financial aid for family w/ income over 100k ?

Paying for College
21

<p>Depending on one's assets, equity, etc., there is hope. We knew were were borderline at best for FA. (FAFSA EFC was close to COA at most of S's schools.) For us, the PROFILE generated a lower EFC and we actually got some FA offers. Not much, but better than nothing. (We also have major ongoing medical expenses.) If your family has unusual expenses (medical bills, paying for grandparents' support, etc.) that can be documented and some schools may take it into account.</p>

<p>My parents were convinced (?!) we wouldn't qualify for FA back when I was heading off to college (five kids, six years apart, $22K in income, zero savings), so they refused to provide info. After nine months of begging and pleading, they finally handed the tax info over -- I had an EFC of zero. </p>

<p>Apply. Can't hurt. Might help.</p>

22

<p>i guess i'll try to answer some questions. </p>

<ul>
<li><p>I am going to apply for financial aid. </p></li>
<li><p>I don't know what my parents' assets are. </p></li>
<li><p>Schools considering: UPenn, JHU, Cornell, Columbia, Drexel, Villanova, Lehigh, Penn State, UMCP, Georgetown, Notre Dame, UIUC</p></li>
</ul>

23

<p>I believe most of the private schools on your list require the CSS Profile for financial aid applicants as well as the FAFSA. This means that your family's home equity will also come into play in some way for each of these schools. They make the assumption that families can borrow against their home equity.</p>

<p>Are you instate for Maryland or Illinois? If not, you will probably find your financial aid very limited at those schools. They don't meet full need and they have an obligation to their instate students first and foremost.</p>

<p>In fact, most of the schools on your list do not meet full need which means you could face a significant "gap" between your EFC and the cost of attendance. In addition, loans will likely be part of your package, not just grants.</p>

<p>Your parents know their assets. Some families share that information with their college bound kids and others do not. </p>

<p>The most important piece of information for you to get from your parents is what they are willing to contribute each year to fund your college costs. If there are limitations, this might alter your application list. </p>

<p>I always say...apply for the aid. First of all, you might get some. Second, you never know what might happen during the school year (loss of parents' job, high medical expenses, etc) that may make paying the college bills difficult. If you have a special circumstance happen during the school year, the school will be able to consider your request for additional aid. You will be required to complete any finaid forms the school requires. The last thing you will want to do if there is a crisis in your family is complete these forms. Do it when you apply.</p>

24

<p>Thumper is absolutely right. I suggest you apply also, as some merit money is also dependent on filling out FAFSA and the unsubsidized Stafford also requires a FAFSA. Some of the colleges do take into account a sibling's private high school tuition so that may help. However, you and your parents need to talk as to how much they can pay for your education so that when all is said and done, you don't find yourself accepted to a school without being able to pay for it. None of the ivies will give you merit money, no will ND, GT. Merit money at JHU is extremely competitive. Penn State has very little for OOSers even for those it enrolls in HOnors College, usually just a few thousand dollars and OOS tuition is very high. UI and UM are not likely to give much either unless your stats are very, very good.</p>

<p>I suggest you do a run through of PROFILE. Doubt if you will get a dime from the government except subsidized loans, but you will need to do FAFSA as well as a clearing house to get fin aid, and state schools tend to use it as the sole fin aid app.</p>

<p>You have some good value schools there such as Drexel and if any of those schools are in state. You need at financial safeties if your family will be hurting to pay full tab. Look for some schools where your stats will give you some merit money such as UPitt, CaseWestern, Dennison, etc.</p>

25

<ul>
<li><p>ok i live in PA so PSU, Lehigh, Drexel, and Villanova would all be in state for me. (oh and UPenn if that means anything.) </p></li>
<li><p>stats (scores): ACT - 33 .. GPA - 4.22 .. rank - top 5%-10%.. merit aid is plausible at some of my schools but certainly not definite. </p></li>
<li><p>i will apply. i will talk to my parents. hopefully i can get something. </p></li>
</ul>

<p>However, first i should concentrate on getting into these schools before i think too much about paying for them. :)</p>

26

<p>I was in this situation. My parents were in the 130-140k range and I received no financial aid from my school. They are the type who have saved for a long time, didn't accumulate debt and were responsible with everything they had. I was kind of upset b/c I felt like I had worked extremely hard in school not to receive any help.</p>

<p>I applied for ~20 outside scholarships, and won 7. This year I can use about 10K and then I have about 20,000 to use the other 3 years. Bottomline, if you don't get anything from the school, apply for as many outside scholarships as you can and dont waste time with those that look at financial need if you don't have financial need.</p>

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<p>Re: costs....the only school that your state of residency matters for is PSU. You would be paying instate tuition at that school. For the others in PA...they are private schools and your costs would be the same regardless of your state of residency.</p>

<p>Now..re: scholarships...Since you are an instate student at PSU, look for any scholarships that might be for students with your ACT score and GPA. I'm assuming your GPA is weighted. What is your unweighted GPA? I'm assuming lower as you are not in the top 1% of your class.</p>

<p>I agree..you might want to consider UPitt. Good scholarship potential there, plus good value for an instate resident.</p>

<p>UPenn, Cornell, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Columbia...no merit money at these schools.</p>

<p>Drexel, Villanova, Lehigh, JHU- Check for scholarships at these..may be a possibility. JHU is very competitive for scholarship money.</p>

<p>Penn State, UMCP, , UIUC- Aid for OOS students at Illinois and Maryland should not be counted upon although they do have some. </p>

<p>Have your parents indicated any financial limitations for your colleges?</p>

28

<p>We're in that income range and for the past two years (freshman & transfer), only HYP offered substantial FA. We were assessed as having no financial need by Brown, Dartmouth, Amherst, WUSTL & Rice (though R gave a merit award).</p>

29

<p>You should make sure you have financial safeties when you make your list and that you and your parents are on the same page in terms of affordability. It seems to me that every year there is a slew of posts from distraught kids who got into schools that their parents can't or won't afford. It hurts.</p>

30

<p>no financial limitations.. my dad is all about paying as little as possible.. his speech is that I could get just as a good of an education at school "X", which is much cheaper than at prestigious school "Y". However, my mom wants me to go to the best college possible (that I like of course). </p>

<ul>
<li><p>stats clarification: school doesn't record UW GPA. school doesn't rank. there are ~280 kids in my grade and i'm def. in the top 15 in terms of W GPA (weird i know) </p></li>
<li><p>i actually have started looking at outside scholariships. i think i can start applying in July or August. i like that idea. </p></li>
<li><p>to make things more clear: my situation is by no means desperate like I've read about before on this forum. my parents will pay for wherever i go, but there would probably be financial burdens on them and myself. so i really want to lessen that burden if there is any possible way. because grad school/med school could be in the picture in the future (maybe). </p></li>
</ul>

<p>"JHU is very competitive for scholarship money.
- i'll be content with just getting into JHU lol. </p>

<p>thanks for all the comments and advice. anything else is welcome!</p>

31

<p>my parents make around...$240ish and we got about $33 from yale and harvard and even more from stanford.</p>

<p>granted there were some extenuating circumstances (like medical bills, private tuition, etc) but most of my schools were very generous.</p>

<p>if you are good enough to get into the very top schools, then everything will work out.</p>

32

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<p>Are you saying that Harvard and Yale awarded you $33 in grants?</p>

33

<p>It really depends on what assets are, age of parents, private tuitions, lack of pensions, other kids in college etc. Though income is what drives the aid number the most, there can be other mitagating factors. That's why sometimes this whole thing can be so unfair. </p>

<p>My friend whose son went to Harvard did not get money because the school felt that his apartments that he owned which are the sole source of his income and are his retirement could be liquidated to pay the costs. Possible but not a wise move on his part to do this. THere were folks who were better off than he was, but with their money in a company pension which does not have to be reported and not self employed that got some aid. If you fall within a pocket that gets favorable treatment through the process, you can make out. Otherwise, you pay.</p>

34

<p>at harvard if your parents make under 180k and have reasonable assets than the max theyll make you contribute is 10%</p>

35

<p>The story is that there is no maximum income for stafford loans. That is true for the unsubsidized staffords. However, for the subsidized stafford, I BELIEVE that you can get up to the maximum amount of subsidized up to your family EFC. In other words, if you have an EFC of $2000, you can get the subsidized stafford up to that amount. If you have a large EFC, you can get the maximum subsidized stafford, and the go on to the unsubidized Stafford if your school does not offer Perkins money or other funds. There are also special exceptions for kids whose parents do not qualify credit wise for PLUS.</p>

36

<p>cptofthehouse....there is a limit per year on ALL Stafford loans. I'm not sure of the exact amounts (someone else can post those), but for freshmen, the total is somewhere in the $3500 range. Students receive subsidized stafford loans if they have financial need. Students without financial need receive unsubsidized loans. Perkins loans are usually reserved for students with need who also are not high income. Colleges have some discretion awarding the Perkins...but if you have a high EFC and don't have much need, you probably are not going to get a Perkins loan.</p>

<p>If you have a high EFC, that means that your family can contribute a LOT to your college education. You probably will get an unsubsidized Stafford (no need) not a subsidized one (where you have need). </p>

<p>Almost everyone who has no financial need (or very little) will be offered an unsubsidized Stafford loan IF they complete the FAFSA.</p>

<p>If the student's family is denied a Parent Plus loan, the student CAN apply for stafford loans in excess of the maximum usually allowed.</p>

37

<p>UChicago sent us a letter recently stating that new legislation has been passed and that the max subsidized for a freshman is still $3500, but one can take an additional $2000 in non-subsidized Staffords, for a total of $5500. Strudents getting non-subsidized only can also go to $5500. </p>

<p>From the email and letter we received:
"Effective for the 2008-2009 school year: increased loan limits for undergraduate students. </p>

<p>On Wednesday May 7, 2008, President George W. Bush signed legislation that increased the loan limits for undergraduate students. Effective for the 2008-09 school year, students may borrow an additional $2,000 from the unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan program. You may have already submitted your 2008-09 Federal Stafford Loan Instruction and Amount Request Form. However, if you want to borrow additional unsubsidized funds based on the new loan limits, please complete the revised 2008-09 Federal Stafford Loan Instruction and Amount Request Form by accessing it online: </p>

<p><a href="http://collegeaid.uchicago.edu/pdfs/0809_fedstafford_loanrequest.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://collegeaid.uchicago.edu/pdfs/0809_fedstafford_loanrequest.pdf&lt;/a>. </p>

<p>Indicate the total amount you want to borrow for the year, including any amount(s) previously requested. Be sure to check the unsubsidized box on step three. Based on federal regulations, we will determine the maximum amount you are eligible to borrow when we certify the loan application.</p>

<p>Dependent Undergraduate Students<br>
Base Amount Additional unsubsidized loan amount prior to July 1, 2008 Additional unsubsidized amount effective July 1, 2008
Freshman $3,500 $0 $2,000
Sophomore $4,500 $0 $2,000
Junior or Senior $5,500 $0 $2,000</p>

<ul>
<li>Students considered independent by federal guidelines may be eligible to borrow an additional $4,000 in their first and second years and an additional $5,000 in their third and fourth years under the unsubsidized program.</li>
</ul>

<p>P.S. The link is for UChicago students -- check with your own FA office for updates/forms.</p>

38

<p>Yes, I know there are Stafford limits, but if parent's are denied PLUS loans, kids can get additional amounts. I do not know the absolute overall limits. The subsidized limit is $3500, I know and you can get that only if your EFC is shows unmet need of that amount. I never did understand Perkins loans and FSEOG monies and how they are distributed, though I do know that you need to have extensive need and Pell eligible kids are first in line for them. I do not know on what basis colleges are eligible to get those funds to give out and how much they are. The only thing the FAFSA EFC can guarantee are the Pell grants and subsidized Stafford loans at various need threshholds. The rest is up to the school and possibly the state.</p>

39

<p>does anyone have experience with applying for FA with "atypical" assets? my grandparents have all died & two of them had houses in boston (they bought decades ago) that got my parents a substantial inheritance. now all of this is tied up in extremely illiquid investments. it looks as though FAFSA & PROFILE couldn't care less about the massive amount of money we would lose liquidating them to pay for my education. our income is about 170k.</p>

<p>do i still have a hope of financial aid? we ran the princeton aid estimator to get a sense of the top tier's aid-- it said our need was 0. i'm looking at ivies, stanford, & swarthmore.</p>

40

<p>No, you are not going to get financial aid when there are assets sitting there. THat would not be fair. Your parents can borrow against the houses, until they put them on the market. </p>

<p>Otherwise you need to look at schools that give merit aid. If you are looking at those top schools and are a qualified candidate for them, there are some possibilities at less selective schools that could give you scholarships. You would also be eligible for a subsidized Stafford loan and your parents can take out PLUS loans to tide you over until you can get your atypical assets liquidated.</p>