What’s Next?

McDaniel College strives to provide the very best educational resources we can to equip our students for career and professional success and support our students’ needs. We regularly invest in updating classrooms and technology infrastructure, recruit world-class faculty, improve our sports and exercise facilities and programs, enhance our healthcare and counseling facilities and respond to our students’ needs and requests. Like most colleges, these investments generally lead to an increase in costs each year in the range of 3-5%. In planning for four years of enrollment, we encourage families to assume these standard increases will occur and include them in your financial planning.

Understanding the Impact of Major Life Changes

Many families don’t realize how important life changes may impact their financial aid eligibility and out-of pocket costs of attending McDaniel College. For planning purposes, we encourage all families to seek out our Financial Aid Office for assistance in understanding the financial impact of major life changes before they occur. Some examples of major life changes that impact financial aid eligibility include:

• Withdrawing money from a retirement account
• Marriage of either the parent or the student
• Graduation of an older sibling from college/university
• Parent job changes such as leaving a higher paying job for a lower paying job or to open a business

Consider the Cost of Time

Students who graduate in four years not only minimize their educational expenses, but they are also positioned to begin working sooner, maximizing their earning potential. Completing a full load of courses each semester (16-20 credits) is the most important factor in a timely graduation and maximizes the value of the tuition you are paying. A student who is considering withdrawing from a course, taking a Leave of Absence, or leaving McDaniel College, should work closely with the Financial Aid Office and their Academic Advisor to understand both the direct financial impact but also the impact on their graduation timeline.

To help you navigate the path to financial wellness, McDaniel College is proud to offer support through our dedicated Financial Wellness Counselor. Whether helping you develop a plan for funding your expenses, teaching money management or answering questions about loans, we’re happy to share our wealth of knowledge with you. Our Financial Wellness Counselor can help take the stress out of planning your college experience by providing the following:

• Customized in-person financial planning counseling for students/families.
• Workshops in how to find outside scholarships, fellowships and grants to help you fund each step of your journey.
• Learning opportunities designed for first-year students through early-career including:
  • Creating and sticking to a budget.
  • Navigating part-time and summer jobs and internships.
  • Dreaming about study abroad, spring break trips, or Greek life –
  • We’ll help you develop a savings plan to get you there.
  • The do’s and don’ts of credit and credit scores.
  • What you don’t know about renting your first apartment.
  • Decoding student loan repayment.
  • Funding graduate school.
  • You’re hired! Understanding employee benefits.