<p>We have one daughter who is a Sophomore in college, and another daughter who is currently a Junior in HS and beginning to look. Our HS daughter would love to go to a school like Boston College, American University, Georgetown, etc., but our budget can pay for only about half of the tuition at those schools. My husband is retired, so any money we spend is not replaceable, and we cannot afford to take out loans against our own future to put our kids through school. We've been told by our older daughter's college in PA that our income is too high to qualify for financial help at that school. My question is how do you get money from your child's college to make up the difference between what you can pay and what the tuition costs? Is this a scholarship or is it called something else? How do you let a school know you are seeking this kind of help? I'd also appreciate suggestions for good online scholarship sites. This is my first post here and any information will be helpful. BTW, my older daughter nicknamed me "Dove" years ago, hence my name! Thanks, DoveMom</p>
<p>I’d let your D know what amount you are willing to pay for college, and then let her decide which place she wants to go to school at. If she wants to take out loans, work, get scholarships, etc, then maybe she can go to the expensive place.</p>
<p>
You apply for need based aid using FAFSA for most schools, and also CSS for some schools that require it. FAFSA produces a figure called the EFC (acronym for Expected Family Contribution though this is deceiving as people often find they are expected to pay more). The difference between your EFC and the schools COA (cost of attendance) is your “need” that need based aid is based on. Need based aid can include loans. If you are eligible for need based gift aid then that is usually called a grant.
Need based aid is based on what the school thinks you can pay based on your your income and assets, not what you think you can pay. </p>
<p>If your daughter has high stats then some schools offer merit based scholarships. These are based on the student’s stats (GPA/SAT/ACT/ECs etc). But a lot of top competitive schools do not offer merit based scholarships at all, only need based.</p>
<p>If the schools your 2nd child is considering are higher priced than the school in PA then she may be eligible for aid. Depends on the COA of the school and your income/assets when she will be applying.</p>
<p>Thanks, Bigtrees! We have told our daughter what we can pay and are working on finding schools that work for her and us. If we lived in another state, she would have better options at good public schools with lower in-state tuitions. In NJ, our state schools are limited and pricey.</p>
<p>Swimcats, I appreciate your explanation of the terminology and other information. Thanks!</p>
<p>Have you run the financial aid calculators to see what the colleges will think you can afford? Basically, the calculators could show you have some need and your older daughter’s school just doesn’t meet it or the calculators could show you have no need. If you have need and could pay your EFC, your second daughter should look for schools that meet full need. Money for needy students is called <em>grants.</em> </p>
<p>If you have no need, your daughter will do best applying to schools that give merit <em>scholarships.</em> They can come from outside sources but often come from the schools themselves. Some schools give none. I’m not sure if Georgetown gives merit scholarships. I know American does. </p>
<p>There is a thread in this area that lists colleges known for their good merit. Some give a handful of students a lot of $. Others are known for giving lots of students smaller scholarships, sometimes called “tuition discounting.” You will want to target those schools. </p>
<p>There was a wonderful thread about a parent whose children were able to attend 3rd or maybe 4th tier schools for free. I can’t remember enough to search for it but maybe someone will post a link for you. Sit and read it. It will show you how to strategize. </p>
<p>And remember that your daughters can take summer jobs, work-study and loans. </p>
<p>By the way, I have known of parents who retired just as their kids graduated high school. They then moved to different areas of the country to get instate tuition. I don’t know if that’s a possibility for you.</p>
<p>You can also talk to your daughter about what qualities she’s looking for in a college and see what colleges are similar that offer merit aid. From the colleges that you’ve mentioned, it sounds like she wants a medium sized LAC in an urban area. Perhaps another poster would have suggestions for some colleges that are like them, but that offer good merit aid.</p>
<p>This site [College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics](<a href=“College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics”>College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics) has a concise list of facts about colleges, including recent data about institutional aid given. Look for colleges that give aid to the majority of the students.</p>
<p>If you’re in NJ, have you considered SUNY schools? They are amongst the most affordable publics for out-of-state students. I believe oos costs are barely over $23k (this is using small-sized SUNY New Paltz as an example, other schools go higher). You don’t mention a cost - so I don’t know if this fits in your budget. Within the SUNY schools there are some that are on the smaller side and still considered competitive and are on the rise.</p>
<p>Also, be mindful that the financial aid packages that your daughter receives her freshman year will not be what you get for the next 3 years. You will have one overlap year where your EFC will be divided amongst your 2 children - so this will effect FA offers with the schools seing that you can contribute much less that one year. If she receives merit scholarships those will stay with her; if gaps are filled with grant money that will decrease or disappear the next year as your EFC will go back to ‘normal’ the next year.</p>
<p>Don’t assume that all private schools are out of reach because of the response from your older daughter’s school. With an annual family income in the low 100s, our younger daughter applied to Georgetown two years ago, and got an aid package that would have reduced her cost to $12K per year - less than the cost of tuition, fees, room & board at our inexpensive in-state publics.</p>
<p>Note the schools take into consideration that you pay for another child in school. And you’ll likely qualify for a variety of loans but you’ll have to decide how much debt is worth taking on - by you or your child.</p>
<p>First of all what % of need does your college daughter’s school meet on average? What things do the examine on their financial aid app, and is this typical or more encompassing than some schools? Then run your numbers through some sample schools that your younger D is considering and see what kind of package you could get from them. You will have two in college for your older D’s senior year, so you may also want to see what kind of aid if any you would get with just your younger D in college as well.</p>
<p>What one college says, is a generality only, and even if it is a stringent rule, is often something that is for that school specifically. Other schools may look at need a different way. Even after doing all of the calculations, I’ve known families who have gotten largely divergent aid packages from schools that proport to using the same methodology. You have to cast a wide net when you want and/or need aid in order to see many possibilities.</p>
<p>2College, that is extremely helpful. I feel like I am exploring a world I never knew existed. It helps to know the about the school merit scholarships and tuition discounting. Believe me, we’ve talked about moving, but guess who doesn’t want to move? You guessed it, the daughter who will be a HS Senior next year! LOL!</p>
<p>Kathi, yes my daughter would like a bit of an urban vibe, if possible. Finding more affordable schools that fit the bill would be great. Thanks also for the Navigator suggestion.</p>
<p>Gadad, that is very encouraging! Our daughter has always been a very good student and goes to one of the best high schools in the state. However, I don’t know how she’d do against the competition for one of the competitive schools she’d like to attend - I guess, we’ll have to scrutinize the student profile info and apply for those that seem feasible.</p>
<p>bl, thanks for mentioning the SUNY schools - you are right that they tend to be more reasonably priced. So far, none of them has clicked as a good candidate (I personally like the idea of SUNY Purchase, but my daughter will probably be an Accounting/Business or Math major and that school emphasizes other majors. My stepdaughter went to Oneonta, was very unhappy there, and transferred after her Freshman year. I guess that has put us off on the SUNY schools), but we may need to revisit the SUNY possibility.</p>
<p>Lergnom, it helps to know that colleges do consider having another child in college.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you! I learned about this site from my Dental Hygenist when I recently had a checkup. I’m so glad she mentioned it and I checked it out! When it comes to searching for scholarship money online, I assume there are good, safe sites and some others that are not. This information may be elsewhere on this site, but being new, I have a lot to learn! I really appreciate each and every one of you taking the time out of your day to make these suggestions to me! Gratefully, DoveMom</p>
<p>My son graduated from Buffalo. He got a nice merit award from there. Also, there is a lot of cheap housing available there and many of the upper class kids do live off campus which can bring down the costs. SUNY tuition is quite reasonable. It’s the room and board that is high, but in a city like Buffalo, there are a lot of opportunities to whittle those figures down.</p>
<p>Aye, Aye, Capt, that sounds like good advice. Fortunately, our college daughter is very focused. She is a Psychology major and has been invited into the department’s Honors Program. She has begun taking an extra course each semester and is on schedule to graduate in 3 1/2 years which is a big financial help to her dad and me. She plans to get a Master’s degree, but knows she will be on her own for that. Thanks for the tip to “cast a wide net!”</p>
<p>One other thing your daughter can do. She (and you) can talk to her guidance counselor about having her dual enroll at the community college and/or take AP classes. Then look at the colleges to see which will give her credit for those courses. In that way, she could easily to what your older daughter is doing and graduate a semester early. Some of the parents here don’t do that because their kids are applying to ivy league and similar schools. Those schools don’t generally give much credit for AP or dual enrollment but lots of schools do and state schools certainly do. If she can shave off a semester, it could be part of your strategy.</p>
<p>Thanks, 2College! My HS daughter is taking AP Art History this year and next year, she will take Spanish 6 AP. I hadn’t even thought about how it may carriy over to college. So much to think about! Ha!</p>
<p>
Stony Brook is one of the finest schools in the country for mathematics, especially applied math. It doesn t have an equally stellar rep when it comes to student happiness, but a tour might help your D decide if she would like it there.</p>
<p>My S knows several brilliant math students who attended Stony Brook. Nice guys, too. My BIL attended Albany (finance and marketing) and done quite well for himself. His employer paid for a second bachelor’s in CS at Rutgers in connection with his job.</p>
<p>DoveMom,</p>
<p>If you’re willing to read and learn, there’s a lot of info in what I will give you in this post.</p>
<p>This is the thread I was thinking about earlier: </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>and </p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>Now here’s the link to the financial aid board on college confidential. Scroll down to see the 7 threads that pinned to the top. They all start with the word “IMPORTANT.” Peruse them, especially “Best schools that give the most merit based aid.” </p>
<p>[Financial</a> Aid & Scholarships - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/]Financial”>Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>And here’s a really good book that might give you some ideas:
Paying for College Without Going Broke 2002, by Kalman Chany with Geoff Martz </p>
<p>By the way, here’s a hint regarding your daughter’s Spanish. I don’t know if AP Spanish 6 is AP Language or AP Literature, but she should try to maximize her credits by taking several tests. If she’s going to consider a state school, it may be worth her time to take the CLEP. It’s a test that is often not accepted at higher level schools, but many state schools give credit for it. I actually earned 12 credits from my perfect score on a CLEP foreign language but only 6 from my perfect score on the AP language test. </p>
<p>For example, SUNY-Stony Brook doesn’t list what they give for CLEP (only that they do give credit for it) but SUNY Plattsburgh does. She can earn a maximum of 6 credits through AP and 12 through CLEP. She wouldn’t be able to apply them both since the 12 CLEP would cover the 6 AP language, but still, 12 credits is almost an entire semester worth of college credit for one test that I believe costs under $80: </p>
<p><a href=“http://web.plattsburgh.edu/admissions/transfers/credits/exams.php#clep[/url]”>http://web.plattsburgh.edu/admissions/transfers/credits/exams.php#clep</a></p>
<p>Oh, I don’t know if this applies but I want to give you one of the tips that the book might explain. If a family somehow qualifies for free/reduced price lunch, they should absolutely sign up for it even if they don’t use it. (The current income limit is $40,793 for a family of 4 <a href=“http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/notices/iegs/IEGs09-10.pdf[/url]”>http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/notices/iegs/IEGs09-10.pdf</a>) Why? Because there’s a question on the FAFSA that asks whether anyone in the family gets free/reduced price lunch. If someone does, the computer program automatically ignores certain assets when it determines whether the family qualifies for Pell Grant $. </p>
<p>It’ll also tell you not to keep college savings in your child’s name but in yours because your child’s savings are assessed at something like 25% a year and yours somewhere around 6% after a certain allowance. </p>
<p>You can find alot of this info on this webpage also: </p>
<p>[FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/)</p>
<p>I have two kids in college in NJ, overlapping 4 years, and so far we have been able to cash-flow their tuition with the help of merit scholarships and grants. It IS possible to graduate without massive student loans!</p>
<p>One son’s 1st choice (private) school would have cost about $225,000 (after applying the scholarships they offered) to complete his degree. His 2nd choice school (one of NJ’s public universities) offered full scholarship. It was not a tough decision for him to attend his 2nd choice school!</p>
<p>If your daughter is in the top 15% of her graduating class, she will likely qualify for free tuition at NJ’s community colleges. Check out [NJSTARS.NET[/url</a>]. The NJStars II program is for students who transfer from a community college to one of NJ’s state schools. </p>
<p>If she doesn’t qualify for NJStars, the tuition at community colleges is amazingly low. For example, Monmouth County residents attending Brookdale per semester: “For in-county students, tuition is currently $115 per credit (to a maximum of $1,725, based on a 15-credit maximum).” </p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.njtransfer.org/]NJ”>http://www.njtransfer.org/]NJ</a> TRANSFER: Linking New Jersey’s Colleges and Universities](<a href=“http://www.njstars.net/]NJSTARS.NET[/url”>http://www.njstars.net/) gives the information you will need about how to determine which community college credits will automatically be accepted by NJ’s colleges and universities. </p>
<p>The guidance office at your daughter’s high school should have a lot of information to offer. Check to see if there will be a college fair, seminars for parents about financial aid, etc.</p>