<p>The more I research, the less I understand.</p>
<p>Student has 40 schools on list (11th grade). To whittle down list, we're combing thru the Common Data Set. Surprisingly, many of these schools meet 100% need. Great!</p>
<p>Now we need to define what the heck need is.</p>
<p>Many of these schools are small privates that use the CSS Profile.</p>
<p>We realize the Profile can yield different results as compared to the FAFSA which has a handy estimator calculator.</p>
<p>My questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>How do we at this early stage compare apples to apples?</p></li>
<li><p>I cannot readily find the Common Data Set for some schools -- What am I doing wrong? I expect it is on IPEDS if it is a school in Princeton Review, etc.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Many schools have an online calculator. I used the one on the site for Williams, I don’t remember who else has them. I found it really helpful, I was able to get a ballpark estimate of how much financial aid we could expect from them.</p>
<p>Dartmouth and Princeton also have their own estimators. However, Dartmouth is changing its no-loan policy to limited loans next year.</p>
<p>CSS Profile allows colleges to “tune” parameters for determination of need. However, you can experiment with these calculators by adding (or subtracting) 10K in assets or income to see what impact it has. </p>
<p>Some schools do not publish common datasets, but they are a great source of information.</p>
<p>As for apples to apples comparisons, you really won’t know until you are accepted and get a fin aid package. Even then, college is a multi-year proposition and you will only have the first year’s award to make a judgment about all 4 years. A simple A2A comparison is to subtract billed costs (tuition/fees/room/board) from free money (grants & scholarships). This leaves loans and work-study out of the equation (definitely not free money) as well as books and incidental expenses, which will probably be about the same regardless of where you enroll.</p>
<p>Good luck whittling your list down. 40 is way too many.</p>
<p>Also be aware that some school who meet 100% of need are a bit disingenuous. They get to determine what the “need” is AND they may meet need with big loans (unless they have a policy not to do so).</p>
<p>Here’s [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator - Finaid)
Do both the federal method and institutional methods, but be aware that each school can create an institutional formula any way that suits them. Also, if there is an NCP, that income might also be considered.</p>
<p>Also, be aware that most 100% need schools are also reach schools, so be sure to include some financial safety schools in case the reach schools don’t work out or have expected family contributions that are unaffordable.</p>
<p>The web site college data dot com has many common data sets. Go to a school’s summary profile and look in the top right corner for a link called “Full”, which goes to a PDF.</p>
<p>If you use the EFC calculator on the College Board web site, you can check the box that says you want both federal and institutional methodology. The institutional methodology is a rough PROFILE-based EFC. When you get the results, you can click on the little question marks next to the numbers to see a breakdown of what went into each computation.</p>
<p>This page has finanical aid pledges by participating schools (page down). You can see exactly what the school promises for aid regarding loans/no loans/or loan limits and income level limits for each pledge. Most schools on the list also indicate what contribution is expected from the student for summer work and work during the school year. If any of your schools are on this list this site is very useful.</p>
<p>If you have a divorce situation with stepparents and noncustodial parents it gets infinitely more complex. Princeton has a financial aid calulator that can produce an estimate including custodial and non-custodial parents but Princeton is very generous with finanical aid (so not very representative for other schools). </p>
<p>One caveat - I have read on CC where some schools promise “no loans” under a certain income (i.e. $50k) but end up awarding loans to students whose income is under the limit but the school has considered assets into the income value (don’t think this is very ethical). So be careful and have some true financial safeties as M2K said.</p>
<p>If you own a home, I’d ask each of the profile schools directly (via an email to the financial aid office) whether they include home equity in their asset calculation, and if they do, is it capped at a certain amount or AGI multiple. We found this to be a big difference between schools. (Some schools have this information directly on their websites, but most didn’t.) A few told us “it depends” and that then caused us to treat those schools with a higher degree of caution. If you bought your home fifteen or twenty years ago you might have a lot of equity that some schools feel ought to be included just like money in the bank. You might not think so, especially if you’re still paying a mortgage.</p>
<p>Also, don’t let the posted “average need met” numbers fool you. Some kids (with top scores) might get 100% or 90% of their need met, while others might get very little of their need met…yet the “average” will be deceiving.</p>
<p>There’s a parent who posted a short time ago that saw that his D’s school claimed to meet 75% of need. The family thought that was do-able. Then they got their D’s actual FA package. It met about 30% of need. Not do-able at all.</p>
<p>Thanks all – gives me lots to do this weekend.</p>
<p>Yes - there is a Non-Custodial Parent issue where the father is absent. My SIL is getting mixed info with her responsibilites to locate him. He is usually unemployed and “wanders” often.</p>
<p>Am I understanding the Common Data Set correctly – If it states 100% need met, I can then look at the average package given and the average grant to determine the average in loans? I realize it is all “averages” and “estimates” but at this stage that is all we can work with.</p>
<p>There’s a difference between the amount of loans offered and the amount actually borrowed. i.e., the school may offer $5000 to a student, but the student may decline some or all of that amount. </p>
<p>Line H2m of the common data set shows the average need-based loan amount. But this it the amount that was actually borrowed, not the avg loans offered. </p>
<p>Avg. package - avg. grant would probably be closer to the avg loans offered. In addition you can compare the amounts for 1st year student with the amounts for all students to get some sense of whether avg loan amounts increase in later years. If 1st-year amounts are higher than for all students it may indicate a change in loan policy, since upperclassmen may be grandfathered in to the old loan policy.</p>
<p>Fin aid policies can and do change from year to year, sometimes without any announcement (usually because aid is diminished). Thus the common dataset fin aid numbers may not reflect current reality. The common datasets available now are for the class entering fall of 2009. The data for the class entering 2010 will not start showing up until November at the earliest.</p>
<p>Your “wandering” non-custodial parent might complicate things, but just be aware that most Profile schools do not require non-custodial information. Check with each school’s website to confirm. Here’s the list of all Profile participants with an indication of whether or not they require the NCP form.</p>
<p>The problem is that many/most schools that meet 100% of need (without loans or with limited loans) are usually the schools that require NCP info.</p>
<p>The CSS schools that don’t require NCP info are usually the schools that can’t meet need. </p>
<p>To be on the safe side, you’ll need to include some schools that don’t need NCP info and will give big merit scholarships (since those are the schools that often don’t give big FA).</p>
<p>Here’s some info on which schools require the NCP to submit CSS info. However, be aware that some schools have the NCP fill out their own paperwork, so this list may not be perfect.</p>
<p>Isn’t this ever so complicated? As I wound my way through the financial aid labyrinth, I could not believe how incredibly difficult it is to get a good idea where the best chances for money are. ‘’</p>
<p>Ask each school on your list if they have financial aid calculators. Many have them online. Also ask about current loan policies and anything else that is new this year. Schools change their procedures without notice many times. The non custodial parent issue is one to address as well.</p>
<p>Even with all of that info, predicting the packages is difficult because, yes, there are often surprises. The admissions office is allowed a lot of leeway and professional judgment in distributing aid. Even more complicated are merit within need packages that can net a student more than what he would get under the PROFILE formula for need. Schools have awards that may favor those who qualify for financial aid or even are only for those who have financial aid. So even if you should have your exact numbers at hand, it is possible to get wide variances on how financial aid offices end up processing your student’s package.</p>
<p>OP – good for you for examining all this stuff before your child applies to schools.
So many times this spring there have been posts from kids who have fallen in love with schools they have been accepted to, only to find that they can’t afford to go.
It’s very sad. You are potentially saving your child from that kind of heartache.</p>
<p>Longhaul - seconding the congratulations for looking at FA early. I also recommend having a conversation with your child NOW about the financial realities. Then you can feel free to apply to a variety of schools (making sure there is a financial safety that s/d is willing to attend). You never know where you may get money!</p>
<p>Also ask EACH SCHOOL about the treatment of outside scholarships and apply for LOTS of them. My big learning from this year has been the VAST differences in approaches that colleges take. </p>
<p>I guess I’m saying use the CSS type calculators that are out there, the college specific ones where possible, be mentally prepared for what is expected, apply to a variety then you have to sit back and wait - which I warn you will be brutal :-)</p>