I wish we could kill this canard once and for all. The “less fortunate” only get lots of aid at schools that meet need. That’s 62 colleges out of 3000+. http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2015/09/14/colleges-that-report-meeting-full-financial-need At the other 2000+ schools low income students will generally get a $5500 loan (which anyone can get) and a Pell Grant of ~$6000.
I agree with the sentiment here. You should be focusing on merit aid schools.
While I agree with all of the above, I get the OP too. We are also one of those families that will not get anything from selective schools that focus on need based aid. I think it’s also just wanting to vent.
For a while, there was a trend by colleges to offer “discounts” on the tuition to upper middle class families as an incentive to enroll. But this approach left a bad taste in a lot of college admissions depts. So it seems now that there is a trend back to need based aid but as they define it.
So it’s a very personal decision for each family facing this dilemma. No one can make it for your family and you just have to confront it and move forward with something more affordable or make the sacrifices.
Good luck OP, I hear ya.
And what percentage of those 62 are even need aware?
It’s been well explained in this thread.
At some (need aware) colleges, it matters whether or not you need FA and how much. At others (need blind) it doesn’t matter at all. Another group of schools are need-blind until the wait list or the very end - the borderline admits - then need comes into play.
Each college your child plans to apply to will state what their policy is on the web site, or you can use an outside web resource like college navigator.
You can also find out which colleges will or might award merit scholarships to your child based on his/her test scores, gpa and so on.
The advantage that people in this income range have is that while they can’t afford to pay for the $45-65k/year schools out-of-pocket, they generally seem to be able to pay for the $20k/year schools, or the balance of the $25-40k/year schools after merit aid is applied.
I don’t think the majority of families fit that description. Most kids don’t have super stellar stats that will get them into the highly selective schools that give full need based scholarships. Even if they do, everybody wants to go there, so the chances of getting in are slim. So the majority of lower income/high stats kids aren’t going to the elite/financially generous schools.
High stats/lower income students may qualify for some institutional need based and merit aid at the next financial tier down, but if they’re from a family whose income is just above the limit for federal grants they have to cover the gap themselves. Those families don’t have $80k/kid socked away to cover that gap. They don’t have the ability to take it out of current income and they can’t borrow it, so they can’t go to these schools either.
Kids with high stats from families who do qualify for federal grants have it worse than than those whose families are on the borderline. The federal loan and Pell grant still leaves a huge chunk to pay at most schools. A $10k gap is a huge deal and every unexpected expense (extra fees, an additional book, medical expenses, or auto repair bill, etc) can suddenly make a school that was just barely affordable too expensive.
I can afford for my kid to commute to our local state school, but I don’t begrudge the low income families whose kids can afford to dorm because our state gives a generous need based grant on top of Pell and the student loan. Those kids are working full-time all summer and part-time during the school year to try to stay financially afloat. My son doesn’t have to work to pay his tuition bill so he can focus on his studies, internships, networking with classmates, and jobs that will advance his career. We’re not getting need based aid because we don’t need it, and I wouldn’t trade my lifestyle and the advantages I can give my children for the lifestyle and the struggles of the families who do.
We are a moderate incomed California family (I’d consider us middle class, but this past year, at least, the government considered us lower middle class, as we qualified for $1300 in Pell Grant). Our EFC was around $4400-4500 (don’t remember exactly).
There was an incredible variety of financial aid packages for my 2015 graduate. Weirdly enough, the Cal State school down the street gave us only the Pell Grant-no Cal Grant at all- so the actual cost for him to live at home and commute, was more than the one need-blind 100% meets need school to which he was admitted. Had he wanted to live on campus, I have no idea what that would have looked like.
Further, the other Cal State schools offered a Cal Grant of about $5400 plus the $1300 Pell Grant, which totally gaps a student since there’s no coverage for room and board. So, he got a total of about $5700, but the billed amount to attend a Cal State out of the area (tuition, fees, room and board) would be on the order of 18K (and our cost would be somewhere around 11-13K) or so, making Cal States very, very expensive compared to some privates that my son got into, even the privates that don’t meet 100% need.
The UCs were more generous, but definitely still gapped us. Purdue was more generous than our in state schools, oddly enough.
But yes, both my older boys “hit the jackpot”, so to speak, in terms of financial aid, as they will be attending/attend 100% need-blind/meets need schools. Further, they both have outside scholarship, so should they be able to graduate, they will both graduate debt-free.
My oldest son is a senior in college and he has worked full time + each summer. He lives very poorly on campus, but it’s been a fantastic journey and we feel so, so, so blessed to have gotten the financial support.
I don’t believe applying for financial aid hurt either of my boys. My oldest got into all colleges to which he applied. My middle son, a much weaker candidate, was rejected by some top colleges, but this wasn’t because of financial aid; he was just not good enough to be admitted. (Except for WUSTL, where he was waitlisted; I am sure finances played a part in his not getting off the waitlist) But, the one top 10 school to which he was admitted happens to have great f. aid, so we’re very, very thankful.
I agree about applying to some of the schools that give merit and need-based aid. My son got good packages from schools like U Rochester and Northeastern, as well as UT Dallas and Purdue. All packages had both merit and need-based aid.
Thanks for the insightful replies everyone!