In 2023, Oscar Grubelić was excited to start studying film at Emerson College, satisfied to have received what he felt was a “solid” financial aid package at a private institution. But after being at Emerson for a single semester, his view on the school’s financial aid program changed drastically.

Grubelić’s father was hospitalized with bowel cancer shortly after he started at Emerson, which kept him out of work. With medical bills piling up, the student’s ability to continue his education was jeopardized.

“I reached out to the school [to explain my situation]. I then had a meeting with my financial aid advisor,” Grubelić said. “It seemed like I had a lot of options.”

The advisor told him to apply for scholarships, submit a financial aid appeal, or write a letter of circumstance. Within a week, Grubelić did.

A year and a half after submitting his original appeal, Grubelić has yet to receive a decision, only getting email responses to his inquiries. It’s still under review. 

Angela Grant, vice president of Student Finance Services, wrote to The Beacon that most appeals are completed within three to four weeks of filing “if documents are submitted quickly, but some can take longer, depending on the situation.” 

Grubelić’s circumstances echo the experiences of other Emerson students who spoke to The Beacon. Specifically, multiple students said they experienced a lack of communication from the offices, citing delayed communication when inquiring about their bills and general unresponsiveness.

Julia, a graduate student in Emerson’s 4+1 program who asked to only be identified by her first name, has also been waiting for an answer from the financial aid office. 

This year, she applied to Emerson’s Student Assistance Fund, an emergency fund that aims to “offer temporary and short-term relief,” to help pay for transportation to the campus. Julia currently lives with her parents to lower her attendance costs and commutes to campus.

In response to The Beacon’s questions about efforts to balance the increased cost of attendance, Grant wrote that this year $500,000 was added to the Student Assistant Fund. However, this fund can only be utilized for emergency needs outside of tuition.

Julia said she was told she’d receive an answer about the fund within five to seven days, but she is still waiting to hear back a month after applying. She says she has repeatedly called the financial aid office over the past two weeks.

“They keep saying, ‘The person that works on that isn’t in right now or they’re out sick,’” she said. “This is just not acceptable. What do you mean I can’t get in contact with this person after calling for weeks, when you told me that I would know within the week? How am I supposed to plan going forward when I don’t know if I’m going to have this assistance?” 

The financial aid office “strives to always have multiple representatives in the office to assist with both the undergraduate and graduate populations,” according to Grant, but Grubelić said that on several occasions when he visited the office while he was waiting for an official response to his appeal, no one was around.

Then, Grubelić said his financial aid advisor brought his case to the rest of the office and the conversation shifted. “The language became ‘You need to take out a private student loan,’” he said. “I just felt like I was completely neglected, like I was lied to every step of the way.” 

Over the past decade, the cost of attending Emerson has steadily increased. Going into the last academic year, it increased by almost $4,000—a 5.19% increase from the previous year, raising cost of attendance to $80,612 before financial aid.

In the last ten years, Emerson’s average percent increase for cost of attendance per year is 4.18%, more than any other school in the Boston area. The second highest average was 3.99% increase for Boston College’s, who increased their need-based financial aid by 6% to combat rising prices.

While Emerson’s tuition continues to rise, other private and public Massachusetts schools have waived tuition for low-income students. Starting this fall, all four University of Massachusetts schools, as well as Brandeis University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will have free tuition for students with families making under a certain amount annually, which varies by school, but ranges from $75,000 to $200,000. 

On Princeton’s Review’s Financial Aid Not So Great, a live list that ranks colleges across the country based on students’ dissatisfaction with their financial aid packages, Emerson sits at fifth place out of 25.

“What you see is what you get. Don’t ever expect to get more money besides what’s on your financial aid sheet. We are the poster child of the problem. That’s not even an opinion, it’s just a quantitative fact,” Grubelić said. 

The financial aid at Emerson College is highly determined by students’ family income, which they report in their FAFSA and CSS profiles. For students who are supported by dual parent income above $110,001, the average aid received by that student is reported to be $20,920, while students whose dual parent income is less than $30,000 receive an average of $36,327 in financial aid. 

This disparity leads families whose dual income is below the federal poverty line to still owe about $44,000 to the college after aid, despite their annual income being less than that amount. In comparison, a family whose dual income is over six figures would owe about $10,000 more than half their annual income. 

But for some students, like Julia, who is funding her education herself, this system of determining financial aid doesn’t accurately reflect their situation. 

Julia said that she appealed her financial aid award every year during her undergraduate studies, but never got the support she needed. Instead of feeling excited to graduate, the graduate student is anxious about having to leave Emerson carrying almost $180,000 in debt.

“It’s isolating. Throughout undergrad, I felt like all my friends were able to do things that I wasn’t,” she said. “I think that there needs to be more of an acknowledgment that not every person coming to the school has parents in Hollywood, or people who are affluent.” 

Julia said that she perceives a lack of support for students from lower-income families and a stigma around talking about financial needs. 

“I hope that going forward, students who aren’t from privileged or affluent backgrounds know that they’re not alone at Emerson,” she said. “It feels that way all the time, but I think it would be so beneficial to make ourselves known and let Emerson know that we’re not going away.”