<p>First time poster and a noob* in more ways than one. I've already ordered the Princeton book's 2013 edition, but it ships on Oct 30. In the meanwhile I was looking for info on a financial problem that's not really covered much.
Most of the financial aid info I found is about families in 20-30 k range. But I am a <strong>relatively</strong> high-income individual whose savings got wiped out. This to me seems like the worst of both the worlds -- not poor enough to qualify and not enough savings (10k to be precise) for the supposedly high income.
My kid is a junior. Other than prayer what are my options?</p>
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<li>Moved to this country 5 yrs ago and come from a vastly different education system.</li>
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<p>I’m no expert, but I think your student should look for merit aid, if she can. sometimes I get the feeling that most folks here think they are in the same position, give or take $10 grand.</p>
<p>Another option is your local state school or community college, where tuition would be affordable and your child would be able to commute from home to cut costs.</p>
<p>Stay away from the highly competitive schools that claim to meet the full financial need of incoming students. If your income is quite high, whatever financial aid your students gets won’t be enough to make it affordable, and your only option at that point would be to borrow the difference. Run the net price calculators at several different schools’ websites, just to see what you’d be expected to pay . . . but if it’s more than you can afford, tell your child that up front. There’s no point in your child getting his or her hopes up for a school that you just can’t afford.</p>
<p>Most of the financial aid info I found is about families in 20-30 k range. But I am a <strong>relatively</strong> high-income individual whose savings got wiped out. This to me seems like the worst of both the worlds – not poor enough to qualify and not enough savings (10k to be precise) for the supposedly high income.
My kid is a junior. Other than prayer what are my options?</p>
<p>Can you give us your income range?</p>
<p>Your best options may be to consider schools that will give your child large merit scholarships for his stats (GPA and test scores). </p>
<p>If your child’s stats won’t likely qualify for merit scholarships, then he may have to do what the majority of students in America do…commute to their local college.</p>
<p>“High” Income is a relative term. You can run your numbers through an EFC estimator and then pick some colleges and run then again through their NPC (Net Price Calculators) and that will give you some idea as to whay you would be expected to pay. Most schools that use the FAFSA EFC alone don’t tend to meet full need, but if your kids’s stats are in the upper range, the more likely such schools will come up with the need money. Those schools that are need blind in admissions and meet full need define their own need and do not use FAFSA alone. When you take a school like Harvard, for example, it is possible to get aid even at the $200K income point. SO “high income” is really not a helpful term in itself.</p>
<p>If your child’s stats are high, merit scholarships are also something to seek. High awards are not easy to get, but you might be able to get enough so that with what you can take out of current income and borrow to spread the payment over 10 years, you can make a go of it.</p>
<p>What most students in this country do, is go to local state schools that are usuually very affordable. WIth a high income, that should be eminently doable for you. Most all students can borrow up to $5500 on their own the first year which would cover most of local public college expenses even if parents can’t or won’t pay. They can also work their way through college. THree squares and a cot are worth something too.</p>
<p>Lots of us have relatively “high income” and no college savings when our kids are Juniors. Run the Net Price Calculators at the websites of several colleges and universities, and see what those places most likely would expect your family to pay. Think about how much you realistically can pay now, and how much that would change if everyone in the family cut out those trips to Starbucks, or if you eliminate cable TV service, or if you pack lunch to work three days a week. Try living on that reduced budget, and slap every cent saved into savings. Even a couple thousand dollars will make a difference when the kid has to buy textbooks.</p>
<p>Get your hands in the information about where students from your kid’s HS actually DO go to college, not just where they apply. Often this is published in the last issue of the school newspaper each year. Happykid graduated from a “Newsweek Top 100” HS. Every year more students head straight to our local community college than anywhere else. The second biggest draw is the closest in-state public U, and a fair number of those do commute. Together, those figures along with the numbers for the other in-state publics dwarf those of the private and OOS options.</p>
<p>Happykid graduated from a “Newsweek Top 100” HS. Every year more students head straight to our local community college than anywhere else. The second biggest draw is the closest in-state public U, and a fair number of those do commute. Together, those figures along with the numbers for the other in-state publics dwarf those of the private and OOS options.</p>
<p>This is very true. Being on CC can really give parents/students the idea that nearly every college-bound student is “going away” to school…when in truth, most students commute to their local CC and state univ.</p>
<p>The truth is…</p>
<p>1) most families (even those with good incomes ) cannot afford to pay for their kids to “go away” to college - especially if they have more than 1 child. Going away to college can cost a family $100k-220k+ per CHILD. Obviously, most families in America just can’t afford that. </p>
<p>2) most families do not qualify for the aid that they truly need.</p>
<p>3) most schools do not give much aid beyond the small amounts of federal aid (which isn’t much if even if you’re a Pell student.)</p>
<p>4) Schools believe that the primary responsibility to pay for college lies with the family.</p>
<p>Guys, apply for Bruce Fishkin Scholarship. It pays a full ride. Google and u will get their website. The application is open now and closes by Dec 15</p>
<p>Fallspat…is that a guaranteed scholarship for everyone who applies (I think not)? Can this scholarship be used anywhere? Is there no “need” component at all? Full ride to what colleges? The price of a “full ride” can be anywhere from less than $5k for a commuter to a community college to almost $60,000 a year for private universities.</p>
<p>Please provide more details is this is really viable option for ALL those who apply.</p>
<p>I’m afraid the Bruce Fishkin Scholarship is not going to be a universal solution to college funding needs. The website says they award up to six per year and you have to be from Las Vegas, Chicago, or certain towns in Connecticut.</p>
<p>If your kid is a junior you have time to save some of your current earnings. You need to find out what colleges your child might want to attend and figure out how much you’ll need to save between now and then to cover the cost attending college (even though the prices could rise between now and then). You can set up an Excel spreadsheet to figure it out for you. BTW, $10,000 is a great start if your child can attend an in-state public university.</p>
<p>Then, as Happymomof1 stated, start saving every penny you can–no more going out to eat, no more Starbucks, rent movies from Red Box instead of going out to movies, take “staycations” instead of big trips, pay off everything you can so that you have more disposable income each month (and save it), don’t buy anything new unless what you currently have breaks (we don’t have any flat screen TVs, iPads or iPhones), get the lowest cable package you can live with, the list goes on and on and, in reality, it isn’t hard to live with although I do miss nice vacations but I’ll get those again in five years after my younger daughter graduates from college (she’s a HS senior now). You will be amazed at the amount of money you can save each month when you stop throwing it away on things you don’t need.</p>