I definitely agree that for families like ours in the moderate income area (below 70 or 80K), if you hit the lottery for schools that meet need, the amount of need-based aid schools like Princeton, Penn, MIT, etc. give is amazing!
The difficulty is for families who are in that much larger area who make too much to qualify for much or any need-based, but who don’t have 40-60K sitting around waiting to be spent on college.
And for my son, the difficulty came in the fact that 1) he didn’t apply to any schools that meet need for many reasons, and 2) transfer students don’t get as much aid, need-based or otherwise, generally.
It’s true @NYCMusicDad that this is a complicated issue.
And one I’ve only begun to understand since joining this process and board.
Frankly as I’ve learned how the game is played, I’ve become part of the problem.
Not out of bad intent of course, but it’s as an unintended outcome of this process.
Simply put:
We have enough money to send our D wherever she wants to go.
But we are still focused on merit awards as a key driver in school choice.
Way back when she was little, before she ever picked up drum sticks, we put a windfall away in 529s for all of our kids. I was working in high tech and made a lot of money. I was super lucky.
So when we started looking at schools, we told our D she could apply wherever she felt was the best fit.
Without consideration for cost. That’s why we saved the money in the first place right?
Heck, before I found this forum i didn’t even know music kids got money. I thought that was just for athletes.
So here we are, in the middle of evaluating choices, and merit has become a key component of our consideration set.Is that wrong? Hard to say.
Are we taking $$ away from a family that could only attend if they had a combination of merit and FA?
Quite possibly.
And indirectly, would we be making it harder for schools to offer more merit/FA in the future?
Quite possibly.
Because schools rely on families (like ours) who can pay full fare in order to redistribute $$ to families who can’t.
The whole system works only if the ratios of families who pay balance out families who can’t.
And merit messes with that.
Anyway, we’re just playing the game the way it is currently set up. But it is something I think about.
I know we are super lucky to even have the luxury of this perspective.
When my kids were little I also put away money. I put the same amount aside for all three kids. However… that amount isn’t going to be able to cover even 2 years of full tuition. And is it fair to give more to this child when I gave ? Sum to the 2 others? But is it fair to shackle her with debt when the others are debt free… they chose schools we could afford … but do I stop her dream of a quality music school… so many thoughts
Agreed @mperrine. DH and I were proud that we have been able to save for our 5 kids, but when S’16 went to college, we were disappointed in ourselves that we failed to consider the entire cost of attendance, that room and board in this case cost even more than tuition! Thank goodness S’16 was able to help us with becoming an RA in junior year so that R&B are covered. Now we know better for S’20, but at this point, we’ve clearly spent a lot more money on him and his music before the college process has begun. Even with reeds alone! Already seems unfair to the other kids I’m afraid.
Hearing that 25k is a lot for NEC makes me feel better! It is indeed all the gift aid I received, I received another 5k in loans.
:(. O well, I guess we will see what happens with the rest of my conservatory/universities.
This is a great discussion. Just to be clear, @NYCMusicDad, I wasn’t seeing this as a personal issue. But I also understand why it’s a part of the “game” for families at all income levels.
In my case: each of my kids has a set amount in their 529 – enough to go to a state college (NJ prices are pretty high even in-state) or mid-priced private. If they want to go to a more expensive school, they put “skin in the game” – take on loans themselves or use their grad school savings for undergrad.
My older son chose an in-state college and graduated with no debt. My daughter wanted to go to NYU, got a decent merit award, but is also paying Perkins loans and has no money left over for a master’s. It’s manageable but not ideal for her, although she knows it was her choice.
Music S is in a unique position in that he has has the power to negotiate with (some of) the schools that want him. So the calculus of in-state/public vs. expensive/private doesn’t apply. He has the same amount in the 529, but unlike his siblings, he may be able to negotiate a situation where he can go to an elite conservatory and still end up with money for a graduate degree. Or he may spend it all at a dream school and be on his own for the master’s.
These are the issues he is evaluating, and the amount of merit is pertinent to the discussion. So far, the private school that offered him nothing was dropped from the list, but everything else is in play.
There’s no perfect answer, of course – and my kids all know how lucky they are to have savings at all.
I just want to share our amazing news. My music composition daughter was just awarded a full tuition Hartt Performing Arts Scholarship. I keep looking at the certificate and letter over and over, thinking this cannot really be true. I think it is a result of a competition she went to where they had to compose something on the spot in 2.25 hours. So now our daughter has to choose between Hartt and University of Southern Maine, assuming no other scholarships drop out the the sky and land on our doorstep.
I also have amazing news that has sent my heart rate into the stratosphere. Based on @vistajay’s advice that the students that received the USC Presidential Scholarship, should check the Financial Aid portal because sometimes the University awards additional scholarship, I signed on this morning to find another $20k from the “Music Scholarship Fund” on my son’s Financial Aid Summary. I am literally shaking with excitement!
@lkbux64 , WOW and congratulations to your kiddo! Anecdotally, that’s the largest music scholarship I’ve heard of USC-Thornton giving, on top of the Presidential.
Well, USC is out of our picture I guess. Thornton only gives my son $8000 music scholarship. He has $1000 as a NMSF. We’ll either transfer to Viterbi School of Engineering or just drop USC from our list.
@LaurelVDW - Congratulations on such fantastic news!!
We also have thrilling news. Like others, I did a USC portal check this morning and unexpectedly found a generous music scholarship. Beyond thrilled actually! This moves USC from unaffordable to affordable. I was so excited that I woke D up this morning, and she was so excited that she didn’t mind being woken up.