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Financial Aid Changes, 2008-2009
Q) How is Wheaton College helping needy families afford tuition?
A) New this year, the college is instituting a cap of $5,500 on student loans for those who qualify for need-based aid. Additionally, all of our financial aid packages will be “grant-first,” meaning each will start off with a $2,000 grant (see graph—“New Model”).
In the past, Wheaton has packaged all student aid with the maximum amount of loans for which the student is eligible (see graph—“Old Model”). Federal Stafford loans, the most used loan program, carry higher loan limits for upper classmen. When combined with other available loans, this results in increasingly higher loans, and lower grants, as the student progresses through school.
Q) Is the loan cap for current students too, or just for incoming freshmen?
A) The new loan cap will be extended to all students. This means the underclass limit of $5,500 will be applied for upper class students as well. For those upperclassmen who have reached the previous higher limits, this will provide on average an additional $500 in grants for sophomores and $1,000 for juniors and seniors.
Q) How will the new “grant-first” policy affect my financial aid package?
A) In the past, Wheaton has operated with a “loan-first” packaging process. Families with a calculated need were packaged with loans first, up to the limits of the loans for which they were eligible, with grants awarded after that (see graph—“Old Model”). That has been done to ensure that the use of available outside aid sources is maximized, and Wheaton’s grant aid could be focused on the neediest students. However, families who have minimal calculated need would frequently end up with “loan-only” or “90% loan” packages.
Under the new model, all student aid packages will first be awarded up to $2,000 in grant aid (minimum $500), followed by loans up to a loan cap, and then followed by more grants. Higher-need students will receive the same total grant/total loan package that they would have received without this change. The impact will be felt by those students who formerly would have received only loans or mostly loans—typically students from middle-income families.
Q) Is there any help for parents who own a small business?
A) In the past, Financial Aid has not taken any business losses into consideration for need assessment. However, this is changing for 2008-2009. The College will give full consideration to any cash losses (cash expenses in excess of cash revenues) incurred when determining a student’s need.
Q) As a parent, I have enrolled my younger children in a private Christian high school. Can that be taken into consideration when Financial Aid determines my family’s need?
A) Over the years, Wheaton College has seen an increase in the number of families with students applying to Wheaton who are also paying tuition to private Christian high schools for their other children. For the first time, in 2008-2009 Financial Aid will be giving consideration to these tuition payments, effectively lowering the calculation of the families’ ability to pay tuition and increasing grant aid.
This methodology is consistent with federal guidelines—which allows a financial aid administrator to consider private school tuition for pre-college siblings in the awarding of financial aid.
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