I am beyond frustrated with the aid offers we have been receiving. It is so disheartening to have colleges tell you 60,000 is the price to attend. My parents work hard, but our income is still less than 200k (but greater than 150k) for 6 people. I am getting into my dream schools, but I just can’t afford them. Anyone else in the same situation?
Lots of students can’t afford their dream schools.
That is why students are advised to sort through the financial issues before creating an application list, and to make certain that their list includes financial and academic safeties that they would be happy to attend. In my area, lots of students like you end up at our excellent community college for the first two years, and then transfer to one of the public universities in our state.
How much can your family pay each year?
Did you run the net price calculators before you applied???
Did you apply to any schools that would give large merit for your stats?? What are your stats and your major and career goal?
What is your home state?
Your income is higher than “middle class”. That said, typically people either commute to their local state school or their parents save for college while the kids are growing up.
How do you afford college? You cast a broad net…including affordable colleges. No one has to attend a $60,000 a year or more college.
Your state public universities would have been less costly than $60,000 a year.
If you were a competitive applicant for schools that meet full need…did you also Apply to colleges where you would,have received guaranteed MERIT aid?
Did you only apply to $60,000 a year colleges?
Are your parents self employed? Do the own a business? Do you own real estate in addition to your primary residence? If NO…did you do the net price calculators accurately prior to your applications? With your income level…I would guess there would not have been a lot of need based aid forthcoming from many places.
So…how do folks afford college? They start by picking some affordable options.
1550 SAT
35 ACT
I did apply to high merit schools like U of R and Miami Ohio too…
Those are great stats. Where have you been offered merit? Also, did your parents tell you that you can’t attend or are you assuming this. I only ask because some kids on here are very reluctant to take that much money from their parents even when the parents are willing. But they may have saved and prepared for this. Did they give you any financial restrictions before you applied? Most of the very top schools don’t give any merit aid, only need based financial aid.
And the answer to your question is that many, many people find that the EFC is not affordable in real life for a variety of reasons and those kids go to the schools that they can afford.
You are from NY state. Did you apply to any SUNY schools? Those would have come in below $30,000 a year total costs for instate applicants.
U of Rochester Miami do NOT have guaranteed scholarships.
You received $11,000 or so in merit from Rochester. Right? That still leaves a sizable balance for your family to pay.
Did you apply to ANY of your instate public universities…any?
With $150,000 in income or more…your family contribution would be in the $50,000 plus range most likely. Except at THE most generous colleges like HYSPM.
Is that income before or after taxes! Also…what about assets? Any 529 accounts for you and your siblings? Parent savings? Investments?
Ok…you’re a NMF and you’re a math major with music interest.
Please quickly send an app to the Univ of Alabama. As a NMF you’ll get a mega-scholarship.
My older son (also a NMF ) was a math major there. Very good program. Bama also has an excellent music school…which they are currently expanding…amazing. Edit…expansion complete
The app will take you only FIVE MINUTES. No essays, no LORs. You just need to send transcripts and scores…and a copy of your NMF award. To get the NMF award, you’d need to name Bama as your number one choice by may 1st.
Curious…with that income, how’d you only get a 30k EFC?? Do you have a sibling in college?? Seems like your EFC should be about 45k+
How much will your parents pay per year for college??
My income puts me in the middle 50% of household incomes in the US (a whole lot less than $150K). Here is how we did it:
- Hunt for guaranteed merit. You do not need tippy top scores to do this. You just may have to look at less selective schools. You also only need to look for enough guaranteed merit to bring the total cost down to what your family considers affordable.
- Hunt for low room/board.
- Don't turn up your nose at colleges with a low sticker price. They're out there, and they're not all community colleges. Wayne State College in Wayne, NE has a sticker price under $21k for OOS students. Sure, you have to live in Wayne, NE. You can't brag about selectivity, but you'll get a decent education for a whole lot less than $60k. Bargains abound in the Dakotas, too.
- Check out your in-state publics. Regional colleges tend to be cheaper than the flagship.
- Look for any sort of atypical route to aid. I work for a college, so can take advantage of tuition exchange. It wasn't guaranteed, so we still used strategies 1 & 3 to pick a safety (Truman State).
Your FAFSA EFC was $30,000? On income between $150000 and $200000 a year? Plus some assets?
Are either of your parents self employed?
Notre Dame is asking you to pay $40,000 a year to attend. If you can’t afford that…choose one of your other more affordable options.
Did you apply to any SUNY colleges…that WOULD be affordable…and if not…why?
https://music.ua.edu
And UA does allow non-majors to participate in ensembles/symphony/orchestra and use practice rooms (and they have windows!! Which many seem to love…lol)
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College is generally paid for through a combination of savings, current income and loans. Did you have the money talk with your parents before sending out your apps?
Simple arithmetic…Notre Dame is expecting you to pay $40,000 a year.
Rochester costs $70,000 a year…and gave you about $11,000 a year, leaving a $59,000 a year family bill.
Did you get any acceptances that cost LESS than $40,000 a year? Notre Dame is giving you a good amount of need based aid…they met your full need.
If ND at $40,000 is not affordable, you need to look elsewhere.
Miami of Ohio is about $52,000 for OOS students. What is your net cost there? Affordable…or not?
Was the $5500 Direct Loan in your financial aid packages?
Do your parents have any college savings for you or your siblings?
Your family household is six people…is that four kids, and two parents? Or what?
Miami of Ohio is $48k and with those stats you should at least have received merit = to half tuition (not sure that colleges get much more affordable then that for the majority of students)
Miami U Fall 2018 Merit Scholarships
ACT: 33+ SAT: 1480+ GPA: 3.50+ Rigorous Coursework
In -State $32,000–$60,000 (half to full tuition per year)
OOS $69,000–$137,000 (half to full tuition per year)
ACT: 30-32 SAT: 1390–1470 GPA: 3.50+ Rigorous Coursework
In-State $20,000–$48,000 ($5,000–$12,000 per year)
OOS $32,000–$72,000 ($8,000–$18,000 per year)
ACT: 27-29 SAT: 1280–1380 GPA3.50+ Rigorous Coursework
In- State Up to $32,000 (up to $8,000 per year)
OOS Up to $44,000 (up to $11,000 per year)
Most in-state colleges cost between $20k -$30k per year. How do middle class families afford it? They save, they choose to have fewer kids, they sacrifice discretionary spending, they attend schools that are affordable. No one is entitled to a college degree from a 'dream" school.
In defense of OP, according to the PEW Research Center’s middle class income calculator, $175,000 is middle class in the NY metro area for a family of six. I know it’s hard to hear that, but in large metropolitan area, $175,000 is very much in the middle and does not afford a luxurious lifestyle. So let’s not assume anything, as we don’t know what part of NY the OP lives in. Also, few teens know much about their parents’ debts, expenses, or budgeting prowess.
Looks like you got 20k/year from Miami? Seems pretty much in line with other things I’ve seen from them this year. I agree, disappointing but maybe doable?
This kids is a NMF. Not too late to snag some mega size merit
Since he’s very disappointed with his aid pkgs, I ‘m guessing that his family can’t/won’t pay that much.
Hopefully, he’ll come back and say how much his parents will pay each year.
And what is the career goal with a math major
Well…if you got $20,000 from Miami…and the cost is $52,000 or so…that would leave you with a $32,000 balance. Take the $5500 federally funded student loan…and now you are at $26,000 or so. That is below the EFC you put of $30,000.
Get a job…and pay your own personal expenses…and really, your parent cost could be $25,000 a year. Is THAT affordable for them?
Have you discussed the finances of your college choices with your PARENTS? How much have they told you they can pay annually?
Miami - $20k = $28k which is less than this family’s EFC; so, on paper, it should be doable. But apparently the OP is saying that is not affordable to them. I would guess with those great stats they were hoping for a full ride somewhere and that has not materialized for some reason.
UT-Dallas would also have been a good choice for a NMF chasing merit (application is still open BTW)! As well as Florida schools for the Benequisto?
@ccprofandmomof2 I am not judging OP/family. I feel bad that OP seems to have done everything in his/her power to reach his/her goal and has come up short. I am sure it is frustrating and demoralizing. I am simply saying that those are ways middle class families afford college, that is how my parents afforded it for me and how I afford it for my kids. Life is about choices, sometimes we are forced to make choices that suck or aren’t what we really want. Sometimes even if we make all the right choices life just isn’t fair!