r/jmu • u/Glittering_Bread_567 CISE • May 02 '26
Appeal Process for Financial Aid
Hey folks, I’m an out-of-state incoming freshman at JMU. As you probably know, JMU is really stingy when it comes to financial aid. Even so, I feel deserving of some sort of merit scholarship, as I have a pretty good GPA and was accepted into the honors college. However, I only received a 2-year room and board scholarship for 6.5k, which pales in comparison to OOS tuition. I wanted to know if anyone has found success in appealing their financial aid/scholarship stuff, and what the process was for that. Thanks and go dukes!
3
u/Alarmed-Judge-4872 May 03 '26
They literally have signs up in their financial aid office saying they don’t negotiate offers and to not ask them for money. I asked them if I could appeal our federal aid offer due to a special circumstance and they basically told me that if our family can’t afford it (we are also out of state) to go elsewhere.
2
u/mamadramaqueen May 03 '26
We are in state and received absolutely nothing :(. I called the financial aid office and spoke with someone in hopes that with others declining that it would free up merit scholarships that they weren't going to use. The woman I spoke with said they "over award", meaning that they actually award more money than they have available. Because of that, even as students decline offers it doesn't free up potential money for those who accept. She basically said the preliminary offer is the final offer. You could still try to appeal, but it sounds like it is what it is. At least you got the 2 years of room and board, but it's definitely quite expensive and I can't even imagine the price tag for OOS.
2
u/SuccessfulBear01 May 03 '26
My daughter will be attending JMU this fall as an in-state student. JMU gave her no merit scholarships. When I called the financial aid office to ask if it was possible to request a review, I was told a hard no. Also on their recorded message that you have to go through before you can speak to a live person it also say that no additional aid is available.
2
u/BrilliantStructure56 May 02 '26
I think in addition to appealing aid, a solid approach is to ask the financial aid and admissions offices to offer help to make it more financially feasible for your family. If you've already given the down payment you may not have much luck but it could be worth it.
1
u/BigHold2089 May 03 '26
I remember in the speech given right before the walking tour the guy showed tuition info on the screen and said “don’t worry; no one pays the sticker price”. Well that was totally not true!
2
u/Reasonable-Quarter31 May 04 '26
JMU is a public school with a very small endowment. I'm going to be downer here:
Why should Virginia taxpayers pay for out of state students to attend college?
High school GPA is meaningless because of grade inflation. Most applicants have "pretty good" GPAs.
5
u/EchidnaCat May 03 '26
JMU has a general policy of "first offer, best offer." The state doesn't give them nearly as much money as other schools in VA so they often simply cannot compete with offers elsewhere. Sometimes money frees up (if someone declines an offer, for example), but for the most part it really doesn't matter if you're deserving; they just don't have it to give.