If your financial aid has been terminated at one college and you decide to go to another college will you be able to receive financial aid at the new college?

Answer 1

Your "need" -- defined as the difference between a school's tuition and your "ability to pay" as determined from the info you provide on the FAFSA -- may be higher or lower depending upon the difference in tuition and whether your FAFSA info has changed. Many students are blind-sided by a reduction in aid when their parents' financial situation improves on paper but doesn't improve much in practice. A student from a family with a temporarily unemployed parent and no savings for college will receive more aid than after the parent finds work, even though there is still no savings for college. If your "ability to pay" is, say, ten thousand, you will be responsible for that amount no matter where you attend. If you actually can't afford to pay that amount -- nobody said the FAFSA was realistic -- then you are in a pickle. But all is not lost. Perhaps the reduction in aid is not due to your changing finances but the school's increasing stinginess, which is forcing it to cut back on school-financed aid. If that is the case, you may find another school that is more generous or willing to do more than "meet your need." That kind of financial aid is referred to as "merit money." If your grades at the first school were very good, you might have a shot at that, although schools aren't usually as generous with transfer students as they are with high-school grads.