| Q.Should I apply for financial aid or not?
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| A. First, consider the true cost of an independent school education. Tuition in 2009-2010 is $27,825. This means roughly $34,000 including books, lunches, transportation, and other costs.
Calculate your ability to cover these costs. If you cannot cover expenses out of income and judicious use of assets, consider your other options: If you are counting on gifts from relatives, it is important to discuss with them whether or not they can maintain that help over the course of your child’s career at Harvard-Westlake. Loans can be difficult to obtain in the current economic climate and drawing heavily on equity is risky.
If you need financial aid, now is the time to apply. This is critical. Please see following question/answer.
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| Q.It would be tough for us to afford Harvard-Westlake. Should I use up savings and/or borrow to make things work without aid for a year or two and then request aid if I cannot?
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| A. The school strongly discourages this approach. When a family submits a “full-pay” application to the school, this communicates that the family will be capable of covering all educational costs for the upcoming year and the foreseeable future. The School budgets in reliance upon this and commits its limited financial aid funds to other families.
Although the School maintains modest emergency funds for families that request aid subsequent to admission, those funds are strictly reserved for families that encounter dramatic, unforeseeable financial reversals after Harvard-Westlake matriculation. (Modest aid may also be available for families whose income growth has not kept pace with that of tuition and other school expenses.)
No funds are available for families with pre-existing needs not disclosed at the time of admission. Such undisclosed need can thus lead to student withdrawal and should be avoided at all costs.
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| Q.Does applying for financial aid reduce chances of admission?
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| A. The Admission Committee reviews candidates for admission without knowing whether or not they are applying for aid. This is therefore called a “need-blind” meeting. The Financial Aid Committee then meets to consider those who have been rated highly by the full committee, accepting as many compelling candidates into the class as possible. We again consider those candidates on the basis of qualities, but also try to spread our grants across a wide spectrum of families with different levels of need. While there is a sizeable aid budget, in the end there is a finite amount of aid available. Because financial aid students must also be selected in this second round, the reality is that it is more difficult to be admitted with financial aid. |
| Q.What expenses are covered by financial aid at Harvard-Westlake?
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| A. In addition to the tuition grant, a Harvard-Westlake financial aid package automatically includes coverage of most of the necessary expenses that your child will incur at the school. The school covers 100% of required expenses for any course. This would include items such as books and materials for a class, required sports equipment or team travel expense, or perhaps a costume for a dance performance. The school helps with other expenses such as transportation cost or attendance at our summer programs. Many students participate in our travel study programs in both the US and foreign countries with school assistance. Each student receives a moderate draw account that they can use to help pay for bookstore or cafeteria expenses. Our goal is to help parents with expenses, but also to enable financial aid recipients to participate fully in school life and feel comfortable in their environment.
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| Q.What do I do if my family can't afford the SSS fee?
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| A. Email Marian Reynolds in the Financial Aid Office at financialaid@hw.com. We will need to determine if your family's income level qualifies for a fee waiver. If so, we will send you a code that you can enter on the PFS site in lieu of a check. Because our supply of waivers is limited, we may not be able to honor all requests.
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| Q.Do I need to reapply for aid each year?
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| A. Yes.We will ask you to file a new PFS and submit your tax declarations each year. The school will continue to award a level of aid appropriate for your level of demonstrated need until your child graduates.
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| Q.What if parents are divorced or separated?
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| A.We consider that both parents have an obligation to contribute to the extent they can to their children’s educational expenses. We take into account the assets and income of both natural parents. We cannot be bound by the assertion that one parent has disclaimed legally or otherwise any responsibility for educational expenses. If either parent has remarried we will consider the income of the step-parent, keeping in mind the obligation of that step-parent to his or her natural children. If either parent lives in a household with another adult, we may consider the assets and income of that person, depending on circumstances. In view of this, both natural parents and their current spouses need to fill out a separate PFS form.
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| Q.Are there exceptions to the above policy?
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| A. Requests to consider extenuating circumstances (such as a missing parent or one who has not provided support and has not been in contact with the family for a lengthy period should be explained in writing in a letter to the Financial Aid Office.
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| Q.I already have a full-pay child at the school, but do not have the resources to pay for a younger sibling. What do I do?
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| A. You must apply for aid at the time the younger sibling applies for admission. The financial aid application must be for both children, and if the younger child is admitted and you qualify for aid, both children will receive the same tuition grant. |
| Q.What if I have children at other tuition-charging schools?
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| A. Other K-12 tuitions you pay are figured into our calculations of need, but in order to receive aid from us you must apply for aid at all schools your children attend. You should note that college tuition money is regarded as investment rather than educational expense, in that it rapidly pays for itself in higher income levels. With this in mind, both parents and students frequently take out federally subsidized loans, in addition to the direct aid that is available at the college level.
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| Q.When would I be notified of my award?
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| A. Admission decisions will be sent out in March. Tuition grants will be announced at that time.
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| Q.Are there payment plans available?
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| A. The school has a plan that allows financial aid families to spread the cost over ten payments at no additional charge.
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| Q.What do I do if I have additional questions? |
| A.Contact the Financial Aid Office at (818) 487-6605 or email financialaid@hw.com. We will do our best to help.
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