This may sound like a dumb question but I figured I’d ask it anyways. If I use a estimated need based grant calculator (i.e. the estimated cost calculator for princeton) and get told that the school will give me aid (say 30k) is that independent of FAFSA? will the government also give me additional money in aid or is that 30k the total financial aid that I would get period. Does fafsa account for how much the college gives you in need based aid or is the amount given by the government completely independent of how much the school will give you. Please let me know.
The net price calculators include any federally funded aid that you might receive, as well as the institutional aid you might receive.
You don’t get the aid listed on the NPC plus another batch of aid. That’s not how it works.
Have you run a net price calculator? Try one and you will see…
As your parents are in the >$200K mark, you will not get FA from the very vast majority of schools, and FAFSA really only tells you if you are pell eligible (you are not) and enables you to apply for the direct loan. But sure, run NPCs for generous endowment schools to get a ball park figure. I liked RIce’s and Harvard’s. For me, it was mostly for giggles. Kids are often told there is free money out there even for the high income earners. There isn’t.
Well…there is free MERIT money out there for high earners…but not free need based money. Some higher earner families seek out merit aid options to ease the cost burden of paying for college. Choices, choices.
@blakel14 , just remember that FAFSA is an acronym for an application. (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
FAFSA doesn’t give you money. If you were PELL eligible, you would receive a total of $6000 per year from the government). That wouldn’t, at all, help you with your $70K plus costs at Princeton.
The application goes to the schools where you’ve applied, and, that you’ve listed. It’s up to the schools to decide how much money they will give to you and they don’t give you anything separate from federal funds.
You were advised to check on the price calculators in early January. It doesn’t appear as though you’ve done that.
The private colleges will give you merit, but it doesn’t sound as though they’ve given you a full ride.
We live in California and we have an extremely high cost of living rate, so I know that your parents’ spending costs are a choice. They don’t have to spend every penny of their money on costs of living. They can save money by putting some away in a bank every once in a while, but you’re stuck because they didn’t do that.
The sad part is that your parents don’t have to fund your university costs. The colleges also won’t make up the difference because your parents can’t or won’t pay; they aren’t obligated to fund you, so you’re stuck.
You need to find an affordable college. You can also go to community college, which a lot of students do, because they don’t have the funds and then transfer later. You do need to know the transfers get little to nothing in aid.
If the Princeton NPC says your aid is $30,000…you will be expected to pay the $40,000 net cost…which also would be listed on the NPC results.
its about 170k, however do to us living in an area with an extremely high cost of livings we actually have very little in savings. WIll a lack of money in savings/retirement funds or the area having a notably high cost of living help me at all?
im actually a junior, so I guess that means I have until next january, I also live in New York in an area where making 170k is considered average at best due to the high cost of living, hence why I am currently in the situation that I am in. Many schools (i.e. SUNY) would give me a full ride based on my stats, but I dont want to go to these places unless I have to.
No SUNY campus that I know of offers full rides to students. Which one(s) are saying they’ll give you a guaranteed free ride for your stats?
my friend with slightly lower stats got a full ride to stony brook. considering that this is arguably the top SUNY I assumed that the others will give me relatively comparable aid. I may be mistaken, but what I meant to say was that I am not worried as much about money at a SUNY. I just would prefer not to attend one solely due to their locations. I am more interested in a large suburb or city.
The CUNY schools are small in NYC. That’s a pretty large city.
I think your friend is giving you misinformation. Perhaps he got a full tuition award via one of the initiatives in NY state…Excelsior, STEM scholarship for example.
@sybbie719 what SUNY schools would offer a full free ride? Would Stony Brook?
@blakel14 you need to open your mind to affordable options. Your $170,000 family income…is that before or after taxes? Does it include any contributions to tax deferred retirement plans (those get added back in as income for financial aid purposes).
The only thing your high cost of living will get you is a little bit of consideration because of your taxes. Someone else can explain.
But cost of living is not a consideration when need based financial aid is calculated.
What are your stats? If you are a junior, have you taken the ACT or SAT yet? What were your scores? Did you get a high enough PSAT score to be considered for national merit status? What is your current GPA?
There are net price calculators on every college website. You might want to run these…are your parents divorced? Self employed? Own a business? Own real estate outside of your primary residence? If NO to all…the NPC will give you an estimated net cost. I say estimated because the actual financial aid offer gives the actual net cost. Plus, the NPCs are currently set up for students starting in fall 2020.
What can your parents pay annually? If you don’t know…you need to find out. That is your college budget.
If you income precludes need based aid…you need to hunt for merit awards that do not consider income. Colleges have these. You need to find out what you would get for your stats, and where.
Be open minded, very open minded. Especially if finances are a significant consideration.
There are tons of SUNY schools all over the state. Some in cities and some in the more rural areas. It would be worth it to look into some of these as they are so modestly priced for instate students.
34 act, 97 UW gpa. and the 170,000 is before taxes- hopefully that helps. my score didn’t make the national merit cutoff but hopefully my ACT score will help. I also plan to apply to the MaCaulay honors program.
SUNY Albany and SUNY Buffalo are in cities. Stony Brook is in a nice suburb. SUNY New Paltz is in a nice town/village.
Do the net price calculators for each college you are interested in.
If your parents earn too much to get need based aid you’ll have to focus on places that offer merit. How much can your parents contribute per year without borrowing? You aren’t going to get TAP, or Pell, or the Excelsior grant so the SUNYs may cost you ~$22k/year. Can your parents pay that?
What is your parent gross income? That’s income that is before taxes and other deductions are taken out?
Considering the fact that CUNY is the largest urban public university system in the country and the 3rd largest public university system (after the University of California system and SUNY), I would not call it small. Hunter has over 17,000 undergraduates. Almost all of the 4 year CUNY schools have over 10,000 undergrads enrolled.
Between the 64 SUNY schools and the 19 CUNY campuses, I am sure that you can find an affordable option. It may mean that you have to stay home and commute, but college is possible.
If you know that you know that you are majoring in STEM and are in the top 10% at your school, you may be able to get your tuition covered through the STEM incentive scholarship.
There are schools when you add their stackable scholarships to the need based financial aid/SUNY credits, that will cover most of the direct costs but there are no full ride scholarships that .
You will have to look at schools where you can get merit and still come within the budget that your family has set for you.
Oops…that was a typo @sybbie719
It should have said ALL Not SMALL.