Need sample letters asking for more financial aid?

Question

Received financial aid but its not enough. I am 21 and have no parental financial help with college, but not considered independant until Im 24. How do I form a letter to ask my college for more support?

Answer 1

Just call the financial aid office at the school and tell them you need help with a hardship request. They will have a process whereby you can provide the details of your parent's refusing or being unable to assist with your expenses. If your parents have had a divorce, a business loss, sick parents or other financial pressures in their lives that can explain their inability or unwillingness to contribute to your education expenses, you have a good chance of getting additional aid of some form.



These rules were instituted as college tuition got so expensive that it became sensible for students to spend a year (the old rule for independent status) working after high school in order to qualify for aid based only on the student's own income. It creates a hardship for the children of higher income parents who simply refuse to provide financial assistance to their children after they turn 18. If your parents have not suffered any financial hardship or unusual expenses, but simply prefer the country club membership and nice cars to helping you with college, ask the financial aid counselor what the best path is to demonstrate financial independence and if your parents can simply sign a statement refusing to contribute even though they appear to have the means to do so. If all else fails, make a stink about equal treatment. You are 21, a legal adult in every sense of the word, but the financial aid program is trying to penalize you for having parents who earn too much money but refuse to share it with you. That probably has some legal consequences the school is not interested in defending in court. Too many laws try to have it both ways for younger people as they reach 18 and 21 year milestones.

Answer 2

Sometimes, the school can't offer you more help. There is a rule that if you are denied a private loan, you may qualify for additional stafford loans. However, your parents would have to be on board.



It sounds like you've just need to do some research and find outside scholarships, or find a job and start saving up. Remember, financial aid is just "aid", for some people, they need to make it happen on there own. Kinda eating at a restaurant, financial aid is entree, you hope with just that you will be full and not hungry. However, if you are still hungry, you gotta pay for the appetizer and dessert.