Determining Your Eligibility

Harvey Mudd College is committed to meeting 100 percent of your demonstrated financial need through the use of institutional, federal and state grants, available student loans and work-study. To evaluate your financial aid we use information submitted in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the CSS Profile, and supplemental documents such as tax forms. Our goal is to analyze each family’s individual financial situation in order to determine the family’s ability to pay for a Harvey Mudd education. The FAFSA is used primarily for calculating a student’s eligibility for federal and state student aid, while the CSS Profile is used for the awarding institutional aid.

We use an equation commonly used by other colleges and universities to determine your financial need:

Cost of Attendance (COA) – Family Contribution (FC) = Financial Need

Cost of Attendance (COA)

Cost of Attendance refers to all the costs associated with attending Harvey Mudd. The total includes tuition, fees, housing, food , books, supplies, personal expenses and a transportation allowance.

Family Contribution (FC)

The Family Contribution is calculated using information you provide on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), CSS Profile and other supplemental documents requested by the Office of Financial Aid. The FC is the sum of a calculated Parent Contribution and a calculated Student Contribution.

Parent Contribution

The Parent Contribution is the amount your parents are expected to pay toward college costs. Most Harvey Mudd students are considered dependent, so it is rare for parental income or assets to be excluded from the FC equation. Harvey Mudd expects both parents to contribute to your educational expenses, regardless of marital status. For this reason, part of your family’s contribution may be an amount assessed from the noncustodial parent.

Student Contribution

Based on your grade level, Harvey Mudd requires a minimum expected contribution from summer earnings: first year, $1,500; second year, $1,750; third year, $1,900; and fourth year, $2,000. If you typically earn more than this minimum expectation, your contribution from income will be higher. You are expected to contribute either 50 percent of after-tax income or the minimum expected contribution, whichever is greater.

Any assets you have are figured into the FC equation, including cash, savings and checking accounts, trust funds, UGMA and UTMA accounts, money market funds, mutual funds, certificates of deposit, stocks, stock options, bonds, other securities, installment and land sale contracts (including mortgages held), commodities, qualified educational benefits, Coverdell savings accounts, 529 college savings plans, the refund value of 529 pre-paid tuition plans and real estate equity.

When the FAFSA determines your eligibility, they assume you can contribute 20 percent of student assets per year. By contrast, Harvey Mudd treats student assets, except trust funds, as parent assets. Only approximately 5% of net parent assets are considered available to contribute to school costs. Student trusts remain a student asset and Harvey Mudd assumes 25 percent of trust fund assets are available to contribute to school costs each year.

Financial Need

The difference between the Cost of Attendance and the Family Contribution is your Financial Need. This is the amount that the student needs in order to be able to afford a Harvey Mudd education. To fill this gap, Harvey Mudd awards federal, state and institutional grants, various federal and institutional loans, as well as work-study.

Since a family’s financial situation can vary from year to year, families must reapply for aid every academic year that the student is enrolled. Changes to income, assets and family members living in your household and/or attending college at least half-time (excluding parents) cause your family’s financial aid eligibility to shift. Also, changes to the federal or institutional methodology, the timeliness of your financial aid application, your grade level and the availability of federal, state and Harvey Mudd College funds can affect your aid eligibility. Since we cannot guarantee a consistent level of funding from the federal and state levels, we cannot make any guarantees about future funding. However, in general, your total financial aid eligibility will remain as consistent as your family’s financial situation.

In addition, students are expected to assume a greater share of their educational costs as they progress through college. Here’s the level of contribution students are expected to make year by year at Harvey Mudd:

	Summer Earnings	Student Loans*	Work-Study
First year	$1,500	$3,500	$3,900
Second year	$1,750	$4,500	$4,100
Third year	$1,900	$5,500	$4,300
Fourth year	$2,000	$5,500	$4,500

*These amounts represent total annual need-based loans. Due to individual loan program limits, some students may have to borrow from more than one type of student loan program.

Ineligibility Due to a Drug Offense

A conviction for any drug-related offense involving the possession or sale of illegal drugs while receiving federal student aid under any federal or state law will result in the loss of eligibility for any federal and/or state grant, work-study or loan assistance.

If your eligibility has been suspended as a result of a drug-related offense, you may resume eligibility before the end of the ineligibility period. You may if you satisfactorily complete an acceptable drug rehabilitation program or you pass two unannounced drug tests administered by an acceptable drug rehabilitation program.