I have run NPCs for every school my D is looking at and know we will get no need based aid for her freshman year. But my husband is close to retirement age and is starting to have health issues and we have a younger son that will be starting school when my D is still attending. So…
How does this work? Schools ask if you are applying for financial aid. We won’t be, at least at first. But if we suddenly apply for aid later due to my husband needing to retire or our son starting college, will they turn us down automatically because she said she didn’t need it on her application? The financial aid office won’t even have a file for her. Or does that matter? Or does it depend on the school? She is not looking at the more selective schools that meet 100% of need.
Some colleges may not let you apply later if you don’t apply the first year. So probably apply anyway. I will let other members correct me if I am wrong.
At colleges that don’t guarantee to meet need I don’t think you will get anything if you don’t apply the first year, even if you aren’t awarded something initially. But there are no guarantees that you would get something later anyway. Just hopefully.
So we should apply the first year just to get our foot in the door, even though we know the numbers will say we aren’t getting anything? Will this hurt her application at some schools?
I agree with @BrownParent. Yes, some schools are need aware (most are not). But would you want your child to go there and find out when your H retires and your S also heads off to school that you can’t afford it any longer?
Applying for aid will not affect her application if the college/university determines that she doesn’t need any aid, so go ahead and apply. That kind of need-awareness won’t affect a student who is considered to be full-pay (or very nearly full-pay).
However Erin’s Dad makes an excellent point. Given that your ability to pay may be very different in future years, it makes better sense for you to determine now what your worst-case situation will be, and focus on places that will bring your costs into that range either through merit-based aid that your daughter will receive from the get-go, need-based aid that is guaranteed by the school’s aid policy should it turn out that your daughter needs that aid in the future, or simply by being lower cost to begin with.
There are only a small number of colleges that have restrictions for U.S. Citizens and permanent residents in terms of not applying for aid the first year…and then applying in subsequent years. So do check. This is far more common an issue for international students.
Since you know your income will change, and you have another kiddo in the college hopper, why not look for merit aid awards that are not dependent on financial need, or number in college.
Personally, I would apply for aid now…nothing to lose.