You stated that 10K (20K each) could be contributed from salaries. I always thought that the EFC calculations assume that folks pay from savings (or future income as loans), not just salary?
@Portercat ! Yes that is what I was thinking. $135K/year with ex contributing $10k/year for a $35K/year COA, seems more than doable for me without financial aid. There should be much more needy families. Time to tighten your belt and deal with it.
You might get aid at higher COA schools, but your contribution will also be higher.
Again your EFC is roughly 1/4 of your gross with it adjusting up or down depending on other factors like other children in school, assets, etc. Don’t be surprised when it comes back that high.
I wouldn’t say 35K is necessarily easy without prior savings. Federal income tax (not payroll tax) is the great equalizer. Needy families generally don’t pay it (or much).
Thanks, all. Still wrapping my head around it. Our state flagship is Rutgers, so we may well wind up there. It’s good and has a great program for my daughter’s major. But I just wonder what kind of merit aid we will get.
What are her SAT or act scores…and her GPA…because merit will be based on those.
New Jersey has two excellent universities, Rutgers and TCNJ. However merit is hard to get at both - no guarantee even with 1400, 1450+ SAT. Rowan has good scholarships for STEM students. They do not “meet need”, so, whether you can afford 30K, 27K, 7K, or nothing, they don’t care.
If you can afford 20,000, your daughter could start working part-time (even 5 or 6 hours a week starting now) and saving everything she earns, plus federal loans - that may also be enough for a SUNY OOS. New Paltz and Geneseo may have some merit aid.
Depending on her stats, she may be eligible for some merit at women’s colleges. Also look at “Colleges that change lives” (look up website), many could be in the 25-30k range with merit for a high stats candidate (she’d need to be in the top 10% applicants, especially for test scores).
Do you have any college savings?
Start looking at ways you can “tighten the belt”, and putting the savings into a college account (or in your mattress). It’s also a good exercise to start putting aside now what you’ll have to set aside next year - and it creates a little financial cushion for college.
(Note: avoid “new jersey” loans, they’re NOT state loans in the same way Stafford is federal, they’ve got outrageous terms and I think there’s even a lawsuit.)
Merit is first applied to COA…it’s not first applied to EFC.
So if a school…
$50k COA
$10k merit
$40k
$40k
$35k EFC
$5k of ‘need’…which would mean a loan
If you’re trying to reduce what you have to pay, then the merit award has to be so huge that it covers need AND then cuts into EFC
$50k COA
$30k full tuition merit award
$20k net cost to student/family…which effectively reduces your EFC by $15k
That said, i would want to get a firm and reliable commitment from the exH that he’ll contribute $40k total over four years and won’t flake at some point. We’ve seen posts where new spouses put the kabosh on such tuition help.
Also, if your child is looking at some privates, then they likely require CSS profile and may require the income info of your ex and any new spouse he may have.
I would not expect Rutgers to give any aid at all. My S was in the top 5% of his class, 4.2 gpa, high scores, he was offered nothing beyond the $5500 federal loans. As MYOS1634 mentioned, Rowan and even TCNJ are better with merit aid. I would also add that it is worth looking at some oos state schools with comparable tuitions to Rutgers, as well as some private schools that are generous with need-based aid and/or where your D’s stats may qualify her for some merit aid.
I knew you were from Jersey when you said property taxes were over $10k!!! LOL We get no credit for that! @NJFabFour when did you son apply? 2 of my S17 classmates were offered free rides to Rutgers Honors last year, 1 the valedictorian, the other in the top 10%. Not sure how they determine it, but they money is there.
If you give your daughters stats and what schools she’s looking at, you will get some great suggestions from the people here!
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I would not expect Rutgers to give any aid at all. My S was in the top 5% of his class, 4.2 gpa, high scores, he was offered nothing beyond the $5500 federal loans. As MYOS1634 mentioned, Rowan and even TCNJ are better with merit aid. I
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True, altho I’ve seen Rutgers give large merit for perfect scores. Don’t know if they super score, but in the past we’ve seen huge awards to instate students with ACT 36 and similar SAT. Don’t know if that’s still the case.
The OP hasn’t mentioned if her DD has perfect test scores. She may have strong stats, but short of the ones needed to snag the big merit.
Going to toss out the full tuition or better guaranteed merit link here - http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/20798968/#Comment_20798968
…these would leave room and board, or nothing, depending on the school and her grades/test scores.