<p>Bethorama, here is how it works in terms of financial aid.</p>
<p>You and your kids will have to fill out FAFSA on or after 1/12013 if they are starting school in fall of 2013. All three of you need to apply for FAFSA PINs and each son will fill out his own section, and you and/or your spouse will complete the parents section for each son. It is smart to have as little money in your accounts as possible on the day you fill out the FAFSA. Though the information is what should go on your 2012 tax returns, the actual dollar amounts of assets are reported as of the date you fill out the FAFSA. So payday is not a good day. Make sure your bills have all cleared when you fill this out. If your kids have savings, they should reimburse you for their expenses and you should have a savings account for them under YOUR name and ssn because kids get hit 20% of their savings with no allowance, whereas parents get an allowance and are hit about 5%, a big difference .<br>
Primary home equity and non custodial parent’s financials are not needed for FAFSA. However, if you are remarried–your spouse regardless of how he feels about it or whatever agreement has been made about it, has to include his financial info. Federal rules trump it all.</p>
<p>Each son will get a FAFSA EFC which is 1/2 of what your total EFC is plus whatever their portion of the form comes to. If they earn less than $6k in a year, and have no assets, their EFC will be zero, and both kids will have the same EFC.</p>
<p>That EFC will be what is used for federal aid, usually state aid, if there is any, and for those colleges who also use the FAFSA for their aid. At $11k your kids will NOT get an PELL grants. $11K also means that your son who you think might be going to community college or local school, is unlikely to get any financial aid if he commutes since the cost of most state schools for commuters is around that price or less, and these schools don’t tend to meet need anyways, so that if they cost more, the chances of getting the amount over EFC is small. Maybe, some local private school or any school that finds his stats “up there” compared to most of their students will throw in some aid money, but this is all up to chance. He will be eligible to borrow up to $5500 in Direct Stafford loans in his own name, and if the COA (cost of attendance) is higher than the EFC, some of the interest may be subsidized.</p>
<p>Your other son appears to be considering schools that have a greater chance of meeting full need, are very expensive in terms of sticker price, and selective in admissions. Still even for him, the most important pick or picks on his list are those school that are sure to take him, that you know you can afford. Financial aid is like playing the frigging lottery. Something I want to mention, is that if he truly wants to be a math teacher, the most direct path to getting a public school position in teaching is probably your state schools. MIT, and NE, though excellent schools are hardly the best place to go to become a high school math teacher. In order to get hired by most public schools, which is usually where the money is in teaching, there is often a certification process that differs from state to state. I know any number of kids who went to highly selective, expensive private schools, did well, and when they decided they wanted to go into teaching, they were at the end of the line BEHIND those who went to state school and specifically studied to become certified teachers. Those private school kids often had to complete a certification/education regiment at additional expense, taking more time , and still most often are teaching at private schools for far less money than those who went to a local state teachers’ college (or what used to be such–most have changed their names to be of broader focus). There are private schools that do have teaching programs that have some form of certification as well, but they may be good only in that state, so if your son goes OOS that can be an issue. I find that these certification programs are very confusing to understand, and if this is truly a path your son wants to consider, he needs to talk to his guidance counselor and get precisely what the reqs are for this state. That is something most public school guidance counselors can give in terms of info better than most anyone. He can also get a list of those schools that have such programs and if he is a high caliber student, there may be some scholarship possibilities there. Going into math as the subject he wants to teach, there are often incentives as there tends to be a shortage in that field. </p>
<p>If your son(s) are considering private schools that require PROFILE as well for financial aid, that also needs to be completed. A lot of schools that guarantee to meet need, define it using PROFILE, not FAFSA. Fill out some Net Price Calculators for such schools and see what they define as need for you son, and that will give you some idea of the fin aid packages from those schools, particularly those that guarantee to meet need. Also ask if loans and work study are part of their aid packages when you get down to making a list, because when those are so used, you lose that as a buffer.</p>
<p>A school like MIT meets full need and does not use loans, I believe Things change, so you always have to check the current situation. The problem with schools like MIT, is getting accepted. My guess, and this is a guess only, is that what you will be expected to pay will be a bit higher (and it could be lower even) with PROFILE school, so, say your need will be about $15-20K. That means that for those schools that cost $60K, the financial aid package will have to be $40K+. That’s a big chunk of change, that only the top schools in terms of meeting need will be likely to meet,OR schools where your son is in the very top echelon of students at that school where he is likely to get some merit money, and what is called merit within need. Even schools that don’t usually meet 100$ of need often do meet it for the students they want the most. But this is all up to chance, unless you find some schools that have guaranteed awards at certain threshholds that your son meets academically and with his test scores. IF he got into MIT, they are likely to meet his full need generously. NE…I don’t know. Those kids I’ve known, even some who had some impressive numbers did not get the most impressive aid/merit packages. Yes, you can save some money with the co-op program, overall if you work it right, but that first year bite can be hefty. Not saying to leave it out, but to bear in mind the possibilities and make sure you have a lot of different kinds of eggs in the basket.</p>
<p>And, yes, co-ops do affect social life. NE does not have the same social life as a school like Syracuse might. City schools, schools where the housing tends to be off campus early on, without a sport team that brings the school together, OOS where you son may not know many kids but the kids often know each other, are all schools were the social scene is affected. That is a drawback of where my son chose to go to school. Only kid in his school to go to this city located OOS public. It’s been a bit rough socially for him, yes. Had he gone where a number of classmates and others in the area choose to go, or to a private school that doesn’t have a large group of kids from one state, he would have probably found it a bit easier socially.</p>