Success Stories

Meet Zoe

Meet Zoe

Turning a Small Donation into a Life-changing College Cost Savings and Opportunity

In November 2021, Zoe, a senior at Nobles & Greenough in Dedham, MA applied binding early decision to Barnard College. Even with a generous grant, Zoe and her single mom knew that with her other family expenses this price was still unaffordable.

We stepped in to evaluate her financial aid forms and were able to identify errors and other extenuating circumstances. 

With College Affordable’s assistance and in partnership with a community organization, Barnard increased the award by $17,000 in the first year and will likely keep the same package for four years. Zoe now attends Barnard for $8,000 per year!

A financial sponsor paid the total fees for this work totaling $640 which resulted in an additional $68,000 in grants. Zoe saved $17,000 in the first year and will likely keep that award for four years.

 

St. Bernard’s High School, Fitchburg MA

St. Bernard’s High School, Fitchburg MA

Partners Coming Together to Make a Real Impact

Launched in 2020, the partnership between St. Bernard’s High School, a Catholic high school in Central Massachusetts, and College Affordable was a successful proving ground for our model sponsored by local community banks. The results speak for themselves:

  • Appeals of 4-year financial aid awards on behalf of families were successful over 80% of the time and  in some cases yielded over an additional $100k in aid (scholarships and grants). 
  • Scholarships through college specific programs increased from from $400k to $2M
  • For the last three years, 100% of the St. Bernard’s senior class participated in webinars, personalized guidance, and our college scholarship workshop. 
  • For the Class of 2025, 100% of eligible students completed the FAFSA.

Heather Tullio, St. Bernard’s Director of College Counseling, captured the impact of the partnership, saying, “The College Affordable program has done an incredible job educating our families on all the financial aspects of college. Thanks to College Affordable, our families are now appealing their aid packages, and the results have ranged from families receiving $2,000 additional funding each year up to $20,000+.”

Meet Dom

Meet Dom

Decreasing Costs to Allow for an Expanded Choice 

 

Dom, a graduate of Leominster High School, connected with us through his guidance counselor accessing a support program funded by the Leominster Credit Union. After receiving his initial financial aid awards, he was frustrated that his first-choice, Northeastern University, was much more expensive than a competing offer from The University of Massachusetts Lowell. With just fifteen minutes of work, a trained college financial expert identified both a significant mistake and exclusion of relevant additional factors on his non-custodial parent financial aid forms.

After both corrections and other enhancements, commencement of a special circumstances appeal Northeastern responded with a $10,000 improvement. With award renewal likely for subsequent years, this appeal is expected to yield an additional $40,000 at a small cost paid by Leominster Credit Union of about $500 to engage our financial expert.

Recently, Dom was accepted into the Biochemistry doctoral program at Stanford University.