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Two factors related to your living situation could affect your financial aid:
1. Holding a position with Residence Life
a. Domestic Students
b. International Students
2. Having a living arrangement other than traditional room in an on-campus house
a. Traditional Students Moving Off-Campus
b. Living in Tenney/Hopkins/Friedman
c. Ada Comstock Scholars
Holding a position with the Residence Life staff will impact your financial aid award. The aid adjustment will depend on the position. Students holding a Housing Coordinator (HC) or House Community Advisor (HCA) will have their work study award replaced with the HCA stipend. Your stipend will be paid regularly during the academic year. The stipend amount and work study amount have historically been very close in value.
Students holding the position of Head Resident (HR) will have their entire self-help aid (loan and work study) removed from their awards. The Head Resident grant is designed to replace these award types. In addition, students receiving need-based grant assistance from Smith College will see a reduction in their Smith grant assistance by the amount that their HR Grant exceeds their level of self-help.
2012-2013 Example - Head Resident Financial Aid Award Adjustment:
Head Resident Grant: $10,809
Head Resident Stipend: $3,051 (includes January Term funding)
Total Assistance Provided: $13,860 (this amount will equal the total room & board cost)
Self-Help assistance for a Junior or Senior (domestic student):
Loan: $5,500
Work: $2,650
Total Self-Help: $8,150
Smith Grant Reduction would be:
HR Grant: $10,809
Less Self-Help Total: $8,150
Difference: $2,659 (need-based grant reduction)
In order to calculate the International Smith Grant reduction, your self-help will be eliminated. Once this amount is reached, the difference will reduce your International Smith Grant assistance.
Self-Help Assistance:
Junior Senior
Loan: $5,650 $6,200
Work: $2,650 $2,650
Total Self-Help: $8,300 $8,850
Need-Based Grant Reduction for International Students is:
HR Grant: $10,809 $10,809
Less Self-Help Total: $ 8,300 $ 8,850
Grant Reduction: $ 2,509 $ 1,959
Even though this award adjustment will remove your existing loans from your award, both domestic students and international student have the option to request any loan eligibility they have remaining after the Res Life Award is factored in. Please contact Student Financial Services office if you wish to determine your remaining loan eligibility.
The first step in determining every financial aid award is creating a budget for each student. On-campus and off-campus have different budgets. Because students who live off-campus are not charged room and board, the budget used for off-campus housing is lower than the budget used for on-campus housing. This means there is a grant reduction when a student lives off-campus. In addition, different budgets are used for on-campus apartments or cooperative housing (Hopkins, Tenney, Friedman). Please note, the figures given on this page refer to students living independently off campus. If you will be living with relatives, we will use a different calculation to determine your grant reduction. Please contact SFS for details on your specific potential award adjustment.
If you move off campus, you will not be charged by the college for room and board. For 2012-13, this will be a reduction in your billed fees of $13,860. At the same time, your Smith Grant will be reduced by $5,924. This means your total reduction in the amount due will be $7,936. ($13,860-$5,924=$7,936) So, if your off-campus expenses (rent, food, utilities, etc.) are less than $7,936, you will come out ahead financially. Please note, the figures given on this page refer to students living independently off campus. If you will be living with relatives, we will use a different calculation to determine your grant reduction. Please contact SFS for details on your specific potential award adjustment.
Living in a co-op (Tenney, Hopkins, Friedman) also results in a reduced Smith Grant. For 2012-2013, the reduction is $3,762. In this case, you will be charged by Smith only for the room. Any arrangements for your food are your responsibility.
Even though there is a grant reduction, it is important to understand that your billed fees will also be lower. Only the room cost will be charged to your Smith account by the college. This charge for 2012-2013 is $6,940. This is a savings of $6,920 in billed fees. Therefore, if you can buy all your food for the year for $3,158 ($6,920 savings in billed fees minus $3,762 in grant reduction), you will come out ahead.
Our office uses different budgets to determine how much financial assistance the college will provide. On-campus and off-campus have different budgets. The budget used for off-campus housing is lower than the budget used for on-campus. This means there is a grant reduction when a student does not live on-campus in traditional housing. The grant reduction for 2012-2013 is $3,920.
Moving into a campus apartment means you will be charged $11,610 (one bedroom) for the year. This is a housing charge only. The budget we use to determine how much financial assistance you receive does contain an allowance for meals. However, no direct meal plan is included in this charge. For comparison purposes, you will not be charge the standard room and board charge of $13,860.
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