<p>According to this [URL=<a href="http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/%5Dwebsite%5B/URL">http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/]website[/URL</a>], people in my income bracket (0-30k) pay, on average, a net cost of $3,000. How is that possible? There are similar results for other colleges (UNC-CH about 2,300 and Harvard about 3,000). My local newspaper and 2 of my councillors say it's legit and it's an educational government website so it seems all real but I don't understand how. </p>
<p>(To see these results: Just type the name of the college in the search box and click the right link, then scroll down to "Net Price" and look under 0-30,000).</p>
<p>I put in our state flagship, but put that I was from another state and clicked net price…
If my income is under $30k, it says that my net price is $15k, but I know that’s not true.</p>
<p>Our state flagship (like most state schools) gives lousy FA to OOS students, so an OOS student with a 0 EFC would only get $5550 from Pell, $5500 from a student loan, and maybe $2500 in work-study. The COA is about $35k for an OOS student, so the projected net price of $15k is obviously very wrong.</p>
<p>Title IV aid to students includes grant aid, work study aid, and loan aid. These include: Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG), National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant), Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant, Federal Work-Study, Federal Perkins Loan, Subsidized Direct or FFEL Stafford Loan, and Unsubsidized Direct or FFEL Stafford Loan. For those Title IV recipients, net price is reported by income category and includes students who received federal aid even if none of that aid was provided in the form of grants. While Title IV status defines the cohort of student for which the data are reported, the definition of net price remains the same – total cost of attendance minus grant aid.</p>
<p>It seems to be assuming that you’ll get SMART grants (which is being discontinued this year) and TEACH grants (for future teachers)</p>
<p>I also put in UCLA as the school and that I was from Florida. It gives a net price of $7500. That is soooooo not true. It would cost me about $40k after Pell and student loans. </p>
<p>It states something about aid for schools in Calif, but neglects to mention that that is ONLY for Calif residents.</p>
<p>For schools like UNC and Harvard, which guarantee to meet need, the figures may be close to actual. For other school, particularly those that are OOS for you, I would not rely on those figures at all and would instead calculate the amount of Pell, Stafford, and any other aid you’re sure to get. The remainder would have to come from the college itself and those figures vary widely…you’ll have to dig for that info and, even then, it will only be an estimate until you actually have your FA package.</p>
<p>Nationwide, most students in that income bracket may well be paying that small an amount for their education because they are attending local community colleges. Relatively fewer students in that income bracket attend four-year institutions, so it is possible that those few who do so, do indeed tend to end up with relatively more generous financial aid. But whether you could be fortunate enough to become one of those students is something none of us here is really qualified to say.</p>
<p>I don’t know how much UNC will put in loans. You will definitely be given some loans.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if UNC-CH is “need aware” for OOS students? Since you’re low income, if UNC-CH is need-aware for OOS students, it could hurt your chances since your family is low income.</p>
<p>But happymomof1, the OP isn’t referring to a national figure - she’s referring to the figure that specific schools like Harvard and UNC-CH are saying that students within her income bracket are paying, via this website.</p>
<p>It is definitely possible. My family is in about that income bracket at the moment and we pay $0 parental contribution for college. But, like mom2collegekids said, your financial aid package will vary greatly depending on the college you attend, often easily going beyond the $3000 mark. It varies even between colleges that all claim to meet 100% of need: in fact, I’ve also received financial aid estimates that go above that amount after acceptance from several colleges that all meet full need.</p>
<p>First, most people in the 30K income bracket attend CC which brings down the average. </p>
<p>Second, there is a big difference between UNC and the UCs. UNC meets need for both IS and OOS students, the UCs don’t even meet the need of IS students. The average is the average. Most people are IS for both which brings down the average. UNC has 17% attending from OOS while UCB has 8%. UNC does expect the students to take out some loans and to contribute some out of their pocket via summer jobs.</p>