<p>That is not true, LovemyPuppies. SUNY Binghamton’s COA is about $30K for OOS, 10K more than for in state kids. My son goes OOS for a $36K cost, and the instate cost of his school is about $10K less there too. So a kid from there going to SUNY would be paying about $4K more to go OOS and to a school with most all in state kids and without the name recognition of his flagship. </p>
<p>My cousin asked about that option, and I had to say, that it was not worth it for her son. He was better off not paying that premium as his own state school truly had more name recognition and cost a lot less and he had a better chance of getting some instate award (which he did) to lower the cost even further. Plus the travel distance and car pooling potential was much more in his favor to go to his own state school. For my son to go OOS made sense, given the diverstiy, the name recognition, the amentities that the school he picked had over the SUNYs. That’s what he is getting for that extra $10K, and he is in good company with other New Yorkers there. Very few OOSers in SUNYs.</p>
<p>I see what you mean. For someone who want to go OOS, going to a SUNY is less expensive than a lot of other OOS schools. And the numbers on Kiplinger top 100 colleges do support your premise. However, kids much prefer to go to UNC-CH and UMich over SUNY Bing. By much, I mean by alot. Few kids from outside of NY want to go to the SUNYs because the name recognition outside of NY and academic circles is not there, nor are the amenties. They’ll pick UDel, UMD, UConn over SUNY even with the cost differential. And you get the same even from instate. A lot of New Yorkers prefer to to to an OOS public over their own state schools for the same reason, though I am seeing a stronger trend now for instaters to go SUNY, particularly Binghamton over other OOS publics due to the price.</p>
<p>You are right about it. But if cost is the issue for this family with 4 kids, it is something to consider, especially if they go on to grad school.</p>
<p>In the OPs case, I don’t think the son has applied to OOS publics that cost $50k. It seems like they’ve applied to schools like VT and NC State. Their OOS costs are probably more like $32-40k in COA.</p>
<p>If the OP would tell us how much he’s able to pay, then that would help. Even a $30k SUNY may not work. </p>
<p>Since it sounds like the student will be majoring in eng’g and his stats are good but not “merit-good” for the better schools that give merit, he might want to apply to schools like Miss State. It has very good eng’g, big companies recruit there, and with his ACT 27, he might get instate rates…which are low. COA would be more like $20k then.</p>
<p>The college process has been a big eye-opener for me! It is exciting but also overwhelming. My first child will be going to college next fall. We have high income and some assets and when we did the fafsa4caster it said EFC would be $96,000 ( have not completed fafsa yet). That will be the project this weekend. My D only applied to 2 in state schools (of 9 schools total) which she is not particularly fond of. We will get no need based aid so it will be tough to pay for college. We have some savings, and will have to take student and parent loans. Her dream school is Penn State ( I posted on another thread about our quandry), but the tuition cost there for OOS may be beyond our reach. She may be forced to attend one of the in-state schools. Costs have gotten out of control.</p>
<p>To the OP: you’re fortunate to be in a state that reduces taxable income dollar-for-dollar for contributions to the PA 529 plan. In addition, the PA 529 account is not included in determining eligibility for Pennsylvania state financial aid programs. To toss around a number or two, if you have $100K total invested in all 4 of your sons’ 529 accounts, this will increase your EFC by a marginal amount of $5600 assuming you have other assets that make up your asset protection allowance. As you spend down the money, the increase in EFC due to the 529 dollars will be reduced. Is it possible that over the years you’ve received a significant tax benefit due to your contributions that equals the increased EFC?</p>
<p>Carly, that is our EFC, and our fourth one is going to an OOS school at that price range which come to about $16K more than what our in state schools would cost. We have about a third of the cost saved , a third we pay, and we borrow a third. It’s tight but we do it. It was tough when we had two in college, as their cost was close to our EFC. Had the both gone to top cost private we would have been eligible for some aid maybe.</p>
<p>Ouch, indeed! Our EFC for twins (both twins, total) is $37K, which is 60% of our agi. I am a single parent, have a middle class income, and non-typical assets. This was not unexpected and I’m not shocked. I’m so glad I went through this financial aid process informed as best possible (from all the outstanding information provided by other CC parents) :).</p>
A minor point, but I don’t consider a 45 minute one-way commute all that reasonable for college students (or for myself for that matter). </p>
<p>S dorms and his college is only 20-25 minutes in decent weather. (Of course, the dorming has nothing to do with the commute. If D attends her local option, it is only a 7 minute commute, but she will dorm as well.)</p>
<p>I agree, Sylvan, that a 45 minute commute is no easy matter, but for the state flagship for nearly free, it was a good deal. Had they boarded there, it would have been a lot less expensive than the choices they made as well. Ironically, one of them commutes there now for a part time job which is the best he can find. Unlike going to college, he goes there 5 days a week. </p>
<p>A lot of kids, and adults (for work) for that matter ,commute at least that much time around here. It is a norm in this area. And DH’s cousins all commuted to their state flagship which is at least that far from where family members lived.</p>
<p>While a 45 minute commute to college is not ideal, for some that is the only affordable option. I know students that commute because R&B isn’t affordable. While gas isn’t cheap, I know kids that car-pool to college to save on transportation costs and to make the ride more enjoyable. </p>
<p>Another option some students do is arrange their schedules so that their classes are MWF…that can also cut down on the time spent commuting. </p>
<p>there are a bunch of “good students” whose stats fall below merit or good aid schools, and their families can’t pay for tuition, room, board, fees, and books. </p>
<p>when other options aren’t do-able, people can get creative to make things more affordable.</p>
<p>Thanks! You were right - my parents miss entered their net worth (they included their 401K plans). With the correct my EFC dropped to 32K; still expensive, but much easier to deal with than 63K!</p>
<p>That sounds about right. I’m guessing that your parents do have some assets beyond the protected amounts? </p>
<p>While your EFC has now dropped to $32k, if you’re not applying to schools that meet need, you may still be expected to pay most/all costs. And, if you are applying to schools that meet need, then do they require CSS Profile? If so, those schools may determine a different “family contribution.”</p>
<p>My husband commuted 45 minutes each way for night classes to get his BS degree. It wasn’t ideal but we were married and he wasn’t moving into a dorm. He scheduled classes so he only had to do this three days a week at the most.</p>
I don’t believe that anyone should judge what someone else deems unreasonable in terms of a commute. It seems like some posters are quick to say that 45 minutes (or X minutes, as I’m sure some here have commuted uncountable hours each way for a class or two) is just fine for everyone and anyone, they themselves having done so.</p>
<p>@carly Do you mind me asking? What is your income level? A 100 thousand EFC seems outrageous. My parents make ~200k and have an estimated EFC of about 50</p>