuition, then they won't let you attend, so how in the world can any school 'require' one to attend? It all just sounds silly to me!

 

[LisaR]

My DD was actively pursued by an out of state private college. They called and emailed her multiple times. They even called me once. They offered her a fantastic scholarship, but their tuition was on the very high end, and that big scholarship still put the college out of reach especially considering some of the other offers she had. One day someone from admissions called and talked to DD and she told them the price was just too much. She told them about the college she was considering and the total price after deducting the scholarship that school had offered. They basically said, "Good luck at that college." I guess they didn't like her that much!

 

[wilkeliza]

I guess I'm old school, but I truly don't understand this 'early decision' stuff where people say they are 'required' to attend if accepted. Ummm, if the financial aid isn't good, a student clearly isn't going to attend. If you don't complete the enrollment forms or pay the fall semester tuition, then they won't let you attend, so how in the world can any school 'require' one to attend? It all just sounds silly to me!

If you are contactually agreeing to attend you can be charged for a full course load and be sent to collections. I don't know of any one who has had it happen but it is possible to never go and still be out tuition or at least a part of it.

It is possible to go to financial aid and talk with them to see what else can be offered. I originally had a decent package at my college and then due to some bad course choices and some rough family times I let my GPA drop one semester. My college didn't have a probationary period they just dropped you so I lost 5K each semester for my senior year for academic scholarship and lost another scholarship just due to lack of funding. I went to my financial aid office and asked what they could do for me. I didn't get everything back but I still got some stuff back and was able to finish out my education.

 

[deedeetoo]

I have a senior right now so am familiar with the process. Early action (EA) and early decision (ED) are two different things. If you apply ED you are saying that you will go to that school if you are accepted. You actually sign something when you apply agreeing to this and saying that you will withdraw all other applications if accepted. Parents must sign this too. Guidance counselors will not let anyone who applies ED and is accepted apply anywhere else (they control transcripts and recommendations so they have this power). I don't understand how the OP was not aware of this. She must have signed the agreement. Applying ED is not a good thing to do if you need to compare financial aid offers because no comparison is allowed.

Applying EA is a totally different thing and you can apply to as many EA schools as you want with no obligation.

I have heard of people backing out of ED acceptances but the consensus is that usually future applicants from your school are punished. The college will think that applicants from your school do not understand what ED means and will not accept them.

 

[AppleDumpling]

You should call the admissions office of the college right away and explain your situation. If they are unable to meet your financial need, they will probably release her from the ED commitment without further issues. Then she is free to choose the second school or apply to more schools and wait for additional acceptances and consider the best offer.

As others have said, it seems like you did not fully understand the ramifications of applying ED.