<p>@jvtDad
Yes we did and they will be on our list also. already applied to UAlabama and waiting for their decision. It wont be a Free ride but very close like 2k-6k from our pockets per YR.</p>
<p>I am sure their are Full Ride schools out their too…</p>
<p>Some more info on PEP:
You can prepay any amount. Whatever amount you prepay is not subject to any cost increase. The women that runs the PEP is very helpful. She will run models for you.
My parents prepaid all four years’ tuition and two years room & board. They estimated it saved about $13k. </p>
<p>Someone mentioned you would generate income if you invetsed the money instead of prepaying. But that is taxable income.</p>
<p>WashU’s tuition and room & board have been increasing 5-6% per year.</p>
<p>onecot59</p>
<p>Thats very good info. No one mention this to us when we were their.
so PEP is the amount student is responsible for after the Grants and Scholarships given by WUSTL. If the student need 20k per yr then he is looking at 80K for 4Yr. Thats like paying a 80k mortgage in 10 yrs at 6% interest rate… thats paying $888 per month for 10 Yrs. Total of 106560.
So we will pay 26.5k more then we borrow…</p>
<p>Dadfor2014- here’s a real life example, some I signed up for PEP for my son. The total for 4 years tuition, room, dining plan, and fees is about $250000 (2013 prices)- I decided to have the school finance 100% of the cost over 10 years at the 6% rate- now I can not defer payments (well actually for 1 month till September 2013). The cost per month is about $2600. Now I am going to dump extra money in with my sons 529 plan, a 529 plan that my parents have for him, and our Florida prepaid plan, as there is no prepayment penalty. And if my son decides not to live in the dorms or have a meal plan, those amounts will be refunded. Obviously, the plan isn’t for everyone, but it was a nice option.</p>
<p>PsychoDad10 - I am surprise that you end up paying $250000, didnt WUSTL gave you some Grants and Scholarship $$. ?
When I put in my numbers on their site they telling me they will give ~$38k (grants + scholarships) and these are not Merit Scholarships since they never ask for GPA or ACT/SAT scores… so 62k-38k=24k. 24x4=$96k…for 4 yr.</p>
<p>If someone can afford that monthly payment for PEP then its much much better then getting PLUS or private loans since they are due later but the interest start piling fast and in the end you end up paying at least twice what you borrow…</p>
<p>Dad for 2014</p>
<p>Due to my income I did not qualify for
FA, and my son did not win any of the limited campus scholarships. So we are
considered full pay. However, I was able to save money in regards to no future tuition or housing increases, and I plan on minimizing finance charge payments by adding additional principal. </p>
<p>Hope things work out for your son. I am really impressed with WUSTL.</p>
<p>I want to completely agree with and emphasize what FLtoWashu said about applying ED in any case. Some schools will tell you not to do this, but that is BS. No one should be discriminated against because they might have need but don’t know what the package will look like yet.</p>
<p>There is no legal issue about withdrawing from an ED commitment but there is a moral one. The exception for even the latter, though, is if the school is simply unaffordable in your opinion after seeing the FA package. However, in the vast majority of cases, WUSTL will do whatever they can to make it affordable. Also, it isn’t like WUSTL will have trouble filling the slot if a student did have to withdraw from their ED commitment.</p>
<p>I heard back from the FA counselor at WashU…bad news. The estimate I got online was virtually identical to the estimate I got directly from the school, even with my situation considered. I realize it could possibly be negotiated down if I get accepted and want to attend, but with a $35k/yr price tag and no automatic consideration for scholarships I probably won’t be applying early. WashU must use some very different formula or something for figuring out aid. Why they think my mother can afford to pay more than half of her income per year is beyond me. As much as I want to go to WashU, I doubt they would be able to come close to matching my estimate from Duke at $6k/yr. I may just end up applying ED there instead.</p>
<p>hville7</p>
<p>I have visited both DUKE & WUSTL… Both schools are Top Notch and even if they both offer same FA it will be a tough decision. If DUKE is 29K/yr less then WUSTL then I wont even think about WUSTL… I know WUSTL is great but putting our Children and ourselves in a big Debt is not a smart move… I am sure you will love DUKE the Campus is so COOL… and the Research Triangle is very attractive for Internships and jobs…and the Mountains are just breath taking…</p>
<p>I agree. If the costs just don’t work out, it makes no sense to take on a mountain if debt.</p>
<p>hville7-sorry to hear your news, but wanted to congratulate you on your Duke offer. From everything I have seen,Duke is an amazing school!</p>
<p>I would be interested to see what Duke actually offers, since right now you are basing it strictly on an online estimate. Of course you have to get accepted first. But I find it pretty stunning that the difference between these two schools would be so much, when you are (so far) talking strictly about need-based offers.</p>
<p>We follow the 60K income mark so WashU and Duke probably treat the importance of assets differently. My mom has a fair amount of money in her savings but not an outrageous amount that in my opinion should affect financial aid greatly. We’re not struggling by any means but she’s near retirement age and isn’t in perfect health so it’s not like we have much money to spare. Our home (though modest) is also paid off, so perhaps things like that make a bigger difference at WashU than at Duke. Sort of stinks that being responsible might be what is hurting my chances at getting aid.</p>
<p>I’d never expect an estimate from WashU like the one I got from Duke, but I still can’t wrap my head around why the think I can pay basically 2/3 of my mom’s income per year.</p>
Psycho Dad, I’m in the same boat as you. My son starts in fall 2015. I’m wondering, if you have money in 529 accounts, why didn’t you prepay with that money and get a smaller PEP loan?