<p>Ha! The joke will be that most of us will be "lower middle class" when attending GW because of the current economy and our mounting tuition debt, so we'll all feel the same!</p>
<p>Yay state schools for us!</p>
<p>In all seriousness, I ran the numbers based on my EFC and various schools' need met (data from College Board) and found some interesting stuff. I live in PA, so I'll use PA in-state tuition schools.</p>
<p>I. My EFC=$1500 (give or take a little)</p>
<p>II. GWU Sticker Price=$53,407</p>
<p>III. Penn State U Park Sticker Price=$26,600</p>
<p>IV. Pitt Sticker Price=$22,242</p>
<p>V. GWU Need Met (75% free $$$, 25% loans)=91%</p>
<p>VI. Penn State U Park Need Met (40% free $$$, 60% loans)=65%</p>
<p>VII. Pitt Need Met (41% free $$$, 59% loans)=82%</p>
<p>VIII. GWU Debt (including $$$ from jobs) from FinAid plus Gap Debt plus EFC (assuming parents pay nothing)=$17,979</p>
<p>IX. Penn State U Park Debt (including $$$ from jobs) from FinAid plus Gap Debt plus EFC (assuming parents pay nothing)=$20,074</p>
<p>X. Pitt Debt (including $$$ from jobs) from FinAid plus Gap Debt plus EFC (assuming parents pay nothing)=$15,268</p>
<p>Bottom line? With an EFC similar to mine (poor, "lower middle class" [lol], not wealthy, whatever you wanna call it), a state school education is no more affordable than a private school education--they both end up killing us with debt. But the private school may offer more opportunities to pay off that debt quickly.</p>