<p>Don’t immediately dismiss all OOS publics. Some will classify children of active duty military as state residents for tuition purposes. </p>
<p>I thought that newly-signed bill was for those who retired or separated, not those still on active duty, in order to help out if they ended up in a state other than their state of residence. </p>
<p>If still AD, you are in-state for your state of residence, the state in which you are stationed and the state in which you live (ie, live in VA, work in DC) under the 2008 Higher Education Act. </p>
<p>I hear you on the house thing. My DH retired from the military almost two years ago. We had bought one house years ago and lost a lot of money on it when we got orders earlier than expected, couldn’t sell it and had bad tenants. We decided we weren’t buying another until after retirement so we had a chunk of cash sitting there also.</p>
<p>Yes CO is such a state if non resident military has lived there a year. But now that Obama has signed the new law that opens up many more universities.</p>
<p>Here’s the new law and includes vets, servicemembers, spouses and children <a href=“http://www.armytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140811/NEWS/308110029/Law-seeks-expand-state-tuition-all”>http://www.armytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20140811/NEWS/308110029/Law-seeks-expand-state-tuition-all</a>.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>As I said, “first time home buyer” is very liberally defined by the IRS. In this context, it means that you haven’t owned a home in the past two years. That’s it.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>OK, so your two kids are splitting your spouse’s very generous GI Bill benefits, you have saved at least some of your own money for their education in 529 accounts (and maybe other tax-free accounts?), and you have half-a-million dollars in non-retirement savings. I gotta tell you, you are in a MUCH better position to finance your kids’ education than 99% of everyone else out there. You will probably have to pay something, but compared to most people, you are sitting pretty. Before lamenting your situation any more, I really think that you need to reevaluate where you are at.</p>
<p>Got in on first time home buyers…see how much I don’t know?</p>
<p>I realize we are sitting pretty as part of the 1%, and I don’t want to seem ungrateful. We’ve worked hard to get where we are and don’t have a lot in tangible things to enjoy because we sock everything away. I’m a worrywart by nature, and I guess it’s fear of the unknown. These boards have been great just in education for every part of the college application process, and I look forward to learning more and perhaps I’ll understand the process better by the time #2 is ready for the college search in a few years. I must tell you I understand the German university system much better where I grew up in! Very cut and dry!</p>
<p>So…where exactly will YOUR kids be instate for tuition purposes? I don’t believe it’s all 50 states. But there should be some affordable options for you regardless. You just need to start looking for them.</p>
<p>We won’t find out til February next year where spouse will be stationed and possibly overseas! But we do have a home of record in FL…can’t get our son to pick out at least one engineering school there! He’s trying to stick to the top 10 or 20…Florida is very generous with residents and college tuition! Tons of affordable schools there!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You’re absolutely right; I think it would be hard to design a more complicated system here in the U.S. But you are asking the right questions and getting the information that you need. I’m sure that both of your kids will be successful and you will get to build/buy your dream house.</p>
<p>Figuring out which states will give you in-state tuition sounds like it will be a time consuming yet potentially golden opportunity for you. </p>
<p>Or go the other way: Give us some parameters of his dream campus. Large, small, near a big city, near outdoor activities, some possible majors he might want to study. Then people here could weigh in on which states have a campus closest to what he wants. That might give you some direction.</p>
<p>And yes, the rules do seem to vary with each state. For example, I looked up Virginia, and for children of dependents, you could also have been stationed in a state contiguous to Virginia and qualify for the program.</p>
<p>Rdtsmith…you need to discuss a college budget with your son. Right now, it appears that you have given him no financial limits on his college choices. That’s fine if it works for your family. It is NOT fine if the finances won’t work…or if it totally jeopardizes your ability to buy housing when your husband is no longer on active duty.</p>
<p>For engineering, your son needs to go to an SBET accredited school. He does not need to go to the most exoensive ABET accredited school. He will get an engineering degree regardless of the cost.</p>
<p>Look at University of Alabama. They have an excellent engineering program, and absolutely terrific guaranteed merit awards based on SAT or ACT scores and GPA. If your son is a senior now, he can apply there NOW. He will have an answer back quickly. My understanding is that engineering majors also get a stipend in addition to tuition scholarships. Worth checking…and your $20,000 per yesr in savings will more than pay for the remaining costs per year.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>I think that is the grad school ranking. I think the undergrad ranking is better. Have you visited Alabama? he’d get a huge award there for NMF…plus he’d get an add’l 2500 per year from engineering.</p>
<p>however, really ranking for engineering is rather irrelevant. Seriously. Look for ABET accreditation. </p>
<p>Think about it. Every state has a vested interest in having at least a couple of schools that has very good engineering. The state of Calif has 25 univs with very good engineering!!! So, you can see that ranking doesn’t mean much.</p>
<p>It just isn’t reasonable to think that a few top schools can produce enough very good engineers for all the jobs out there. That’s why there are SO MANY very good engineering schools in this country. It isn’t difficult for an established school to have a very good engineering program. </p>
<p>Also, a company does NOT pay an engineering student more money for graduating from a highly ranked school. No. Company A will pay a new Berkeley grad the same salary the same salary as the Cal Poly grad or the CSULB grad. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You already own a home? I think only one is protected. If you buy a second one the value could still be counted as an asset, so I’m not sure putting the $500k into a house will reduce your EFC.</p>
<p>Home of record is a military term, not a physical house. Home of record is the state from which you enter the service. Home of residency is the one you use for tax purposes. They may or may not be the same state, residency can be changed, record cannot.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The expected family (parent) contribution does vary by school. Use the net price calculator at each school to get a financial aid and net price estimate.</p>
<p>Note that net price includes the parent contribution, student contribution (student loan and work expectation), and unmet need. While the distinction between these categories may not matter if you only have school-based financial aid grants and scholarships (the entire net price is what matters; the student and parents may divide the parent contribution and student contribution differently), these categories do matter if outside scholarships come in. Many schools are willing to apply outside scholarships to student contribution and/or unmet need first, but will only apply them to parent contribution if they exceed the student contribution + unmet need + school-based grants. However, it is certainly possible that some schools will reduce school-based grants first before reducing the student contribution.</p>
<p>Here is an example from Stanford, where it applies outside scholarships first to the student work contribution, but the parent contribution is reduced last (Stanford meets need, for its definition of “need”, so there would not be the unmet need category).</p>
<p><a href=“Outside Awards : Stanford University”>Page Not Found : Stanford University;
<p>Just keep in mind…Stanford is not representative of financial aid at the vast majority of colleges. </p>
<p>You may want to have your son visit Bama and meet with someone in the engineering dept. Overall ranking does not necessarily reflect the entire eng dept. There may be some very cutting edge professors in your son’s prospective major. Visit, sit in some classes, meet other students, meet some professors, observe some labs. Get him excited!</p>
<p>Thanks all. Stanford is his dream school of course. We’ve visited all but A&M and Bama now. Went to a recruiting event with Bama and of course they made it super attractive for him! Hey form suites with washers and dryers that don’t take cash and send you a text when they’re done…that was impressive but seriously the head of their engineering dept made it all very convincing for sure. Gonna be hard to turn down a free ride. </p>
<p>Did you run your numbers through the NPCs for the schools on your list? That will give you ideas as to what the cost would be at various schools. THere are schools with merit and other price cuts that would bring the sticker price down. Have you considered Olin, Cooper Union, for instance? Also do look at what schools do have goodies for National Merit finalists as well as other merit awards out there for which he could be eligible. </p>
<p>IF he puts together a good varied lists, he’ll likely have a lot of choices.</p>
<p>You would be in state for Texas A&M which has a highly ranked engineering program(although I think it’s a mistake to get hung up on those rankings). They would give you a very generous NMF scholarship plus maybe more. I think they have a military dependant’s scholarship as well. </p>
<p><<
but seriously the head of their engineering dept made it all very convincing for sure. Gonna be hard to turn down a free ride.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>Dean Karr is amazing…so student-oriented and people-friendly. And, he responds to emails, etc. I once emailed him a question, not only did he promptly reply, but my email had my address in signature, so he also sent me a hand-written 2 page additional response. Who does that anymore?</p>
<p>Are you going to visit?</p>