University of Houston c/o 2014 Forum

[brose]

I also forgot to ask, to the person who got the financial aid packet: What is the tuition?!?!

[vttran9]

does financial aid come through email or the student services site? we just had to fill out a fasfa right

25 here

They'll send you an email telling you that your financial aid package is in, and you can see the details in your peoplesoft.

[vttran9]

I also forgot to ask, to the person who got the financial aid packet: What is the tuition?!?!

No clue. It gives an estimate but not a real amount.

[brose]

I also forgot to ask, to the person who got the financial aid packet: What is the tuition?!?!

No clue. It gives an estimate but not a real amount.

Is the estimate the ridiculous 22k/yr?

[vttran9]

I also forgot to ask, to the person who got the financial aid packet: What is the tuition?!?!

No clue. It gives an estimate but not a real amount.

Is the estimate the ridiculous 22k/yr?

Yep. Theres a list of this year's tuition for grad students. UHLC is 866 per credit hour. Hope its not real because it was only 500 something last year. I am not liking Texas right now.

[bartleby]

there's no way tuition can go up to like....$35,000 a year, right?

[brose]

there's no way tuition can go up to like....$35,000 a year, right?

Of course there is... it would make them on par with other schools. Not this year, I would think, but by the time we graduate I could see it being that high.

[brose]

According to their website, it says 866 per credit hour.

[bartleby]

yeah, i was talking about this year. i just can't imagine them raising tuition by 25% one year and then 33% on that amount this year. it's just too crazy. but the diff between 866 and 5xx multiplied by 30 is 10k-ish.

i wish they'd make the hard tuition figures available before we had to commit. deciding between this and SMU is too hard for me.

[brose]

yeah, i was talking about this year. i just can't imagine them raising tuition by 25% one year and then 33% on that amount this year. it's just too crazy. but the diff between 866 and 5xx multiplied by 30 is 10k-ish.

i wish they'd make the hard tuition figures available before we had to commit. deciding between this and SMU is too hard for me.

If the tuition at SMU is relatively close (I'm assuming you have scholly there to be considering it) - then go to SMU.
Tuition is gonna rise that fast b/c of the budget crisis - their tuition has been comparatively too low in the past, in my opinion.

[craneje]

does financial aid come through email or the student services site? we just had to fill out a fasfa right

25 here

They'll send you an email telling you that your financial aid package is in, and you can see the details in your peoplesoft.

I haven't received an email, but I just checked my financial aid status on peoplesoft and my award is there. So, if you are expecting an award you might want to check your peoplesoft account.

[brose]

I'm scared because I was awarded a scholarship but it's not in my peoplesoft. Just loans.... ugh.

[craneje]

I'm scared because I was awarded a scholarship but it's not in my peoplesoft. Just loans.... ugh.

You might have already done so, but you should contact Laura Neal in financial aid. I had a few questions for her earlier in the process and she was fast to respond and she had very specific, helpful advice. She is the person who would know best if there is a problem or if scholarships just post somewhere else or at another time. I didn't receive any scholarships so I can't help you--I had only loans in my peoplesoft and unfortunately that was all I expected. Best of luck to you.

[brose]

I'm scared because I was awarded a scholarship but it's not in my peoplesoft. Just loans.... ugh.

You might have already done so, but you should contact Laura Neal in financial aid. I had a few questions for her earlier in the process and she was fast to respond and she had very specific, helpful advice. She is the person who would know best if there is a problem or if scholarships just post somewhere else or at another time. I didn't receive any scholarships so I can't help you--I had only loans in my peoplesoft and unfortunately that was all I expected. Best of luck to you.

I've had quite the opposite experience. I'll try and contact her again when I get a paper copy...

[TJISMYHERO]

866 * 30 = 25980

Assuming 2k in fees, we're looking at about 28k for tuition next year if the estimates become reality, which is about a 5% increase. Am I missing something?

23 here.

[brose]

866 * 30 = 25980

Assuming 2k in fees, we're looking at about 28k for tuition next year if the estimates become reality, which is about a 5% increase. Am I missing something?

23 here.

Last year the fees were 4k. So I'd expect the same or more.

[TJISMYHERO]

Ah, well 30k it is then. Damn.

[bartleby]

yeah I'm thinking SMU because it actually would be cheaper over 3 years. But my UH scholarship is enormously front loaded and my gf is here / I don't want to worry about change or nuthin'

[upfish]

So for anyone that has their financial aid award:

When you accessed it through the portal to accept/decline, did you see any GradPLUS loans? Mine just lists stafford loans, which are going to fall about $10-15k short of tuition + books, much less COL.

Do I have to request GradPLUS or have I been denied?

I'll call the office too obviously, but I wondered if this was happening to anybody else?

[TheSkipper]

So for anyone that has their financial aid award:

When you accessed it through the portal to accept/decline, did you see any GradPLUS loans? Mine just lists stafford loans, which are going to fall about $10-15k short of tuition + books, much less COL.

Do I have to request GradPLUS or have I been denied?

I'll call the office too obviously, but I wondered if this was happening to anybody else?

+1

[brose]

GradPlus loans are a separate process. My scholarship wasn't listed... sigh.

[upfish]

GradPlus loans are a separate process. My scholarship wasn't listed... sigh.

Well, at least the GradPlus thing is squared away.

Sucks that your scholly wasn't listed. =/

[brose]

It's OK, par for the course in my experience.

I've had nothing but things go wrong since I've decided to go here, and it's kind of freaking me out.

I couldn't even get anyone in the fin aid office to explain the difference in prices between 1L and 2L/3L's. I asked them if it's a set price, or is there a certain amount it rises per year? Why does everyone pay different prices? No answers.

It's really disheartening, but I already committed so ...

[Josh the Goat]

My understanding of the disparity in prices between 1L's and 2/3L's is that the 1L's keep pouring in. No matter what tuition UH sets, they're going to get a packed house. Last year they proposed raising tuition significantly, and the current students were pissed off. So administration basically said, well let's just raise 1L prices by a lot, and 2/3L prices by a little. And Voila. At least that seemed to be the rationale from my perspective. There really isn't any other justification that I can see.

Please keep in mind that you can always decide not to go to law school, even once you've started. It's a huge cost and for many people they won't be able to pay off the debt for a very long time. If you realize at some point that it's not worth the cost/effort, don't feel bad about taking a step back and evaluating other options.

[brose]

My understanding of the disparity in prices between 1L's and 2/3L's is that the 1L's keep pouring in. No matter what tuition UH sets, they're going to get a packed house. Last year they proposed raising tuition significantly, and the current students were pissed off. So administration basically said, well let's just raise 1L prices by a lot, and 2/3L prices by a little. And Voila. At least that seemed to be the rationale from my perspective. There really isn't any other justification that I can see.

Please keep in mind that you can always decide not to go to law school, even once you've started. It's a huge cost and for many people they won't be able to pay off the debt for a very long time. If you realize at some point that it's not worth the cost/effort, don't feel bad about taking a step back and evaluating other options.

I totally am fine with the cost/effort, I just don't get any answers from administration on anything, which is what is making me uneasy.

I was promised a scholarship and had to bug them (after they told me no - I didn't have one) and then I finally got it weeks later. Now, it's not showing up on my financial aid. Today I try calling and it says my call is disconnected because they're experiencing too many calls.... like, really? Can anything go right? lol

Also, the administration told me it was a fixed price tuition - what we pay when we come in is what we pay all three years - and that's obviously not true... lol. So frustrating.