<p>There is often discussion about how high cost of living differences are not really taken into consideration for FA. I just found cost of living calculators that really demonstrate the differences. I am not sure how accurate it is, but it gives people a rough idea. Knowing and seeing the differences won't help with FA, but it is interesting. The bankrate website has one of these calculators. You can plug in your income, and then you can enter one city that you live in and one that you might move to. It will tell you how much more or less you will need to earn to maintain the same standard of living.</p>
<p>Care to share? I notice up to $5,000 difference my daughter was awarded for grad school.</p>
<p>[Cost</a> of Living comparison calculator](<a href=“http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/savings/moving-cost-of-living-calculator.aspx]Cost”>http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/savings/moving-cost-of-living-calculator.aspx)</p>
<p>Yes, that is the one I was playing with this morning.</p>
<p>Hmm, it’s telling me that the average home price for the Detroit area is $315,098.00. Somehow, I truly doubt that…</p>
<p>I wish FA would take the cost of living into consideration. Obviously salaries are higher in more expensive parts of the country.</p>
<p>For the most part, colleges are less expensive in lower cost of living states or regions. Discretionary income is all about choices. The vast, vast majority of students stay in their region. I just was surfing on some colleges and stumbled on a private school that ran alittle over $30,000 per year and is located in a non-urban area, in a lower cost of living state. This is fully $20,000 per year cheaper than an equivalent school in a high cost of living area. Now, someone may not “want” to go to the less expensive school, but that is a choice. Everything in life is a trade-off is the pragmatic approach that keeps me sane. The problem is that when people are young and settle down they certainly aren’t thinking about how many years it will take them to pay off their mortgage, or how they will be able to save for the cost of future children or a myriad of other decisions that may impact them two or thee decades down the road. I don’t know how you fairly add a “cost of living” multiplier to the FAFSA without getting into home price/value which I’m not particularly interested in the federal govenment sticking it’s nose above and beyond asking me on my federal taxes what my mortgage interest and taxes are. I cannot think of any other situation where cost of living comes into play in a big way except in housing costs and theoretically salaries are adjusted to some extent to compensation employees for higher housing costs. My opinion is rather simplistic…but so is the FAFSA if you think about it. My biggest beef is that college/uni costs have risen faster than inflation not with the Federal aid dispensing process. Frankly our FAFSA EFC was just about exactly what we thought we could afford out of the savings we made and our current income and I hazard a guess that it’s quite accurate for the majority of people who lead a fairly straightforward middle class life and planned ahead. People in the NE with the same years of experience, in my identical job are compensated roughly $40,000 more per year than I…30% of that proportional difference from early to mid career over a 30 year mortgage will get you roughly the equivalent home of what I have in my area. Public transporation does not exist in my area and gas prices and food are high because of transport cost but it “looks” like I live in a lower cost area at first blush. I’m not so sure there is an equitable way to even talk about adjusting FAFSA. It’s the private colleges that “sold” geographic diversity, dont’ forget that, too. The public schools have always had a 2-tier pay system for local vs. out of state students.</p>