Excelsior Financial Aid Help

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by skirtlet, Jun 15, 2021.

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  1. skirtlet

    skirtlet Member

    Hello, I have 18 more credits to get a BA at Excelsior, However, it doesn't look like I could see what that would cost until after I enroll.

    If I enroll and don't take 12 credits, it appears they'll charge me a $1000~ fee.

    Is there a way to see what my Excelsior financial aid package might look like without having to pay a $1000 review fee if I don't end up taking 12 credits there?

    I'm eligible for $6400 Pell a year, so I would imagine that's it. If tuition is about $9100 plus maybe $500 in graduation fees, I believe I would end up paying about $3200 total to finish.

    Anyone had experience with Excelsior financial aid?
     
    skirtlet, Jun 15, 2021
    #1
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Not to be unfriendly, but... have you asked them?
     
    SteveFoerster, Jun 15, 2021
    #2
  3. skirtlet

    skirtlet Member

    Yes, but I haven't heard back from then and it's been almost 3 weeks.
     
    skirtlet, Jun 15, 2021
    #3
  4. skirtlet

    skirtlet Member

    I am going to contact them again, I'm just trying to speed up my decision-making process if other people have experienced Excelsior's financial aid process yet.
     
    skirtlet, Jun 15, 2021
    #4
  5. Rachel83az

    Rachel83az Well-Known Member

    You actually wind up taking a minimum of 13 credits from them - 7 required + 2 classes that are 3 credits each. Due to the way that Excelsior tuition works, it's in your best interests to use a partnership from Sophia or CSM Learn to bring your tuition down to $410 per credit instead of $510, to waive the enrollment fee of $1095, and to drop the graduation fee by $235. ( https://www.excelsior.edu/partner/sophia/ or https://www.excelsior.edu/partner/csmlearn ) Without financial aid, 13 credits winds up being about $5500 and the bare minimum of 7 credits winds up being about $5200.

    I am not sure what financial aid will cover in each situation but I'm dubious that it would cover the $1095 enrollment fee. I could be wrong about that, though.

    Also, Excelsior is notorious for not answering questions at all until you've enrolled and taken your first class with them.
     
    Rachel83az, Jun 15, 2021
    #5
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  6. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

    It's great you can get max $6400 grant a year! They provide up to 12 terms or 6 years if you need that many terms! So that can go up to $36+K if you know how to play your cards right... This is what I propose you do. You need to also look at their rules and research them before proceeding. Link: https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/grants/pell

    1) Complete your Pierpont BOG AAS, I think you've pretty much completed an AAS since you have so many credits already.
    2) Finish your BA at Excelsior or TESU with the usage of the grant - but don't graduate, otherwise you lose the next few terms of Pell.
    3) Use your energy/money/time from the reward/scholarship you have to continue with NYU, you can continue with Pell here.
    4) Graduate with NYU+Excelsior or TESU at the same time, thus maximizing as many terms as you can with the Pell grant funds.
    5) If you're resourceful enough - you can do the BachToMast programs as I mentioned in your previous thread to get grad credits!

    Essentially, with the B2M - You can get graduate credit at the price of undergrad, plus use up the remaining grant terms, thus lowering your total cost of education and providing you the most ROI/Value.
     
    AsianStew, Jun 16, 2021
    #6
    skirtlet likes this.
  7. skirtlet

    skirtlet Member

    Thanks! NYU won't let me defer my admission for a year if I attend another school this fall, unless I tried to attend NYU and Excelsior at the same time. But I am trying to get Pierpont done this summer before I'm "officially" at NYU with minimal effort. I will keep the advice in mind about not conferring a degree until I use all the Pell grants and finish NYU. I think I will try to do NYU with max Pell, then confer Excelsior the semester later. Hopefully I can knock out all requirements for both. I will look into BachToMast...hadn't heard of that, thank you.
     
    skirtlet, Jun 30, 2021
    #7
  8. skirtlet

    skirtlet Member

    Thanks. I'll look at the Sophia and CSM Learn partnerships. It does seem I won't get a reply from Excelsior until I've taken a class there.
     
    skirtlet, Jun 30, 2021
    #8
  9. skirtlet

    skirtlet Member

    Excelsior completed my financial aid offer, and it was a combination of Pell Grant and federal student loans. I don't have enough Pell to do a few years of NYU (they're being stingy with transfer credits) after TESU or Excelsior, but I am getting a Pierpont AAS conferred in August. I was hoping NYU would accept more credits, but it looks like I'll still have 80 credits to do at NYU for their degree. I've got a good 220 or so college credits total in my career now that I counted all my transcripts and Sophia/AP/similar credits too.
     
    skirtlet, Jul 26, 2021
    #9
  10. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

    Skip NYU for now, finish your BOG AAS and go for Excelsior/TESU or UMPI for your Bachelors. You can continue slowly with the NYU option if needed though... but get that BOG AAS degree and then the Bachelors! You may want to get a UMPI AALS and BAS which is not really available through YourPace, but by using the YourPace courses... I've asked, they allow that option!
     
    AsianStew, Jul 26, 2021
    #10

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