FAFSA and how to pay for college.

Paying for College
1

Due to having a large amount of money in the stocks, FAFSA has put our EFC at around 50K. We certainly cannot contribute that much. We were saving our stocks until retirement, and when paying capital gains would be more reasonable. Income wise we take in about 150K and each child has about 70K saved for college in 529. We will have a 2nd child in college, but not for 2 more years. D is applying to schools that start at around 40K per year, some as high as over 60. There will be some merit aid, but I was hoping to not have to 2nd mortgage our home or sell those stocks. to stretch the 70K and even add 10 to 15K per year I was hoping to get costs down to around 35K /year. I dont want to run out of money after she is a sophmore .

When giving aid, do the schools stick to FAFSA? Will they even talk to you about circumstances (cannot really sell stocks)

2

Did you run the Net Price calculators for each of her college choices? They usually give a pretty good estimate of your costs. Does she have any financial safeties on her list? Some schools may also require the CCS profile which goes into more depth regarding your finances.

Just remember the EFC again is an estimate and the colleges will determine need, but based on your income and assets, expect to pay the full EFC.

3

If you haven’t yet, now would be a good time to educate yourself on the ins and outs of merit aid, including things like:

  • first year only vs. renewable aid
  • guaranteed merit aid vs. competitive awards
  • requirements to retain renewable merit aid

There are some schools that award small amounts of “merit aid” to practically every student. Some schools offer no merit aid whatsoever - only need-based. Typically to receive any meaningful amount a student needs to be in the top 10-15% or so of applicants at a school, which sometimes means adjusting expectations with regard to prestige.

Your child’s stats and goals will be important in finding schools that are financial matches and safeties. Most of the time the school is the best source of aid - but every school sets their own rules so it’s important to read all the details and understand the deadlines and requirements.

4

My husband and I were in the same situation due his company stock. We had a good income >150K like you, wasn’t willing to cash out the stocks since they were reserved for retirement and had about 80K per son (2) saved in a 529 plan. Our son’s are 1 year apart in college so 3 years overlap. Our EFC was at $60K with 1 in college at that time.

Both were given a budget for college. They had to have 2-3 financial and academic safeties on their college list that they would be willing to attend. After that, they could apply to any other schools they wished. If the schools were over budget, they would be required to get merit aid and minimal student loans and work summers to make them financially feasible.

Older son did apply to 2 privates schools in the $55K+ range, received some merit aid but not enough to bring it down within his budget. He ended up at a better state school within his budget.

Younger son only applied to state schools, all well within budget and had many good choices in the end.

Moral to this long winded post, is you are the Adult and you need to explain to your daughter your financial limitations. Set a budget, stick to it and let her know that she needs a few financial safety schools on her list or she cannot apply to any of the $40K+ schools. When she graduates debt free, I am sure she will thank you.

5

It would take a lot of talking to get most schools to not consider a $50k EFC which is caused by the parents having a good income and stocks. If it were in retirement accounts, most schools wouldn’t consider it a liquid asset, but if you don’t protect it in qualified retirement accounts, the schools view it as available money for tuition.

Some schools will talk to you about the FAFSA EFC, but usually it is because of a change in circumstances like a job loss or medical bills, not because you don’t want to sell stocks. If your income is $150k and you have $140k in 529 plans for your kids, your EFC is going to be fairly high anyway. Run the NPC without the stocks and see what EFC you get. Having an EFC of $40k rather than $50k may not get you much additional in need based aid. It would really depend on the school if they give need based aid with that high an EFC.

6

our biggest problem is that in our State we have two flagship schools that are impossible to get into, and then the rest, which wont give her a strong education in her desired “change the world” major. She did apply to one of the flagship schools, but odds are low in getting in.

For some of hte OOS schools, she could gain residency by her junior year (getting place to live and drivers license) and that would help.

She is applying to get as many scholarships as she can, and we will see where the dice land. I was just hoping that some of these expensive schools would eventually fall into affordability. I know I sound whiney when so many families dont even have what we have, but I want to have something left after sending kids to college. If I had given it thought years ago I would have transferred the stocks to some type of retirement account, but its probably too late now.

7

@sdl0625

Listen to @Gumbymom

I read your other threads. It appears you are from Georgia, and your two instate flagships are UGA and GT. Did your daughter apply to UGA by their priority deadline? If so, she would have heard about admission last week.

It looks like your daughter applied to UI, Emory, Elon, College of Charleston, GW and American. And some school in GA. Of these schools, only Emory meets full need for all accepted students. The others don’t. So…your FAFSA EFC would be the MINIMUM you would be paying at most of these colleges.

As you see, the EFC is largely based on income…and assets. No, the schools are not going to ignore your stocks. Schools do not grant need based aid so that families can own stocks…even if you intend to use these for retirement purposes, as noted by @Gumbymom you are not the first to have this issue.

You say your daughter wants to major in international relations/social action. She has already gotten accepted to UI (congratulations…that first acceptance is always a sweet one). Is that school affordable at the OOS cost of attendance?

At this point, it looks like you just need to wait and see. As an additional point…American, GW, Emory and Elon all require the Profile, don’t they? That really is the form that is used by these schools,when determining institutional need based aid.

At your income level of $150,000, your EFC on income alone would be near $50,000 a year. And at most places on your list, you would be expected to pay that family contribution.

8

Very unlikely. Most states do not grant residency for tuition purposes to students under 24 who move to the state. Sure, she can vote and get a license and pay taxes, but instate tuition will remain a dream unless a parent also moves to the new state, and even then it is not a sure thing. Utah and Missouri do allow the student to establish residency, but there are rules about living in the state year round.

I was in about the same income situation, but no other assets (401k, but no 529 and no stocks) when my kids went off to school. The EFC was ~$40k (so that’s why I think yours will be about $40k for one in school with an income of $150k, maybe higher with that $140k in 529 savings), cut in half to about ~$20k for each. That was too much for me, and they each got a budget. Neither wanted to go to the big flagships or even the other state schools. That was too bad, because that was my budget. They both managed to find other schools that were within the budget by finding small scholarships, cheap schools (OOS tuition is $15k), and unfortunately, taking the Stafford loans (not the first year but they have had to take them for sophomore and junior years).

If you post her stats, the schools (type) she’s hoping for, her major or area of study, the people on CC are pretty good at finding the hidden gems, the scholarships, the trades that make some schools work. If you post a specific school, someone may know a way to make it work. For example, FSU does grant instate status to students who do the first year in one of their study abroad programs. Not a good plan for everyone, but if the student is willing, it can save $60k over OOS tuition for the last 3 years.

You also have a younger child. It may not be too late to do some tax/financial aid planning for her college years.

9

It is HIGHLY unlikely that she’ll get instate rates at an OOS public. Unless YOU plan on moving there soon for your own work reasons, your DD will be considered in those states for education purposes, and therefore OOS for tuition.

If it were just as simple as “getting a place to live” and getting a DL, don’t you think all OOS students would go that route?? That’s why publics don’t accept those for residency for tuition purposes.


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She was going to apply to more safety schools, but since she got into IU , there is no need. She would be happy going to IU. I know her dream school is GW, but the cost . We almost went ED. Her 2nd choice is Elon, and then IU. Unfortunately in our state, the only real good options are UGA and GT, and they are near impossible to get in

[/QUOTE]

?? Since when is UGA impossible to get into?? What are your DD’s stats?

<<<<
She is applying to get as many scholarships as she can, and we will see where the dice land.
<<<

Pay attention to those applications. Many, if not all, of those awards are for Frosh year only. No money for soph year on. And many consider “need”. If your DD is lucky to win a couple of these awards, if they’re only for Frosh year, then determining affordability may be confusing to your student. We see this every year. Soph year rolls around and those outside scholarships have disappeared.

BTW…the schools that give the best aid use CSS Profile. Few FAFSA only schools give great aid.

10

Which schools on YOUR daughters application list will allow this? Not IU. Not College of Charleston. Did she apply to other OOS public universities?

The others are private colleges…and your state of residency does not matter one bit in terms of cost.

11

For future financial planning, you can put the max each year into IRA and 401k accounts. You also can consider moving some of your current holdings into annuities. Talk with a good financial planner about that. Annuities are tricky and not for everyone.

12

Before you do any financial gymnastics…remember…the bulk of your family contribution is determined by income.

And to paraphrase another poster…don’t do things for financial aid that you wouldn’t otherwise consider doing.

13

UGA and Georgia Tech are very difficult to get into, but not impossible. She’d also forego Hope/Zell Miller by leaving the state. I really think you have to use those state scholarships and grants if you want to keep costs down. Lower instate tuition and the grants can really help with the COA. You are then comparing tuition of about $4-5k to OOS/ private tuition of $40k+.

We lived in northern Florida when my kids were in high school, and very few from our school went to schools in Georgia because the cost of Georgia schools for OOS students was not favorable. It wasn’t worth it to give up Florida’s low tuition rates to go to Georgia, and I assume the reverse is true too. You just aren’t going to get a better deal than staying home, unless she has the stats to get a full tuition scholarship at Alabama or a similar school.

14

What was her ACT composite score? What is her GPA?

Did she take the SAT?

@mom2collegekids do the above scores look like they would garner merit aid from Alabama?

15

It’s hard to tell with only two parts of the ACT scoring given to guesstimate what her composite may be.

16

@sdl0625 Did you include the $140k in 529 balances on the FAFSA as a parent asset?

17

I don’t understand how an income of 150k PLUS college funds for each kid (how many kids?), plus a lot in stock, would have an EFC of “only” $50k per year.

Did you include all of your kids’ college funds on FAFSA?

<<<
All her reach schools are RD (emory 1/100 chance, American, GW) as well as safety of C of Charleston. She was going to apply to more safety schools, but since she got into IU , there is no need. She would be happy going to IU. I know her dream school is GW, but the cost . We almost went ED. Her 2nd choice is Elon, and then IU. Unfortunately in our state, the only real good options are UGA and GT, and they are near impossible to get in; she would not go to any other state school. need money tree in backyard. She wants to major in “change the world” .
<<<

Why are you worrying about FAFSA when a number of those schools use CSS Profile??

How is College of Charleston a safety if it’s unaffordable?

If your DD can’t get into UGA, how can she get into GW, Emory or American?

Is Indiana affordable OOS? Sounds like no aid there.

What is your DD’s ACT composite? What is her GPA?

18

?? Since when is UGA impossible to get into?? What are your DD’s stats?

Coming from her high school, which is very competitive, not good enough(I tend to believe the rumors). She has a UW GPA of about 3.6-3.7, and not enough AP compared to others. ACT 28. She did not apply EA, as it made no sense as they only take scores and GPA. We did apply to GT in their liberal arts school, but that is about a 1 in 100 chance, similar to Emory. Her thoughts were that its 0 in 100 without applying so why not try. there are other reasons that I dont wish to disclose here as to why she does not want to apply to other in state schools, and some out of state.

I know that her scores are a reach for many of the other schools on her list, but both American and GW do look more holistically so hoping that her very strong EC and the fact that she already has college credits from a program abroad will help. Realistically we are hoping for Elon and CofC once we got into IU. with a 50K EFC though, GW and American will probably “have to go”. even if she does get in. 40K annually is not great but not bankrupt-able.
to answer:
How is College of Charleston a safety if it’s unaffordable? Was thinking in terms of admissions, not cost.

Its hard as a parent to say no, as my parents made sure I got to go to my dream school and it did make a difference in my career. Back then tuition at CMU was 7K not the 40+K it is today.

When I was reading about getting instate tuition, it seemed that the rules were permanent year round residency for at least a year., but I would have to go back and look again. this is why I thought maybe by Junior year for IU

when we were going on the college tours they made it seem like they handed out money like candy. Reality has set in this past week. Also I was given mis information in regards to how EFC is calculated and not told about CSS yet. I have learned a lot reading here. I have realized that the stocks are not my biggest issue, but current salary.

BTW I am very aware that if she applied to schools such as Coastal Carolina, amoungst others, that they do hand out merit money to students like her.

I am using this forum just to vent. Sorry if I seem silly (I have considered deleting this thread and still may do so).The pragmatic person in me thought save up for college as much as you can for the kids , and yes you will have to contribute as well. but not live on Ramon noodles. note that the salary listed is for 2015, and up until recently had been much lower, but a new job changed that. I also dont want to run out midway through, wanting to be sure there is enough for 4 years. I also dont want to take my 2nd child’s money to help pay for the first, as I have no idea where they will end up going or doing.
Can we do CofC, IU, and Elon? As stated above, probably yes. BTW i will require that she work during the summer, using whatever she earns to pay for all incidentals. i am not sure how internships work these days (in my day I got paid), but that money would also go towards paying in the later years. We may also downsize our home when the 2nd child leaves for college.

19

It is not silly to be concerned about the cost of college.

It is also not always easy to find affordable options.

I don’t think you can delete threads on CC.

Does anyone know what ACT is needed to qualify for instate tuition at U of South Carolina?

What about Ole Miss scholarships?

I agree with @twoinanddone about maximizing aid with staying instate.

https://gsfc.georgia.gov/hope

^Hope scholarship requires GPA of 3.0? Zell Miller 3.7 GPA and 1200 SAT? ACT 28 should be close to that.

20

If you can’t afford to send her, this is NOT a safety.

Did she apply anywhere that is a sure thing for admission, AND is within your budget?

@mommdc for University of South Carolina, you get instate tuition IF you receive one of their scholarships which has to exceed a certain amount annually. It’s not a GPA/test score cut off. BUT…the application deadline for scholarship consideration was December 1, unless something has changed.

The OP can look on the U of South Carolina website to see what the date is for scholarship,consideration.

Many, many colleges have a December 1 application deadline for scholarship consideration.

This isn’t a chances thread…but I will give my opinion. I think this student has the potential tomget accepted to Elon, and American. But I thinkmthe family will be paying the full,cost of attendance at both.