<p>I have some basic questions whose answers seem to vary from website to website. I want to get any experienced opinion on finances for college. </p>
<ol>
<li>How much are you allowed to loan per year?</li>
<li>How much aid do colleges usually give to regular middle-classers? (like i tried a FAFSA calculator that said my single mother with 77000 /yr income and 3 children would get no aid?)</li>
<li>How much did YOUR parent(s) pay for college year to year compared to how much you yourself paid (jobs, etc). </li>
<li>How much does your parent(s) have in your college fund?</li>
</ol>
<p>An answer to ANY of the above questions or an answer to any related questions you may have off the top of your head would be greatly appreciated! </p>
<p>I’m not sure how the answers to these questions will help YOU plan for college finances (except for #1…the loan limits).</p>
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<p>The maximum Stafford loans are $5500 for freshmen, $6500 for sophs, $7500 for juniors and $7500 for seniors. Some students also receive Perkins loans…also in only the student name. Anything beyond that would be something either your parent would need to get…or you would need a cosigner. To be honest…you are “allowed” to borrow any amount you can get approval for…but most here would tell you to keep your debt to a minimum.</p>
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<p>There is NO “usual” amount. The amount of money awarded by the colleges vary depending on the formula the college uses, the %age of aid they are able to award, the size of their endowment, and the amount of financial need the student has based on the SCHOOLs calculations.</p>
<p>With a $77,000 income…I don’t think you would be eligible for federally funded grant money (Pell, SEOG, for example) but really…the FAFSA determines eligibility for federally funded aid only. Schools determine any grant awards beyond that.</p>
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<p>You are going to get every answer under the sun to this one. There are students who fund their entire college educations (by going to community colleges, perhaps, or by getting very significant merit aid). And others who don’t pay a penny themselves with parents giving them the full costs. Not sure why this is important for you to know…as the only really important thing is how much the parents expect the students to contribute in YOUR situation.</p>
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<p>The VAST majority of students enrolling in college have NO COLLEGE FUNDS set up by their parents. Yes…some students do…but most do not. I’m not sure why this question would be important for you to have answered…unless you are doing a research article or something. The only important info YOU would need is how much…if anything…YOUR parents have saved for YOU.</p>
<p>When did the word “borrow” get changed to “loan”??? I see/hear this all the time now. You are borrowing…you’re not loaning. The other party is “loaning”.</p>
<p>That said, you can loan anyone as much as you want. :)</p>
<p>But, you can only borrow limited amounts.</p>
<p>Stafford/direct loans</p>
<p>5500 frosh
6500 soph
7500 jr
7500 sr</p>
<p>If you’re a dependent or your parent gets denied a Plus loan then you can add about $4k to each year.</p>
<p>2. How much aid do colleges usually give to regular middle-classers? (like i tried a FAFSA calculator that said my single mother with 77000 /yr income and 3 children would get no aid?)</p>
<p>What was your EFC? Does your mom get child support as well?</p>
<p>One of the reasons this is all so hard is that financial aid is a customized process. Your application with a parent that makes 77K with 3 kids will be different than the family down the street that makes 77K with 3 kids. How much is in your college account, how much is in parent’s savings and so on makes a difference. </p>
<p>There are about 100 questions on the FAFSA and that means there are something like 100! variations (I think that is the correct math symbol – same as “a whole crunchy bunch of pathways”)</p>
<p>Get “How to pay for college without going broke” from The PRinceton Review and you can start understanding each line of the FAFSA and how you can start positioning yourself better. You may not qualify for much aid the first year but more after that. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, get the best grades and SAT scores that you can manage. Good luck</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all the responses! They were really helpful. I understand now why I keep getting variation in answers. I will definitely speak to a guidance counselor of some sort and stop worrying too much on my own. </p>
<p>The school I am applying to is not need-blind, and so that was why I was asking questions to figure out whether I can pay for my full education without financial aid. </p>
<p>I honestly think I can pay fully for first year, but years after that I may need some aid - small 2000-5000 type aid. </p>
<p>So I have one last question: Do universities normally allow students to apply for financial aid their sophomore/junior years when they didn’t apply freshmen year?</p>
<p>I think you are mixing up terms. NEED BLIND means that the school does NOT consider your financial need when they review your application for admission. It has NOTHING TO DO with the awarding of financial aid.</p>
<p>Schools that MEET FULL NEED…are schools that guarantee to meet your financial need. This is what has to do with financial aid awarding.</p>
<p>If you are looking for schools that will meet your full need…you need to look at those. There are schools that are need blind that meet full need for all students…and there are schools that are need blind that do NOT meet full need. There are need aware for admissions schools that meet full need for all accepted students and there are need award schools that do not meet full need for all accepted students.</p>
<p>Sorry, let me clarify. The school I’m applying to is NOT need blind and so NOT applying for financial aid would increase my chances. So finding a way to pay for my college education without financial aid would be beneficial in this case. I did notice I was a bit unclear on that. Sorry for the mix-ups!</p>
<p>Does anyone know if not applying for financial aid first year would still allow a student to apply second year? Thanks!</p>
<p>Does anyone know if not applying for financial aid first year would still allow a student to apply second year?
If you DONT apply for FA your freshman year you CANT apply for it afterwards.
Do NOT make the mistake of applying to a school that you cant afford to go to OR does NOT meet full need, in order to try to “game the system” and get accepted!! It won’t do you any good if in REALITY you cant afford to go there!</p>
<p>If you’re talking about the FAFSA, I think you can fill it out in one year even if you didn’t do it the previous year. However, different colleges have different rules about their institutional aid, so I would really ask this question of a specific college that you’re considering. I doubt that there’s one blanket answer for all of them.</p>
<p>@menloparkmom I’m not so much gaming the system as I am saving my own time and worries. I have checked the JHU financial calculator, and the estimated aid I would get is around 1000 per year, which honestly, isn’t really worth the filing, turning in, and hassle of financial aid, not to mention that I’m applying ED. </p>
<p>@Gardna, I’m referring to Johns Hopkins University. Should I call them and ask, since I don’t see it anywhere on their website? I’m more looking of applying for financial aid for work-study, and not for actual aid money. I heard they pay 10/hr for research there and TA, both opportunities I’m looking into.</p>
<p>I mean, you need to turn in FAFSA and stuff for work study, right?</p>
<p>100! is the number of possible orders which you could choose for answering those 100 questions. I don’t think that’s what you meant. You’re really after the number of possible variations (different answers), and that’s a far more complex (and unrelated) calculation.</p>
<p>Definitely call them and ask. This forum is great for general information (especially since we have a handful of financial aid workers here) but every school is different. The people most likely to give you information that’s school-specific are the people at the school. </p>
<p>FAFSA is only for federal work study, but some schools (I don’t know if JHU is one of them) require FAFSA for their own aid programs (including work-study, I guess).</p>
<p>OK…I’ll put it out there. You seem to have some concerns about finances. WHY are you applying ED? JHU is a great school…but your chances of being admitted aren’t THAT much better in the ED round…especially since they are need aware. If you want to be able to compare financial aid/bottom line costs…don’t apply ED.</p>
<p>I believe in the case of JHU, if you do NOT apply for institutional aid the first year, you CANNOT do so in subsequent years. NOT…APPLY. This varies by university so while it may be the case for this school…it might not be for others. Schools do not want to accept students who can cobble together money for ONE YEAR but then need full funding for subsequent years. They want to have a sense of their institutional funding for the full four years from the get go.</p>
<p>Re: work study…it is awarded to students who have financial NEED. You would have to demonstrate this via a financial aid application to receive this award.</p>
<p>You say that your aid at JHU would be $1000 a year…which indicates that your family contribution is over $50,000 a year. Is that correct? I don’t think you will qualify for any financial aid anyway…not with an income that would support a $50,000 a year family contribution. And on another thread, you said the family had $20K in college savings for you…so sounds like there really isn’t an issue.</p>
<p>Yes that’s what I’m saying. I am wondering whether I should apply for financial aid at all seeing as how little I would get. I am applying ED because receiving a decision in December would be much more ideal for me, especially for a school that I’ve loved dearly. The thing is, the future is never set in stone. Just because my family’s EFC is 54k now, doesn’t mean it will forever be. My younger brother is setting out to go to college two years after me, so it would be important to know whether I can apply for financial aid later. Sorry, I’m very clueless when it comes to financial aid, but I am being completely honest when I say I’m not trying to game the system or ask for need that I don’t actually need.</p>
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I honestly think I can pay fully for first year, but years after that I may need some aid - small 2000-5000 type aid. *</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound like your mom can help with a lot, so where would you get the money to pay for all of the first year, and most of the following years? How much money do you think that you/your mom would be spending total over 4 years?</p>
<p>Ask your mom how much she’ll spend each year.</p>
<p>You will almost certainly get lousy aid your 2nd year if you don’t apply your first year. </p>
<p>*The thing is, the future is never set in stone. Just because my family’s EFC is 54k now, doesn’t mean it will forever be. My younger brother is setting out to go to college two years after me, so it would be important to know whether I can apply for financial aid later. *</p>
<p>How is your EFC $54k if your mom only earns about $70k? Does she have a lot of assets???</p>
<p>Don’t count on getting more money when your sibling goes to college even with a drop in EFC.</p>
<p>What school are you applying ED and how much will your mom spend each year?</p>
<p>“My younger brother is setting out to go to college two years after me, so it would be important to know whether I can apply for financial aid later.”
Colleges calculate "need’ based on a FAMILY’s TOTAL education financial obligations on a yearly basis . If they calculate that your family can afford to contribute 50 K , based on income, assets, etc, then that is the TOTAL figure they are expected to contribute for educational purposes, regardless of whether there are 3 or 1 in college. In order to eligible in the future, your family must apply for FA each year that you are in college. The fact that your YB will be applying to college in 2 years is reason enough to apply this year, so your family doesn’t miss out on possibly receiving FA 2 years from now.</p>
<p>hi @mom2collegekids! never did mention that i found your first post amusing. sorry about the loan mistake. :)</p>
<p>yes, we have a lot of assets. my mom is a business owner and even our house itself is worth a bit, and we own it. that’s why our estimated is so high. the thing is, i have a stepdad---- i think thumper had a question on this on my other thread. he’s not my stepdad because he isn’t married to my mom. however, he has been my “dad” since i was born (not biological, by the way). he is extremely well off and has paid for my private middle school and high schools. the thing is, he used to have a son who died in a car accident. although he is willing to pay for my college education, and can definitely keep my family out of debt, i can see that he sometimes feels a little saddened by paying for me. i don’t want my family to replace his family, does that make sense? i don’t want him to think that he’s spending the money he could have spent on his now deceased son on me. so i’m trying NOT to close any doors and figure out every way i can to pay for college by ourselves (my mom and i) instead of relying on my dad. </p>
<p>so anything to the like of “if you can’t afford, don’t go.” or “if you need aid, don’t ED” doesn’t quite apply here. i’m just looking to leave doors open, but it seems that, since you can’t really apply for financial aid second year, i’ll just have to close the financial aid door. it’s not a big issue, it’s just a “can i pay for my own education with my own family and not rely on the charity of another man” thing. </p>
<p>really sorry for all the confusion. if there’s anything i’m leaving out, please feel free to ask. i suppose i’ll confirm with a Hopkins staff about the whole applying second year thing. but other than that, everyone that has replied so far has answered all the questions i really need answered.</p>
<p>thanks! :)</p>
<p>edit: @menloparkmom, do you think that my brother can get aid for me being in college? so in a way, my mom will be still paying for me, but my brother’s financial load will be lightened up?</p>
<p>wait! you CAN apply for FA EVERY YEAR! You may not qualify or get a dime offered the first 2 years, but when your Brother starts college you/ your family may qualify, especially if your mothers business falls, your family has other unexpected expenses, or college expenses, such as tuition, rise.</p>
<p>but i think not applying first year at hopkins prevents you from applying second year? i’ve heard that from this board as well as some other board. i’ll check on it though! thanks!</p>