<p>Now that financial aid offers are coming in I find it fascinating to see the variation in schools that "meet need" and how they accomplish this and what it means in real world finances.</p>
<p>Of note: all are very good, very well known schools and all claim to meet need except the last one which gives good merit to good students so it comes out the same</p>
<p>The figures factor in loans, contribution from 529, student earnings etc. They are all COA 60k schools</p>
<p>School 1 is top 5 in the nation (not an enormous endowment) and then end results is that we would owe $19500 (including 1 small Perkins loan)</p>
<p>School 2 is top 30 (maybe higher) and the result is we would owe $25,000 (including 3 small loans)</p>
<p>School 3 is top 20 (maybe higher) and result is we would own $30,00 (including 2 loans)</p>
<p>School 4 is top 40 and he got Full tuition Merit so result is we would owe about 21k (including 1 small loan)</p>
<p>I think the more than 10K top to bottom (and really more like 15K because of the loans) is pretty interesting considering the all claim to meet need.</p>
<p>FWIW: our efc for FAFSA was about 23K and all the schools required CSS</p>
<p>We found the same thing back in 2007 when my D was admitted to a number of need-meeting schools. How the school determines need varies, since they use Profile to gather additional information (and use the results differently) - and schools that limit or eliminate loans in the package will add more grants than those that don’t.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is the Cost of Attendance. Some have more generous COAs, which can actually net more aid than those with less generous COAs … if you control those miscellaneous costs, you can maximize the aid awarded.</p>
<p>My D ended up going to a top school with a no loan policy. It cost us less than our state flagship would have cost.</p>
<p>We feel pretty fortunate that the school he wanted most (out of all of them, accepted and rejected) is the most affordable to us. After reading the threads from so many disappointed kids we are really thankful and grateful our son gets to go to his dream school.</p>
<p>This is why I am so against ED for those who need aid. The differences can be even more staggering than what you have there. For a low income family, it can make a big difference as to how difficult the journey is going to be financially.</p>
<p>cpt: I know! He applied to his school EA but I didn’t let him apply anywhere ED. We have a very basic financial picture, no big investments, no business, no rental properties etc. And the NPCs came in pretty close (#1 school was actually more generous than expected). So it was kind of surprising to have a $15,000 difference.</p>
<p>Jamiecakes - </p>
<p>Congratulations on the good outcome! And thank you for posting this . . . it’s the kind of story that people really need to hear.</p>
<p>I want to also congratulate you and your son. It is a good news story that I love to read. Do post how you as a parent planned this…a family with a $25K EFC. yet you saved, picked a good variety of schools and how it is going to be doable.</p>