Montserrat Parents

As parents of Boston College students, your role in your child's life has dramatically changed. Whether you are living locally or across the country, Montserrat hopes to provide you, Montserrat Parents, with a central resource for support, information, and most importantly, direction, not too unlike the support we offer Montserrat students, your children.

Through exploring our webiste, you will find there is a section of the website you will not be able to access. Beyond the password restriction are resources designated and tailored specifically for Montserrat students. The information provided includes advice and deadlines relating to financial aid, grant and scholarship information for study abroad pursuits, fiscal aid for both domestic and international service as well as retreats, a compilation of work positions listed as we are notified of them, and a regularly updated calendar of free events happening on campus. Through relationships established with various departments and offices on campus, we are able to provide free tickets to events (athletics, UGBC, concerts, theater, and several other social opportunities). Students are notified of a particular event and are encouraged to enter a lottery to receive the ticket. Montserrat realizes that the Boston College experience extends beyond the academic halls and touches service, reflection, exposure, and socialization; we intend to break financial barriers so that Montserrat students have the opportunity to experience and utilize all that BC has to offer. Assembled together in a single location, Montserrat hopes to be a platform for students, providing answers and support where possible and specific direction in situations where aid is better provided and needs more adequately met outside of our office.

Although it is vital that your child develop a sense of indepencene while at Boston College, there are many ways in which you can offer support while also encouraging a path towards adulthood. As a Montserrat student, a Boston College undergraduate designated as a student of the highest financial need, your child should make every effort to fully understand his/her financial aid package, as it will be crucial to navigating the rest of his/her time here at BC. Every time your child visits the Montserrat Office, to pick up a ticket or for a scheduled meeting, we ask whether or not he/she knows his/her Financial Aid Associate and if he/she has met with him/her yet. The first crucial step in understanding a financial aid package is that your child meet and establish a relationship with his/her Financial Aid Associate. Although Montserrat supports your children, we have no access to his/her personal packages; only the particular associate can answer specific questions, make changes, and explain the package on an individual basis.

Forms, Taxes, and the Family Situation: Understanding Your Role

As important as it is for you, as a Montserrat Parent, to couple with our efforts in pushing students to meet with their Financial Aid Associate, it is just as important that you understand your role. We can hardly emphasize enough the importance of deadlines. A student's financial aid package can not be properly decided until all related paperwork has been submitted. This paperwork includes the Free Application for Ferderal Student Aid (FAFSA) and your Tax forms. To determine the adequate amount of aid to provide to a student, the Financial Aid Associate MUST have the tax information of the parent AND the FAFSA; both forms must be completed and submited each year. Montserrat students are eligible for the highest amounts of financial aid, but a Financial Aid Associate must be aware of all circumstances in the household to award a student the necessary finances. This means that if there is a sudden loss of employment, medical or caretaker bills for a family member (for example, the cost of caring for an aged/sick grandparent), or necessary expenses not addressed in financial aid applications (for example, another child attending college), your child's Financial Aid Associate MUST be alerted. It is only with complete knowledge of the family's personal circumstances that a Financial Aid Associate can knowledgably judge the amount of aid to award your child.