@MYOS1634 Vassar, Grinnell, and Boston College gave very poor results on their NPCs. I was surprised.
@melvin123 Thanks for the info on Birmingham. I have a hard time judging what a city is when it’s out of the Northeast. I am fairly familiar with Morristown, and PHL is the closest airport and by far the easiest to get in and out of. Promising, but I need to make sure to account for travel expenses when comparing costs.
I’m very glad I asked this question because it seems Troy might be best as a back up.
That’s because these universities don’t cap assets. Now, try Whitman, Hamilton, Bard.
Posters from Alabama: what I’d heard about the area around Troy made it sound like it was part of “book burning” Alabama. Outdated? Still true? Never real?
Living in Alabama is interesting. Some parts are progressive, some people in some of the parts fit the stereotype. Certainly Birmingham and Montgomery are trying hard to leave the past behind, and the State is keen on bringing new technology and businesses to the State. The fact that the state universities give out such good merit aid to attract strong students from all over gives you an idea of how they want to better themselves.
Some consideration may be needed in order to determine how recent SAT scores comport with various projections for the new version:
@MYOS1634 Hamilton’s net cost according to the NPC was wonderful. Bard was bad, and Whitman’s was $10K worse.
I wonder if any colleges would be sympathetic if I explained that because we lived overseas for so long, we simply saved what other people put into IRAs and 401Ks. Of course, I could have renovated my house and taken vacations, and we would have been in much better shape for financial aid. But perhaps we would not have been able to support ourselves in retirement or get four kids through college or a decent alternative.
Even though I know it intellectually, it’s almost as though my heart needs someone to say that I’m in the right path by safeguarding the assets to a fair degree for the sake of retirement and our younger kids. But Troy U might not be the best way to do that.
Sorry to get all emotional. :-S
Can you put these assets in a 401(k) now?They wouldn’t “count” for financial aid. What about a 529 for the other kids?
Hamilton, Whitman, and Bard cap assets, but in different ways.
Keep Hamilton, although it’s a reach.
@MYOS1634 , I could look into a 401(k). I really don’t know much about them.
I could also do 529s but wouldn’t they count for assets?
It’s going to be very hard to get under 25K. 25K is now the " normal threshold" in the US. :s
Look at Appalachian State, SUNY Geneseo, Truman State, UMN Morris? But also Mount Allison in Canada, Simon Fraser, University of Northern British Columbia, Lethbridge, Acadia, Bishop’s, Carleton, Memorial, Concordia, Wilfried Laurier.
I don’t think 401(k) “counts”. For 529, not sure how it works financially speaking.
I should also say that I know very well that I’m fortunate to even be able to make these choices, even if it’s hard because it feels like I’m selling my D short. First world problems.
@MYOS1634 , Do you think any of those would be better than Rowan or Stockton honors?
I’m in NJ and have been researching how to get money out of our 529. I’m pretty sure I read the first $25,000 is not counted. I do remember having to put in my son’s 529 value on the FAFSA.
Total dumb luck- my son picked Rowan and I just found out we get a $1500 scholarship towards his 1st semester because we’ve saved l we 12 years and he’s staying in state! I’ll whatever I can get! Lol
I made assumptions to create a “low income, high asset” scenario that would drive Macalester’s net price to just under $20K (the OP’s budget limit) … then ran net price calculations from the College Board site, using the same assumptions, on a number of colleges that claim to meet 100% of demonstrated need (plus a few that don’t make that claim). Results:
Net Price … College
$12,240 Bates
$13,300 Colorado College
$14,300 Tufts
$16,540 URichmond
$16,700 Clark University
$17,819 Brandeis
$17,905 Vassar
$18,048 Barnard
$18,448 Emory
$18,539 Grinnell
$19,639 Macalester
$20,165 Holy Cross
$20,239 Bryn Mawr
$21,839 Wake Forest
$24,073 Lawrence
$34,222 Whitman
$41,725 William & Mary (OOS public)
$68,294 Boston College (this looks out of whack, since I get the same high number even if I drop the assets)
YMMV. Different income/asset spreads that keep the Macalester net below $20K might result in bigger changes to some of the other numbers. I still think a student with the cited stats, and a low income high asset profile, should have many attractive alternatives without necessarily focusing only on big automatic merit scholarships.
@tk21769 You are really amazing for doing that!
What I have realized is that a big part of the net price differences is how the value of a house is considered in the calculation.
ETA: I’m curious to go back and make sure my numbers are right.
These would all be better than Stockton Honors. Probably better than Rowan honors except STEM.
In generating the above figures, my “low income, high asset” assumption was that the family’s investments were worth more than their home equity ($120K investments, $20K home equity). If I flip the balance, keeping the net worth the same but shifting most investment assets into home equity (to $20K investments, $120K home equity), the net prices for most of those schools goes down a bit. Exceptions: Net prices don’t change for Clark, Holy Cross, or Bryn Mawr. The net price drops more for Whitman than for other LACs on my list.
Net Price … College
$11,300 Colorado College
$13,940 Bates (drops from $15940 *)
$14,540 URichmond
$15,665 Emory
$15,905 Vassar
$16,700 Clark University
$16,539 Grinnell
$17,639 Macalester
$19,839 Wake Forest
$20,165 Holy Cross
$20,239 Bryn Mawr
$20,473 Lawrence
$23,222 Whitman
I would expect many colleges to be less greedy for home equity than for investments (up to a point anyway). If I shift ALL investment assets (as well as all cash) into home equity, the Colorado College net price drops to $3,630 and Whitman’s drops to $12,052. Bryn Mawr’s still remains the same. Even if I jack up the home equity to over $1M, keeping the cash and investment values at $0, the Colorado College net price stays the same ($3,630).
- the figure in post #33 for Bates should have been $15940, not $12240, using the assumptions I made for the others.
Again, YMMV.
@tk21769 I’m really embarrassed but I must have done something wrong with the NPCs. I ran some last night and got ridiculous results.
So I got out the tax return again and carefully ran some that I had run before. Now nothing is looking good. But FASFA only schools are still looking much better.
The house is definitely part of it since it’s paid off. If it weren’t paid off we couldn’t survive right now. That was the best thing we ever did even if it is messing up our status for financial aid.
@MYOS1634 Would you consider biology or chemistry as STEM for Rowan?
I’m confident about their engineering but not sure about their other sciences.
D would probably do bio or chem with maybe a psych or neuroscience minor/concentration.
Yes, both. But biology has especially poor ROI since you have all the cut throat Premeds in classes and then half don’t get any med school acceptance…and everyone must go to grad school. Bio majors ’ prospects are lower those of English majors.