Grinnell meets 100% of every student’s demonstrated financial need. But what does "demonstrated financial need" mean?
Demonstrated financial need can be summarized as follows: cost of attending Grinnell - your family's contribution = demonstrated need. Grinnell meets each student's demonstrated need using a combination of scholarships, grants, and student employment. This approach to financial aid assumes that students and their families are primarily responsible for paying for college to the extent that they are able, and Grinnell helps to fill in the gap.
There are multiple tools to help you estimate your need-based financial aid eligibility.
Family Share of Expenses
To calculate each family's ability to pay, Grinnell uses formulas that consider the information that the family reports on their financial aid application. The resulting family contribution represents our best estimate of your family's capacity to pay for college. There are typically two parts of your family's contribution: a parent contribution and a student contribution.
Parent contribution: Parents are responsible for paying for college to the extent their income and assets permit. The parent contribution is determined by first deducting taxes and basic living expenses from parent income. With the remaining income and assets, parents are then expected to contribute a portion of each toward college costs.
Student contribution: Students are also responsible for covering part of the cost of education. Grinnell expects students to contribute from summer employment income, work-study during the year, and/or savings. Student loans are available if you want to use those in place of work or in addition to work.
To determine your family contribution, we primarily use data from the CSS Profile. The family contribution we use to determine your eligibility for Grinnell's financial aid is likely to differ from the Student Aid Index (SAI) determined by the FAFSA.
Parent Refusal to Pay
Grinnell assumes that both parents, regardless of their marital status, are primarily responsible for the student's education costs. Grinnell cannot require parents to contribute the amount determined. However, Grinnell will also not use its financial aid resources to compensate for what parents choose not to provide.
To be fair to all our students, we can only base our financial aid decisions on parents' ability and not willingness to pay.
Independent Status
Students who believe they may qualify for independent student status should contact the Grinnell Office of Financial Aid before completing their applications. Anyone entering Grinnell as a dependent student will remain dependent for institutional financial aid purposes regardless of age or marital status.