<p>I'm trying to figure out how middle America is supposed to pay for school. It seems if you are not rich or very poor, college is not affordable. Our unique situation is that we have 4 kids. One starts this coming September and then a different one will start every four years thereafter. We'll have 1 kid in school for the next 16 years!!! So that does not leave us the luxury of taking out big loans with daughter number one, because there will never be a gap year(s) where we can pay it off.</p>
<p>While we got some FA this year, after this year we won't get any due to an increase in my husband's salary. (This increase is not enough to foot the bill.)</p>
<p>We feel terrible about not being able to pay for our daughter's "dream" school. She worked very hard in high school to get in.</p>
<p>Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>the great thing is that we have many, many colleges and universities to choose from.
Some states have wonderful state universities, which are fairly reasonable in price, and may have excellent honors programs as well, which could be a great deal.
My d best friend for example- who is very bright- ( she got 1400 on her SAT in 6th grade) attended the honors program at our states flagship university.
Other states, who don't necessarily have the resources for a wonderful system for all, have reciprocal agreements with neighboring states for 150% of in state tuition.
Students should also bear some of the responsibility for paying for their own education- while not all qualify for work study- earning $2,000 or so during the school year, shouldn't be a hardship, and should cover personal expenses and books.
Summers they can earn $3,000 and up to be applied directly to tuition.
It also isn't unreasonable to expect them to have $15,000 to $20,000 in student loan debt upon graduation.
I hope that upon thinking about college, you figured out how much you could afford to contribute so that your kids know what their choices are. I agree it is terrible when they get their hearts set on a "dream" school that they will never be able to afford.
Many of the top schools only offer need based aid- something families dont' always realize, and college savings doesn't often come near to the costs of a top private university.
I don't know how far your available income varies from your EFC, but many families have borrowed from home equity to help pay costs.
Other things can be done as well, working as an RA to get room and board taken care of, cutting book expenses by shoping online for used textbooks, and even taking a year off to earn more money.
It can be done- but we just have to learn to be flexible and consider all options</p>
<p>Here's another thought -- is there any chance you could work with your kids so that they overlap a little in college? By that, I mean could the oldest child take a gap year to earn some money, or could child #2 graduate a year early? If they overlap in college, the EFC is essentially divided in two, and each would have the chance of some financial aid.</p>
<p>Consider it from this approach, it is not a dream school if it going to be a financial nightmare.</p>
<p>Sometimes your daughter has to be flexible in knowing that she may have to dream a new dream</p>
<p>You and H should sit down and talk with her now. Let her know realistically how much the 2 of you are willing to pay/borrow for her education.</p>
<p>She must also be an active participant in the process. this means applying for all of those little local outside scholarships ($500 or $1000 is book money). Cast a wide net of schools where she could be in line to get merit $$ (make sure you apply be the deadlines)</p>
<p>I would suggest that you search and read some of the postings by Curmudgeon who very aggressively put it right out there that money was a factor. His daughter applied to a large # of schools, got accepted to a lot of schools some with big $$, is turning down Yale, Amherst and a host of others to attend Rhodes.</p>
<p>I hate when people complain about this kind of stuff. It sucks, yes it does; but the government can't do everything for you. Poor people get more, and middle people get little but thats life. They (the government) has cut federal aid even more this year so it's even harder and student loan interest rate are rising. If you can't afford it don't go. The magical money fairy won't come and take care of all your children for you.</p>
<p>To my first couple of respondents, I thank you for your imput. I will take all of your suggestions into consideration.</p>
<p>It's a shame we have junior members wo are not mature enough to appreciate a discussion about financial need. I assume this child's family has the means to afford a competitive private university . This is not reason to be so negative to those trying to find a solution.</p>
<p>If you can't give constructive advice...best to keep it to yourself!</p>
<p>"We feel terrible about not being able to pay for our daughter's "dream" school. She worked very hard in high school to get in."</p>
<p>I think that it's important to realize that all of us have dreams that we can't afford. Most of us work hard, and may want expensive jewelry, mansions, cars, luxury vacations, but have to settle for what wecan afford.</p>
<p>The same is true for your daughter. While of course she's disappointed, there's still an important life lesson in this. She worked hard in high school and therefore has the option of going to college. That doesn't mean however, that she can ignore finances. Presumably, her hard work has opened the door to many affordable options, and she has the choice to pin her dreams upon one of them, and then she'll have the choice to go to college feeling happy or bitter. We can't always get what we want, but we can enjoy what we can get.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the poor have far fewer options than does middle America. Most colleges don't offer full financial aid for very poor students. The students -- no matter how intelligent and hard working -- may have to settle for whatever nearby community college they can afford, and to go there, they may still have to make major financial sacrifices. It's a myth that somehow being poor guarantees that college won't be a struggle. Most poor students struggle far more to go to any college -- even a very basic one -- than do middle income ones.</p>
<p>Im graduated from a private college almost 3 years ago now. This place was my dream school and despite my parents warnings about the costs, I decided to enroll anyways. I figured that while the costs were high (35k+), I would graduate with a well known degree from a well known college and that would get me a high paying job. 6 months after graduation I got my first student loan bill and it was scary! While most students attain an average of 20k in loans, I had racked up over 80K in 4 years. My FA package was small, college costs were high, and my parents could afford the difference. Today my total costs are well over 130K including interest. I wish I had gone to a cheaper, perhaps not first choice college...this way today my standard of living would be better. Right now I struggle between working full-time, going to grad school (for free becuase my employer fronts the bill), and figuring out to afford $500+ a month in loan bills atop of my other basic living bills.
Remember that having that much finanical burden at 22,23 or 24 years old is too much. You will never be able to get back on your feet.</p>
<p>If want to have any hope of getting need-based aid, and also want to save in a college fund for your child, make sure the savings are in the parent's name, not the child's.</p>
<p>And I wonder if a family that will basically have a low EFC but smaller family size ( i.e. from a family size of 6 now to a family size of 3 - no children in college - by the time the little guy starts ) --should a family with a low EFC bother with investing in a COVERDALL now ???</p>
<p>We did not/could not ( all our savings went to high COBRA health insurance premiums after loss of jobs ) save for prior children and they got pretty good financial aid .</p>
<p>Good article in 11/20/06 Wall St. Journal "Saying 'No' to the Ivy League" by Robert Tomsho: </p>
<p>"Such offers [merit aid] have great appeal to the many families that are not eligible for need-based aid-- the only kind offered by Ivy League colleges--but are squeezed by current prices... The latest evidence suggests high-achieving students are likely to thrive wherever they go." </p>
<p>The article mentions a 2005 book co-authored by Ernest Pascarella, an education professor at the University of Iowa, "How College Affects Students"</p>
<p>They mention schools that offer merit aid, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, LeHigh University, Kalamazoo College, Case Western Reserve University. Also the HOPE scholarship in Georgia.</p>
<p>"It's a shame we have junior members wo are not mature enough to appreciate a discussion about financial need. I assume this child's family has the means to afford a competitive private university . This is not reason to be so negative to those trying to find a solution."</p>
<p>Firstly, I do not have the means to afford a private school, and even if I did it would make no difference. The deal here is, if you have the money, pay it. If you don't: there are plenty of other options. You can't be expected to pay for all 4 of your children on a median salary. That's just ridiculous. College costs are only going to get way worse and financial aid can't keep up. Statisically, there are too many people going to college when compared to the number of educated people needed in the workforce. Some of the fastest growing fields and best oppurtunities don't require a 4 year degree, and for many people a technical field or community college is a perfect option for them. I don't have the money to go to a private school, so imagine what I did! I went to a state school! Wow, i'm logical. And if I couldn't afford that i'd go to community college or another option. You have to be flexible in life. You can't get everything you want nor should you expect that.</p>
<p>Oh, and just a note about what the OP said about Junior Members not being mature and having families that can afford Public Universities: Junior Member refers only to the post count (as you get more posts you become a member then senior member, etc) It doesn't actually mean they are 'junior' or younger age members. Some are very mature and are parents themselves.</p>
<p>When looking at colleges, look for those who have the most endowment. Princeton, for example, has an immense amount of money allocated for financial aid, so they attempt to meet everyone's full need. Other schools (just as reputable) don't always have that money to give.</p>
<p>My EFC was about $8,000/year. I'm an only child from a middle class family. The five schools to which I was accepted gave me offers between $0 (one school completely ran out of money) and $37,000 a year. It turned out that my top choice (Wellesley) gave me the most, even more so than many smaller, lesser known schools and public state schools. They simply just had more money to give. Often the nation's top schools have the greatest alumni base.</p>