<p>People are always talking about Ivy league schools giving a lot of financial aid. Although we are fortunate to have gross income of about 150K we have a lot of debt that we are paying off and very little savings to put towards school. I am convinced that this means, that it isn't worth applying. The net price calculators comes up with a number over 30,000 based on my income and I won't be able to swing that. Is there more money that the schools give? I am Unique? Why does everyone seem to think that the Ivies give away so much money?</p>
<p>Did you try the Harvard NPC (<a href=“https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator[/url]”>https://college.harvard.edu/financial-aid/net-price-calculator</a>)? For 150K income, with no assets other than home equity, and a single child, it shows an expected cost of 19.6K. To get the expected cost over 30K, I had to add in 310K of parental cash and investments.</p>
<p>I’ve had the Yale NPC give me some strange numbers, so if you haven’t tried the Harvard NPC, I would recommend you give it a go. I suspect the two schools offer similar financial aid packages.</p>
<p>The flip side of this is that if you have the academic chops to get into an Ivy your net cost at other schools will be well below retail. If you have a 32 or better ACT, for example, you can go to dozens of schools for free. </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>Most selective schools don’t use scholarship incentives to get students to come because they dont need to…the smart kids line up at the door to get in. So they focus on meeting need instead because thats a deal breaker. If you are looking to pay below EFC go for less selective schools.</p>
<p>HYPS give SUPER aid…more than the other ivies and elites.</p>
<p>That said, people do talk about how all the ivies give lots of aid, because in your case, they’d be giving about $30k a year in aid…about $120k…don’t you think that’s a LOT???</p>
<p>since when is being given over $100k in aid, not a lot of aid???</p>
<p>That said, as mentioned above, if you have an unaffordable EFC, then apply to the schools listed here…</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>How much can you pay each year???</p>
<p>Thanks. I’m actually subscribed o the Full tuition thread and it has a lot of good ideas. There are a lot of good schools on that list that we will visit. But most of them are not “elite.” I’m just not sure that a Robertson Scholarship at Duke is realistic for example. </p>
<p>I’m just trying to keep as many options open at this point as possible for DS2. DS1 is doing quite well wit merit aid at a catholic LAC. DS2 has even higher numbers so I want to explore all avenues. I don’t want to waste time and energy though if I am going to tell him no in the end. mom2kids: You are absolutely right about it being a lot of money. I don’t take it for granted at all. I will never forget crying when DS1 called me to tell me about the letter with the scholarship info. </p>
<p>I guess I am asking because I feel like a lot people have misconceptions about Ivies (I find that there are a lot of people who are convinced that they give merit and athletic scholarships) so I am hoping that someone on CC can read this and say "I make that much money and my kid is getting $x in aide.</p>
<p>Both Harvard and Yale (I don’t have personal experience with Princeton) give incredibly generous aid, even in higher income brackets and do take into consideration all kinds of individual situations, which is why NPC may not be very accurate if you have extenuating circumstances. Depending on what your debt is due to, there can be allowances, also your family composition, any unusual expenses etc etc. You should call and talk to a finaid officer at the college(s) you are really interested in. I was able to get pretty detailed finaid information over the phone with Yale by discussing our circumstances (before we ever sent CSS), and they even ran numbers and did calculations while we talked. D1’s best friend was accepted to Harvard and for a family with 2 professional incomes (dad is a psychiatrist, mom a scientist) they got phenomenal aid bc H gave allowances for other adult children they were still supporting and so on. In fact the finaid at H was so good compared to every single other options she had, it made attendance a no brainer. Before you give up, do call and talk about your situation and see if the numbers look better. The thing we learned is that these schools want to make it possible for your child to attend, and btw the tippy top LAC’s have equivalent finaid.
This isn’t true for other Ivies.</p>
<p>First off, you are NOT unique. Many families find their family contributions to be too much for them to pay…especially if they have significant debt.</p>
<p>The FAFSA and institutional aid calculations do NOT take debt into consideration.</p>
<p>If you truly are a competitive applicant for HYPSM and the like, you could garner merit aid at any number of other colleges that would soften the financial burden. Check the stickie above to see.</p>
<p>Of course, if you are a senior this year, you may have missed the December deadlines for many of these more generous merit scholarship awards.</p>
<p>I would also suggest that you look at the instate public universities in your state. You may find that these are within your price point. Check also for merit awards for high achieving instate students. Some states have these.</p>
<p>Of course, apply to some of those generous universities…but just be prepared to walk away if the money doesn’t meet your price point.</p>
<p>Paying $30,000 for a school whose cost of education is more than double that IS getting a good deal.</p>
<p>And that’s especially true when you have a family income that’s 2-3 times the national median income.</p>
<p>We are in that income range, and yes, the Ivies we are looking at expect us to pull 30K out of our wazoo, which with taxes and mortgage is impossible.</p>
<p>We are looking at 401K loans and hopefully that will take care of most of the 120K we will owe, then after that, take a HELOC.</p>
<p>If you are making 150K and can’t afford yearly vacations like myself, there still might be money somewhere. </p>
<p>We are definitely looking at grant-only schools, because we will tell my son up front that if <em>he</em> does not have any loans, durn straight we want him to help us pay back what we owe for him.</p>
<p>And you do realize that you’ll have many many schools in the 30K EFC range, and will be looking at in-state public colleges if you cannot afford otherwise? We looked at out-of-state public colleges and EFC was identical.</p>
<p>Momfromme: sorry if it seems that I am not cognizant of my good fortune. I am simply looking at the realities of the costa of education. Yes, half price is a great deal. But it’s only a great deal if you have the money to pay. Right now we are just getting by with a net price of about 28k for freshman in college and a junior in private HS. I can’t swing 45-50k so I’m trying to find solutions. Since DS2 is currently #1 in a very competitive HS that sends half dozen to a dozen students to Ivies every year I am exploring the possibilities. </p>
<p>Again I’m sorry if you are offended.</p>
<p>I agree that $150k per year sounds like a lot, but may not be. I’ve been working at a really good job for 4 years, saving and putting a lot into 401k to make up for all the years I didn’t put in any. I also had $40k in debt I needed to pay off from the years I didn’t work, so those first two years of re-employment didn’t involve a lot of savings for college. There isn’t any place on the forms to cover that.</p>
<p>Even getting tuition at half price may not be affordable if the sticker price is $65k. I’m single so get no tax deductions for tuition, can only shield $13000 as an emergency fund while a married couple would get to shield 3x that even if only one is employed (fair? I don’t think so), and I have to look out for myself too with retirement lurking. Even having to pay 20% of the costs at HYP isn’t really a good bargain for our family because my daughter received enough for a full tuition scholarship at another school.</p>
<p>I feel like I’m in the doughnut hole, making too much for financial aid but not enough to write a big check either. It’s okay, my kids have found schools that suit them just fine. I just wanted to support Disneydad a little in saying that sometimes the numbers just don’t support the standard formula colleges use.</p>
<p>rhandco, every financial advisor you will find will tell you to NEVER take out a 401k loan to pay for college. Horrible idea. The cost is too high.</p>
<p>Colleges expect you to pay from SAVINGS, current income, and loans/aid.</p>
<p>No school is worth $120k in debt. A good rule of thumb is not to take more than the Stafford Direct loan max amount in loans. Ignore this at your own peril.</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that for 99.9% of majors it does not matter one iota where the degree comes from (for-profit schools excepted). I’ve been a hiring manager for 25+ years. We never look at the school name and neither do other companies I know intimately. The degree is a check box on the app. What matters is what you do with the degree.</p>
<p>If your child has the stats to even consider HYPS then there are many schools that will give large merit awards. This is a much better financial decision. Because that’s what this is.</p>
<p>Disneydad: I’m not offended at all. And I completely understand that 30K a year is a lot of money and won’t be affordable for many people. That much isn’t affordable for my family either and made certain schools with what people described as “good merit” aid unaffordable as well. Getting 20K in merit would be of little help if it leaves 40K to pay. Some loans would be ok, as we can finance with past income (savings), current income and future income. But we’re not going to take out huge loans nor ask our kids to do so.</p>
<p>Every family has its own circumstances to consider. Next week I will sit down with a friend who has a HS junior to explain why her family would have to pay more than mine if her D was to get into the same school as my S. The reason: they make more money and have a second home. I don’t know how much savings that family has and maybe they will be able to afford tuition at full need places after all. If not, they should take Ivies and other full need schools off the list now.</p>
<p>Disneydad: Perhaps I’ve misunderstood post 10, but if your EFC is 30K, full need schools would take into account the tuition you’re currently paying for your child now in college. They wouldn’t 30K on top of that cost. Merit aid schools would.</p>
<p>As the NYT’s blog The Choice notes:</p>
<p>“The number of children who are enrolled in college at the same time has a big impact on eligibility for need-based financial aid. The expected family contribution is the sum of the student contribution and the parent contribution. The federal need analysis formula divides the parent contribution by the number of children enrolled in college.” <a href=“Part 1: Answers to Your Questions About the Fafsa - The New York Times”>Part 1: Answers to Your Questions About the Fafsa - The New York Times;
<p>Thanks. that is something to look into. The net price calculators ask about siblings but I’m unclear how much that accounts for. We are visiting Brown soon, Many questions to ask…</p>
<p>Disney, you are right to be exploring options. The merit aid thread should be a helpful one to you, especially if your second child is truly a competitive applicant for Ivy level schools. There could be merit money.</p>
<p>The good thing is that you can divert that high school tuition money to college costs. </p>
<p>At schools where full need is met for ALL students, you will likely see a net cost advantage while two siblings are in undergrad at the same time. At other schools, it likely won’t make a difference at all.</p>
<p>Again I suggest that you not discount your own state public universities. Many are terrific, and some even have honors college programs as well. In addition, some public universities do offer merit awards for high achieving students. But really…the piece point of those public universities might be similar to that well regarded private high school you are already paying for.</p>
<p>Perhaps I’ve misunderstood post 10, but if your EFC is 30K, full need schools would take into account the tuition you’re currently paying for your child now in college. They wouldn’t 30K on top of that cost. Merit aid schools would.</p>
<p>Since Disneydad has used the NPC and has come out with a cost of $30k, presumably he’s put in the correct number of kids in college…since this isn’t his first rodeo. </p>
<p>$30k for one child with two in college isn’t unusual for that income…unless the school is HYPS.</p>
<p>Full need is not the same as full want. I think alot of people get confused by the claims of meeting a students “full need”. A grant of $30K is probably about half the cost. I have found certain Ivies to be quite generous in terms of their grants. </p>
<p>If you are in Florida the Bright Futures scholarship can make a significant dent in tuition.</p>
<p>150k a year is alot of income, i dont know where people get that 150k a year is not alot of money.</p>
<p>$150k may be a lot of income in some parts of the country, but in others it is very middle class. Try buying a house on the East or West Coast on a $150k annual income where most middle class “average” homes are upwards of $300k? </p>
<p>I am always amazed at the number of people who love to judge other people’s incomes and what they should be able to “afford.” There are many circumstances that play into an affordability for a family: they might have very high medical bills, might be upside down on a mortgage, may have been unemployed for years and maxed out credit cards which they are now paying back, may be caring for aging parents.</p>
<p>OP good luck to you. I know that our daughter ended up a state school and it is barely what we can swing- she got no merit and we make just enough for her to get no need based aid. I know it’s tough.</p>