How Am I Going to Pay for Cornish?

Click here to estimate what you’ll owe to Cornish after your financial aid is applied to your bill. (Do not include work study in your estimation)

Outside Scholarships

There are many outside scholarships available for students to apply for. There is no guarantee of an award, but if awarded, that money can be applied to your tuition for Cornish and other eligible costs for attendance. We have a database of collected outside scholarships that Cornish students may be eligible for on Compass under the Financial Aid tab.

5 (or 4) Month Interest-Free Payment Plan

Cornish offers an option to break up the semesters bill into five (or four) equal monthly payments, July (or August) to November. Families pay a one-time fee to begin this option and pay no interest on the balance. For more information, please contact student accounts at 206.726.5025. The payment plan is also an option for the Spring semester.

Parent PLUS Loans

The PLUS loan is a federal loan taken out by a parent for the student’s education, and is available to biological parents and any step-parent on the FAFSA. PLUS loans require a credit check and in some instances an eligible co-signer. Repayment of a PLUS loan begins following the final disbursement of the loan, although borrowers can request payment deferment until six months after the student graduates or no longer attends at least half time. If the PLUS loan is denied for credit reasons, an additional Unsubsidized Stafford Loan will become available to the student.

Private Student Loans

Private loans are non-federal loans issued by a lender such as a bank or credit union. These loans require a credit check of the student borrower and co-signer. They are a viable option to cover direct costs but should be considered very carefully. These loans are not available through the financial aid office, but lenders our students have used in the past are available on Compass under the “other resources” section of Financial Aid.

If you have any questions or concerns, or if your FAFSA does not reflect your current financial situation due to exceptional circumstances such as the loss of a job or the death of a parent, please contact our office at finaid@cornish.edu or 206.726.5014

Understanding Your Financial Aid Award

Your award is based on a number of factors. Assuming you’ve completed the FAFSA for this year, your EFC, number of credits, your eligibility for state and institutional aid, and your year in school, are all taken into account.

Your EFC represents how much money the federal government has determined you can contribute towards your education based on the results of the FAFSA. The cost of attendance (COA) is calculated by the school and is based on tuition, fees, books, supplies and living expenses. It is an estimated cost, and is not meant to indicate an amount due to Cornish.

Financial aid is calculated by subtracting your EFC from the COA here at Cornish. This leaves us with your financial need - this number can’t exceed your COA. Need based aid includes things like grants, work study and subsidized/unsubsidized loans.

Keep in mind that work study doesn’t apply directly to tuition. This is a need based award that is treated more like an actual part time job, where you apply, interview, and get paid on a monthly bases.

Institutional merit scholarships are awarded to new and transfer students based on their audition or portfolio review. Your department scholarship is renewable for four years if you begin at Cornish as a freshman and maintain a 2.0 cumulative GPA and a 67% pace of progression annually.

If you are receiving any outside scholarships, notify us at the financial aid office and be sure that the organization you are receiving the scholarship from has the school’s information so that the check can be mailed to us and applied to your financial aid award.

In subsequent years of attendance, a Cornish student may qualify for a merit-based or endowed scholarship based on donor criteria and department requirements for demonstrated artistic and academic excellence.

If you have any questions or concerns, or if your FAFSA doesn’t reflect your current financial situation due to exceptional circumstances such as the loss of a job or the death of a parent, please contact our office at finaid@cornish.edu or 206.726.5014

Scams!

College students are more at risk of identity theft than any other group. If another party gets a hold of your social security number, name, address, and birth date, they can use this information to file taxes fraudulently, set up credit cards in your name and put you in debt, and completely destroy your credit which will make it impossible to qualify for decent apartment rentals, future loans, and in some cases even jobs. One way that these third parties get this information is through fake scholarships – never, ever give your social security number or bank account information to any scholarship foundation, and never participate in any scholarship program that wants you to pay, with the exception of the occasional portfolio review fee (sorry, artists). And remember, the first “F” in FAFSA stands for “free”. You never need to pay to get help with the FAFSA, or any of your federal student loans. 

There are a ton of scams out there, but you’re going to start seeing a lot more of one in particular: student debt relief. Because of recent news regarding for-profit colleges, these scams are becoming more and more common. You’ll see 1-800 numbers for companies that claim to be able to reduce your student loan debt completely, asking you to call to talk about your loans, and companies that claim to be able to get rid of your debt for several hundred dollars in return. But keep this in mind:

Any real information regarding debt relief will come directly from one of three sources – the financial aid office, your loan servicer, or the federal government. 

There are several websites out there that appear to be tailored to specific schools, but if they were real we would tell you about them. Further investigation will reveal that these websites have ads tailored to many different schools. If you see something you think is suspicious, but you’re not sure, let us know about it – email us at any time to find out if these offers are legitimate, even after you graduate. Want to know more about the top four warning signs that what you're looking at might be a scam? Check out this link.

For federal loans, your debt can not be contested or forgiven unless you qualify for forgiveness under one of several repayment plans (which usually also means you’ve been making payments for about ten years or more), or you die. In rare cases, when schools lose accreditation or, in the case of the for-profit schools that recently closed, are revealed to be scams that do not produce degrees, the federal government will forgive your debt. However, this news will come directly from your loan servicer. It’s important to stay in contact with them for this reason. Any offers to reduce federal debt that come from a third party – somebody who is not an official Cornish representative, your loan servicer, or the federal government – are not real. 

Keep in mind, if a company promises to clear your debt, legally they have to clear a certain percentage first before they take any payment from you. If they ask for money up-front, it’s a sign that they’re not really there to help you. If you read their fine print, especially if you have federal loans, you’ll see what you’re really paying them several hundred dollars to do is file just a little paperwork that you could do yourself with help from your servicer for free. Your loan servicer is there to help you with your loans, for free. There are several repayment programs that exist to help you if you’re not making enough money to afford to make your monthly payments, and a simple phone call to them will result in help, so you never need to pay a third party. 

Do you have questions about student loans? Concerns about what life is like once repayment starts? Have you seen any of these scams? Let us know by commenting below or sending an email to hereforyou@cornish.edu.