Lost job; apply for additional aid?

[Anonymous]

I lost my job within the past week as part of highly unexpected lay-offs at my former company. I've been given about 2 months severance and am aggressively looking for a new position.

We have one high school child at school and have a second due to start in the fall (also for high school). We receive about 5% aid (new for us upon adding child #2).
Would you ask for additional aid? I recognize that the school likely does not have more aid to give.
My salary pays just shy of the two tuitions-we are not huge earners .

Our public option is lousy (and we're locked into the private contracts).
I'm confident that I'll get a new position but of course I can't predict when.
I'm doing everything in my power to make this work.

Would you contact the school and when? Would you mention the severance?
UGH.

[Anonymous]

YES!

[Anonymous]

Yes. They hold some aid back for this exact scenario. Please ask.

[Anonymous]

It is always worth asking. If they can’t increase your aid you haven’t lost anything, but there’s a decent chance they can find at least a little more to give you. Or, if it comes down to it, might allow you to break your contract without owing the tuition.

[Anonymous]

Yes and see if you can volunteer your skills for the school in some way, when you are not job hunting.

[Anonymous]

You can ask and should but when my spouse got laid off during the pandemic not only did we get absolutely no aid but the financial aid office, actually just the head of FA, was belittling, condescending, and completely unsympathetic. FYI we had multiple children at the school. Hope you have better luck and I'm sorry to hear about your situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes and see if you can volunteer your skills for the school in some way, when you are not job hunting.

I've seen this advice before. I volunteered a ton and we still got no aid. Do not think that it matters to the schools bottom line, ie the 55k tuition. OP if you have retirement, the school expects you to raid it, if you belong to any kind of club, you will have to drop it even if you already paid your dues and you may get another job soon.

[Anonymous]

Yes, definitely ask.

[Anonymous]

Many schools will basically recalculate aid based on new income. If they have the funds to meet the difference, they will. The problem is that not all the schools will have the funds. It doesn't hurt to ask, though.

[Anonymous]

Definitely contact the school. I hope you find another job quickly and that the school is able to work with you and adjust your aid package until you find that job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes and see if you can volunteer your skills for the school in some way, when you are not job hunting.

I've seen this advice before. I volunteered a ton and we still got no aid. Do not think that it matters to the schools bottom line, ie the 55k tuition. OP if you have retirement, the school expects you to raid it, if you belong to any kind of club, you will have to drop it even if you already paid your dues and you may get another job soon.

I would withdraw my kids before I dipped into retirement and hope the school goes to the waitlist to backfill the spaces. Private school is a luxury and when income dips, luxuries get cut

[Anonymous]

who do you contact? the head of admissions/financial aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:who do you contact? the head of admissions/financial aid?

Contact the Director of Financial
Aid. Often that person is also the Director of Admissions but not always.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes and see if you can volunteer your skills for the school in some way, when you are not job hunting.

I've seen this advice before. I volunteered a ton and we still got no aid. Do not think that it matters to the schools bottom line, ie the 55k tuition. OP if you have retirement, the school expects you to raid it, if you belong to any kind of club, you will have to drop it even if you already paid your dues and you may get another job soon.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes and see if you can volunteer your skills for the school in some way, when you are not job hunting.

I've seen this advice before. I volunteered a ton and we still got no aid. Do not think that it matters to the schools bottom line, ie the 55k tuition. OP if you have retirement, the school expects you to raid it, if you belong to any kind of club, you will have to drop it even if you already paid your dues and you may get another job soon.

This.

If a FA applicant is a member of a country club, I would certainly hope that the expectation is that they would drop the membership before receiving the aid in the first place!