Why would you sell your home…or your business which generates your income…to pay for college?
You need a place to live…and you need an income.
Really…folks have given you some suggestions of possible affordable options without doing so.
Have you discussed college financing with your husband? Maybe start there.
I would NOT NOT NOT suggest you sell all of your assets to fund a college education…for anyone. Just don’t.
Your kiddo needs to start looking at the options where merit aid is a possibility. And sure…apply to Northeastern…maybe the money will be forthcoming.
But just don’t over extend yourself financially…and that includes selling your home and business. I’m sorry…but NO college education is worth giving those things up. You have worked hard to get them.
@thumper1 …Oh geez that is not what I meant. I would never sell our home or business I was asking why they consider the equity? Would they think we would sell our assets to pay for college. Im sorry if I didn’t sound clear in the question.
When equity in real estate is a consideration in calculating an EFC, there is an expectation that a loan (mortgage, HELOC, etc.) can be taken against that equity.
Right…the equity is viewed as something you could borrow against. But in your case…I would NOT suggest that…if your actual income is as low as you say it is.
Here is a question…is your gross annual income close to your net annual income?
@Skippy00 NOT that I would do that. He is Civil Engineering right? That is one of the lower paying engineering disciplines. Do not take on large debt. It won’t matter where he graduates from and everyone in Mass will respect Lowell, though you could also look to the Midwest and South for a couple of merit options.
The majority of kids in America are going to their affordable instate option. We are just one state over in RI. They cannot graduate E/CE majors fast enough for the job possibilities.
@Skippy00
You are actually smart to find out about all these right now and not April of next year.
I highly recommend the above suggestion of building your list from the bottom up.
When it comes to equity I am myself at loss as the financial aid that my kid received from schools that consider equity still vary by a lot. I suppose one college can take a number out of zillow in a good day and another college might look at a more reasonable price. Or a college might play with equity depending how much they want your kid… Not really sure!
My daughter didn’t know what kind of engineering she wanted, so took a general engineering course first semester that introduced all the areas of study. She chose civil. She has a job and I think the pay is good. It’s not as good as a top chemical engineer might make, but she’s not living on a oil platform either.
Most students who don’t stick with engineering don’t stray far. As @mom2collegekids said, her son switched to math. I knew if my daughter didn’t stay with engineering she’s major in math, chemistry, or something related.
Engineering is a tough field. Old timers on this forum will recall…I have a kid with an engineering degree…double mar biology.
She completed the engineering major because she started it…but by junior year, she realized she never wanted to actually get a job as an engineer. If we had banked on a high paying engineering salary right out of undergrad, with huge loans or whatever…we would have been sorely disappointed with the outcome.
You have been given some good options to consider…and some very well could be quite affordable.
Remember, your kiddo also can take out that Direct Loan…and that isn’t an onerous amount…$27,000 total for the four years.
@Skippy00
Another idea would be to ask Northeastern for a financial aid pre-read. I do not know if they ll do it but I ll assume if they do that would be better estimate than the NPC.
