<p>I was just wonderingmy parents have a combined income of about 150,000 a year, which at first seems great, until the fact that we don't own any property and that we live in one of the most expensive cities in the world comes in to play (HUGE rents). Does princeton take the expense of a city like san francisco (vs. podunk) into account when considering a family's income and financial situation? Is it possible that a student in my position would ever get financial aid (because as it is, and with my little brother 2 years away from college, my parents would NEVER be able or willing to foot the bill)...</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Princeton definitely awards aid to people with $150,000, without a doubt. I know of at least one person who has admitted that they've received $16,000 in aid when they were expecting, without any qualms, to pay the full cost of attending. Check out the financial aid calculator: <a href="https://sweb.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/FinAid/finaid_form.pl%5B/url%5D">https://sweb.princeton.edu/cgi-bin/FinAid/finaid_form.pl</a></p>
<p>Unfortunately the formula for financial aid doesn't take into account debt. For example if a family were paying off heavy amount of debt every month. The income of the family might not take into account this debt.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if this means anything, but I got more than the financial aid calculator told me, so it definitely isnt the most accurate thing.</p>
<p>Remember that assets are part of the formula too. So if your parents have a high income but cost of living has left you with average financial assets, it'll help you out with financial aid.</p>
<p>how do the schools view money parents have saved in the bank? my dad's a saver, not a spender, but it's his own personal savings; it's just what he hasn't spent over the years, and he has it in there just in case he loses his job or has a slump one year or whatever; he falls in the $75,000 - $99,000 range with his base salary (not with any bonuses, but those aren't part of his salary anyway, so he doesn't include those), but will his personal savings affect the aid we can get? </p>
<p>i've been told that as long as it's not a savings account with my name included and as long as it isn't specifically for college $, then i'm fine; but i'm a little skeptical of that</p>
<p>thanks for any posts</p>