Want More Financial Aid? Show 'Special Circumstances'

Is it possible to negotiate need-based financial aid? The answer given by three college financial aid directors who spoke at the College Board Forum in San Diego last week is: sometimes, provided you can prove you have special family financial circumstances that justify a larger need-based financial aid award.

Although recent media reports have been full of articles suggesting that families can “negotiate” better need-based financial aid packages simply by playing packages from competing schools against each other, all three of the financial aid professionals emphasized that landing a better need-based financial aid offer based only on a competing package is rare.

“We do not negotiate in that sense,” said Carolyn Lindley, Northwestern University’s Director of Financial Aid. “However, if a family tells us that we really want to come but can’t, I may ask a few more questions to see if there are special circumstances that might justify a revision. But the family always has to provide us with adequate documentation to justify the decision.” Lindley added “if you hear that someone down the street pulled one over on a college and got more need-based aid, it almost always means they were able to prove that they had special circumstances that warranted it.” Jerry Cebrzynski, Director of Financial Aid at Lake Forest College in Illinois, and Daniel Mann, Director of Financial Aid at the University of Illinois echoed the sentiment.

According to the financial aid directors, there are three main “special circumstances” where adjustments may be considered based on the professional judgment of the financial aid office. The first relates to the cost of attendance. “Some students may have extra costs that most students don’t, such as extra travel expenses, child care costs, or expensive supplies or books required by a particular major,” said Lindley. “We will look carefully at the student’s budget and, if we see that the student realistically can’t afford the cost of attending, sometimes we’ll make adjustments.”

Another area likely to get a professional judgment review is related to the student’s dependency status. If the student can prove that he or she is legally no longer a dependent, sometimes colleges will treat the student as an independent for financial aid purposes. However, Cebrzynski cautioned that “dependency over rides are pretty rare. Almost always they require proving that the student is severely estranged from the parents. Dependency over rides don’t include things such as the parents being unwilling to contribute, or the student just claiming they are totally self-sufficient. Telling us that you are an emancipated minor means nothing.” In using professional judgment to make dependency over rides, Cebrzynski said “we’re looking for third party documentation, such as a counselor, another relative, a neighbor, a pastor, who can verify that the student truly is estranged from his or her parents. And, the dependency over ride must be reviewed and documented on an annual basis because sometimes students and parents reunite.”

The third area – and the most common need-based appeal – are family financial circumstances that are not reflected in the questions asked by the FAFSA or CSS Profile. “If we’re going to use professional judgment to make an adjustment here, we have to change the actual value of the financial data,” said Lindley. Examples of special circumstances named by the panel as sometimes justifying a need-based adjustment include: sibling tuition for private K-12 education, medical and dental expenses, death or divorce of parents, loss of income due to unemployment or illness, losses related to disaster (earthquakes, floods, hurricanes) not reimbursed by insurance, and other major changes to income, debt or assets. As one example, Cebrzynski mentioned a family that had high caregiving costs associated with a disabled grandparent moving in with the family.

However, Lindley emphasized that each institution has its own take on what qualifies as a special circumstance and how and when professional judgment is applied. “It really varies from institution to institution depending on their resources and philosophies. Some will consider things that others will not,” she said. Still, she warned, parents should not see those differences as being willing to "negotiate" a better need-based financial aid deal just because the family asks for it. “Every institution still has to be able to justify, document, and apply professional judgment consistently.” She noted that all institutions conduct yearly internal financial aid audits, supplemented by periodic Federal audits.

The three institutions briefly discussed the differences in their use of professional judgment. Mann said that the University of Illinois seldom uses professional judgment to adjust need-based financial aid. “As a public institution, we’re not as flexible as a private college. Public institutions tend to take a more strict and conservative approach as to when and how professional judgment can be applied. Last year, for example, we probably made 25 or 28 appeals adjustments.”

Lindley, on the other hand, said that Northwestern made 1200 cost of attendance adjustments last year, and 737 special circumstance adjustments. “We use professional judgment a great deal. We view it as a tool we have in order to help our students meet the cost of attendance at a very expensive university,” she said. “But we still need to always document that special circumstances exist, and we do not make adjustments willy-nilly just because a family shows us a better offer from another school.”

If you believe your family has special circumstances that may justify appealing your financial aid package, what steps should you take to do so? According to the financial aid directors, the most important thing you can provide to help make your case is “documentation, documentation, documentation. Give us tax returns, non-custodial information, trust agreements, medical bills. We will review anything and everything that makes the case that you need more aid,” said Lindley.

The directors said that families should ask each school they are considering up front about when the extra information should be provided, as some colleges prefer to see it before they make financial aid decisions, and others prefer to create all financial aid packages and then have students appeal special circumstances.

Families should contact the financial aid office directly and ask if there is an appeals person or a financial aid committee responsible for professional judgment appeals. If in doubt, contact the director of financial aid and ask if they can review the additional information. Keep in mind, however, “that there’s a certain point in time when there’s no money left,” said Lindley. “Many times a family doesn’t give us the extra information in a timely manner, and by the time they do, we no longer have the resources to make the adjustment.”

The officers noted that, in most cases, their offices are not responsible for making decisions about merit-only scholarships. Those awards are handled by admissions, or, in some institutions, by the office of enrollment management. Queries about possible increases in merit-only scholarships, which can sometimes be negotiated by showing competing offers, should therefore be directed to those departments, not the financial aid office.

Is it worth it to appeal a need-based financial aid package if you feel your family circumstances warrant it? As already noted, it depends on the institution’s policies, but, if you can document and justify why more money is necessary for you to attend, “sometimes professional judgment can make a huge difference,” said Lindley. In other words, it never hurts to ask, but your chances of appeal are best if you can prove the extra money is necessary for you to attend.