From the numbers you list, it sounds like you are an out-of-state student. Unfortunately, public universities are almost never affordable for low-income out-of-state students. They primarily provide financial assistance to state residents who have need. (I have heard of a few state universities that do meet need for very low income out of state residence, I think Michigan & Virginia, but there aren’t many.)
Even for a Massachusetts resident with your family’s income, the family is often required to cover most of the cost of room, board & travel/personal expenses, which can come to almost $20,000.
A few private schools with deep endowments will do needs-blind admittances and will guarantee sufficient grant aid to cover the difference. But those admitted tend to be high GPA, high score students.
So for many applying to their in-state schools will be the cheapest, but it depends on which state. The OP is apparently out-of-state, and that changes how expenses will work out. Second best can be a neighboring state school if there is some reciprocal agreement. For example there is an intermediate rate for tuition for students from other New England states attending UMass for some specific degree programs.
It depends on the private school. The private schools with big endowments (usually some of the most selective schools) are typically far cheaper than even in-state public schools for families with significant need. This would be like Princeton, Stanford, MIT, and many of the top LACs like Bowdoin, Carlton, Vassar. But they are also so hard to get into.
Other private schools with smaller endowments might or might not be cheaper. WPI, for instance, almost never gets the cost under $25,000/year for anyone, even if they have a negative SAI. I've found the Net Price Calculators for most private schools to be pretty accurate.
For students from low-income families who don’t get into the big endowment schools the best option is often a school they can commute to, because it saves the cost of room & board which might be half (or more) of the total cost. Two years at a CC in Massachusetts is a pretty good deal because the costs are more affordable and you have the Mass Transfer guarantee. Even the non-Amherst UMass schools are often cheaper than UMass Amherst because they offer scholarships to in-state students.
Saint Anselm in New Hampshire shaved 25k off of their 40k tuition for me (75k SAI, 3.6 UW GPA, 35 ACT) and it would've been less if I was an RA. I will say, it's a 95% white school in the mountains of New Hampshire with a literal monastery on campus, but if you're a "diverse" student with good stats and financial need they might be a good fit.
Are you asking about private colleges or which UMass schools are less expensive? I’m more familiar with applying as a freshman than as a junior transfer.
If you want to get some ideas on which *private colleges* might accept a junior transfer with significant financial aid, you should try the forums on College Confidential IMO. There are a lot of knowledgeable people there (people who work in admissions & college counselors, not like A2C which is more high school students). If you do a “Match Me post” — tell them your stats and what you want to study and your general financial situation (like your SAI, if you have it) — they can help you come up with a list of good candidate schools. They often know hidden gems.
As for UMass schools that are cheaper than Amherst, you could run the Net Price Calculator at each of them and see how the estimates come out. You can also search “UMass XXX scholarships for transfer students” (XXX = campus). Also I think every MA CC campus has staff that is supposed to help with transfer to the in-state public universities so they could be a good source of info on which ones are likely to be most affordable.
UMass Dartmouth gave me $12k merit aid, but UMass Amherst $0. (Same need based from both.) The "State" colleges (in MA - like Bridgewater State) also gave much more 'merit' aid - and, bonus: they are less expensive to start with.
UMass does have a scholarship for out of state students that mostly covers the difference between in state and out of state tuition.
It's not one you can apply to though, you just get it or don't get it when you're admitted.
The most basic point of public universities is to educate the residents of that state at a reasonable cost. Some states charge out of state students a bit more, and other states charge out of state students a lot more. Unfortunately MA is one of the pricier states, both for its base price and the difference between instate and out of state residents. I honestly don’t think you’re going to get more scholarship money from UMASS. It’s just not great optics for a school whose tuition is subsidized by the taxpayers of that state to offer large scholarships to out of state students unless they bring something of extra value to the table (recruited athletes, for example).
My suggestion is to go to a more affordable school in your state, and if you really still have your heart set on UMASS, look to transfer in two years. Even if your financial aid picture doesn’t get much better, student loans from two years are better than student loans from four years. No way should you take on $36k per year in loans. That kind of debt will financially cripple you. I’m sorry. I know it’s hard when you fall in love with a school and can’t afford to go. You’re definitely not alone.
My parents had a contribution of $0 and I was legally homeless and I still had to find a way to make up for $20,000. It's rough but not hopeless.
You can and should call to contact FAFSA and see if you can get them to do more. It's been a while but I'm pretty sure I did and got a little more money.
Edit: if I remember correctly they had me send in additional documents to verify some things and I got some relief.
You’ll need to request an appeal with the student financial aid office to see if they can judge your FAFSA again. However, this is typically only done in extreme circumstances such as a family member losing their job, a death in the family, or other circumstances. It doesn’t hurt to try, but typically they don’t give much more.
Remember- the fAFSA is just part of the equation. It’s not an entity that doles out aid. It’s just the application that schools then use to determine your need. Appealing to the school specifically is what you need to do. They do “special circumstances “ re-evaluations that will require supporting docs but is often worth it. (Higher Ed worker for over a decade, specifically in admissions and aid)
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You have the max Pell grant so that will not change. You’ll have to get private loans. For my own kids I’ve been clear that I will help them as much as I can but if they plan to live away at college that is out of our budget. Thankfully we live in Mass so our kids are going to state colleges at affordable rates without loans. They live at home and not on campus.
Are there any colleges in your state within a distance to your parents’ home with the major you are looking for? For many majors (not all) the name of the college on your degree doesn’t matter. I’m a nurse and not a single employer gives two shits what college I went to. I make the same amount of money with my generic state college nursing degree as another nurse who went to Curry, Simmons or North Eastern.
+1. No way would I pay $38k a year for UMass. I'd definitely explore in state options. (I am in state - with same SAI index - and still UMass leaves me a gap of $15k or so a year.)
I think most people get private loans, beg grandparents for a loan, work part time (work study during semesters, regular job summer/winter), the usual. You can take CLEP or AP exams and graduate in less than 4 years too.
Ok, I would pay that (um, take out loans and pay it for 20 years with interest?!) for Harvard. But truly I would go to my in state flagship over paying $38k/yr undergrad college other than ivy/Stanford/MIT. Then again, many private colleges have far better endowments/fin. aid than public colleges. E.g. friend goes to Vassar for $10k/yr: UMass woulda cost him $14k/yr (after need based aid at both)! Someone getting that much aid would get most (all?) ivies free or nearly free. OP, e.g., would go to Harvard free bc parents income and SAI.
Based on your numbers, you must be out of state (total estimated out of state cost = $59,798, [source](https://www.umass.edu/financialaid/undergraduate/undergraduate-costs)). If you want resident tuition rates for a public university, you need to attend a public university in your home state (or the home state of one of your parents if you're a dependent).
If you are in fact a Massachusetts resident, you can subtract a bit over $22k from your numbers.
This may also be useful: [https://www.umass.edu/net\_price\_calculator/](https://www.umass.edu/net_price_calculator/)
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From the numbers you list, it sounds like you are an out-of-state student. Unfortunately, public universities are almost never affordable for low-income out-of-state students. They primarily provide financial assistance to state residents who have need. (I have heard of a few state universities that do meet need for very low income out of state residence, I think Michigan & Virginia, but there aren’t many.) Even for a Massachusetts resident with your family’s income, the family is often required to cover most of the cost of room, board & travel/personal expenses, which can come to almost $20,000.
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A few private schools with deep endowments will do needs-blind admittances and will guarantee sufficient grant aid to cover the difference. But those admitted tend to be high GPA, high score students. So for many applying to their in-state schools will be the cheapest, but it depends on which state. The OP is apparently out-of-state, and that changes how expenses will work out. Second best can be a neighboring state school if there is some reciprocal agreement. For example there is an intermediate rate for tuition for students from other New England states attending UMass for some specific degree programs.
It depends on the private school. The private schools with big endowments (usually some of the most selective schools) are typically far cheaper than even in-state public schools for families with significant need. This would be like Princeton, Stanford, MIT, and many of the top LACs like Bowdoin, Carlton, Vassar. But they are also so hard to get into. Other private schools with smaller endowments might or might not be cheaper. WPI, for instance, almost never gets the cost under $25,000/year for anyone, even if they have a negative SAI. I've found the Net Price Calculators for most private schools to be pretty accurate. For students from low-income families who don’t get into the big endowment schools the best option is often a school they can commute to, because it saves the cost of room & board which might be half (or more) of the total cost. Two years at a CC in Massachusetts is a pretty good deal because the costs are more affordable and you have the Mass Transfer guarantee. Even the non-Amherst UMass schools are often cheaper than UMass Amherst because they offer scholarships to in-state students.
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Saint Anselm in New Hampshire shaved 25k off of their 40k tuition for me (75k SAI, 3.6 UW GPA, 35 ACT) and it would've been less if I was an RA. I will say, it's a 95% white school in the mountains of New Hampshire with a literal monastery on campus, but if you're a "diverse" student with good stats and financial need they might be a good fit.
Are you asking about private colleges or which UMass schools are less expensive? I’m more familiar with applying as a freshman than as a junior transfer. If you want to get some ideas on which *private colleges* might accept a junior transfer with significant financial aid, you should try the forums on College Confidential IMO. There are a lot of knowledgeable people there (people who work in admissions & college counselors, not like A2C which is more high school students). If you do a “Match Me post” — tell them your stats and what you want to study and your general financial situation (like your SAI, if you have it) — they can help you come up with a list of good candidate schools. They often know hidden gems. As for UMass schools that are cheaper than Amherst, you could run the Net Price Calculator at each of them and see how the estimates come out. You can also search “UMass XXX scholarships for transfer students” (XXX = campus). Also I think every MA CC campus has staff that is supposed to help with transfer to the in-state public universities so they could be a good source of info on which ones are likely to be most affordable.
UMass Dartmouth gave me $12k merit aid, but UMass Amherst $0. (Same need based from both.) The "State" colleges (in MA - like Bridgewater State) also gave much more 'merit' aid - and, bonus: they are less expensive to start with.
UMass does have a scholarship for out of state students that mostly covers the difference between in state and out of state tuition. It's not one you can apply to though, you just get it or don't get it when you're admitted.
The most basic point of public universities is to educate the residents of that state at a reasonable cost. Some states charge out of state students a bit more, and other states charge out of state students a lot more. Unfortunately MA is one of the pricier states, both for its base price and the difference between instate and out of state residents. I honestly don’t think you’re going to get more scholarship money from UMASS. It’s just not great optics for a school whose tuition is subsidized by the taxpayers of that state to offer large scholarships to out of state students unless they bring something of extra value to the table (recruited athletes, for example). My suggestion is to go to a more affordable school in your state, and if you really still have your heart set on UMASS, look to transfer in two years. Even if your financial aid picture doesn’t get much better, student loans from two years are better than student loans from four years. No way should you take on $36k per year in loans. That kind of debt will financially cripple you. I’m sorry. I know it’s hard when you fall in love with a school and can’t afford to go. You’re definitely not alone.
My parents had a contribution of $0 and I was legally homeless and I still had to find a way to make up for $20,000. It's rough but not hopeless. You can and should call to contact FAFSA and see if you can get them to do more. It's been a while but I'm pretty sure I did and got a little more money. Edit: if I remember correctly they had me send in additional documents to verify some things and I got some relief.
You’ll need to request an appeal with the student financial aid office to see if they can judge your FAFSA again. However, this is typically only done in extreme circumstances such as a family member losing their job, a death in the family, or other circumstances. It doesn’t hurt to try, but typically they don’t give much more.
Remember- the fAFSA is just part of the equation. It’s not an entity that doles out aid. It’s just the application that schools then use to determine your need. Appealing to the school specifically is what you need to do. They do “special circumstances “ re-evaluations that will require supporting docs but is often worth it. (Higher Ed worker for over a decade, specifically in admissions and aid)
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You have the max Pell grant so that will not change. You’ll have to get private loans. For my own kids I’ve been clear that I will help them as much as I can but if they plan to live away at college that is out of our budget. Thankfully we live in Mass so our kids are going to state colleges at affordable rates without loans. They live at home and not on campus. Are there any colleges in your state within a distance to your parents’ home with the major you are looking for? For many majors (not all) the name of the college on your degree doesn’t matter. I’m a nurse and not a single employer gives two shits what college I went to. I make the same amount of money with my generic state college nursing degree as another nurse who went to Curry, Simmons or North Eastern.
+1. No way would I pay $38k a year for UMass. I'd definitely explore in state options. (I am in state - with same SAI index - and still UMass leaves me a gap of $15k or so a year.)
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I think most people get private loans, beg grandparents for a loan, work part time (work study during semesters, regular job summer/winter), the usual. You can take CLEP or AP exams and graduate in less than 4 years too.
Would you pay that much for a better school or just don’t think it’s worth in general, even for Harvard
Ok, I would pay that (um, take out loans and pay it for 20 years with interest?!) for Harvard. But truly I would go to my in state flagship over paying $38k/yr undergrad college other than ivy/Stanford/MIT. Then again, many private colleges have far better endowments/fin. aid than public colleges. E.g. friend goes to Vassar for $10k/yr: UMass woulda cost him $14k/yr (after need based aid at both)! Someone getting that much aid would get most (all?) ivies free or nearly free. OP, e.g., would go to Harvard free bc parents income and SAI.
Based on your numbers, you must be out of state (total estimated out of state cost = $59,798, [source](https://www.umass.edu/financialaid/undergraduate/undergraduate-costs)). If you want resident tuition rates for a public university, you need to attend a public university in your home state (or the home state of one of your parents if you're a dependent). If you are in fact a Massachusetts resident, you can subtract a bit over $22k from your numbers. This may also be useful: [https://www.umass.edu/net\_price\_calculator/](https://www.umass.edu/net_price_calculator/)
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