My family ran the net price calculator recently for schools like USC, Northwestern, Barnard, NYU, Columbia, a few LACs, etc. and discovered that we qualify for zero or close to zero financial aid. We don’t really have dual income but my dad is in tech and makes welllllllll over the national average. BUT the catch is that we live in the SF Bay Area where living costs are high and we pay a lot in taxes. We aren’t affluent, we only have one car, a small home and are pretty minimalistic. We can’t afford to pay close to $75,000 a year for a private college. That adds up to a quarter of a million dollars by the end. It’s also quite unfair for parents who immigrated here, started with nothing and who worked so hard to reach a comfortable lifestyle like mine did, to cough up all this money just like that by tapping into their retirement fund, savings, investments, taking out and paying off loans w/interest, etc. I also have a younger brother who will have to go through all of this as well.
I plan to apply for some scholarships, and merit-based aid at schools that have it, (Barnard, my dream school does not have merit-based aid) but I don’t believe I’m spectacular enough of a student to get a scholarship that will drastically reduce the cost of my tuition. But I want to know how families afford this. Is there a way to make this work if I get into a private school? Is there a way to send a child to a good private school with minimal loans/debt to pay off once they graduate? Also, if you have gone though this, can you justify having to pay off a loan of $50-100k after graduation? Do you think it’s worth it?
For a private school you would have to rely on merit aid. Your stats would need to place you above the 75th percentile of admitted students. Being a California resident you have the relatively low cost of option of the UC system.
Yes, @TomSrOfBoston unfortunately, I do not place in the 75th percentile, more like 60th. I’ve been looking to the UC system as well. It seems like the best option for us. But you can probably guess that if Barnard College is my dream school, I probably don’t believe that UCs are the best fit for me. We can’t have everything we want though we hope for the best. I still would like to put these questions out there to see if people have been able to make this work for their families.
There is absolutely no reason you MUST attend a $70,000 plus a year college…no reason at all…if your family can’t afford it. As noted by @TomSrOfBoston you have a plentiful number of much more affordable and fine instate public universities in California.
USC gives merit aid to very high flying accepted students.
Barnard, Columbia and Northwestern don’t give merit aid to undergrads.
NYU? Oh please. The school doesn’t guarantee to meet full need for all…and doesn’t. Some students get decent aid…but not many.
If your family contribution for a school like NYU is full pay then it’s in the $70,000 a year range. This means your family income is probably in the $300,000 a year range or close to it…and you likely have some assets too. That is more than FIVE times the national average for a family of four.
Did you really think you would be getting need based aid…anywhere?
What do your parents say about college, and costs? How much are they able and willing to pay annually. Start there. Get that answer.
Then…look at your SAT or ACT scores, and your GPA…and figure out where you could garner significant merit aid…if that has to happen.
But really…the UCs and Cal States colleges give you quite the variety of options. You certainly should have at least one or two of those on your application list.
You are not alone - it is surprisingly to many people who do not feel rich due to the high cost of living, but it is better that you are realizing this truth sooner than later!
@thumper1 Yes, I know. It’s all true. But we DEFINITELY don’t make $300,000 year…and then assets. If we did, I don’t think I would be asking these questions. If you take a look at some net price calculators, you’ll see that when you enter annual household income for some of them, the highest option to choose from is $99,000 a year. So that means that ppl with that kind of income and above don’t qualify for aid at some of these schools. We make more than $99,000 a year but still it’s absurd. Families that DO have an annual income of $99,000 a year cannot afford full tuition. It’s insane. That leaves like $24,000 over for the entire family.
UCs are great. We are very privileged to have them. And yes, I am definitely applying to several UCs. It just kind of sucks to fall in love with a school that seems like the perfect fit or you, or to find and like the schools with the best reputation for your intended major(s) only realize that despite how great of a fit it could be for you, you just cannot afford it because your parents made smart financial moves over the course of their life but don’t make quite enough to pay for that education. Also, it’s unjust that education in such a developed and affluent country is so damn expensive.
You have to find a school that is a fit for you, academically and financially. Not everyone gets to go to school in NYC.
You live in a high cost area, but also a high income area. Minimum wage in SF is $15/hr, where in many places it is still $7.25. All the financial aid formulas are going to look at what you actually make, not what you could make, or how much you pay for milk. The calculators are not going to consider where you live. Just how it is. They also don’t give you higher interest rates on student loans because you’ll be making more when you graduate. You’ll have the same loan repayment as the guy who goes to work in Kansas and makes $40k per year while you are in SF making $100k. Just how it is.
I’m hoping someone else can chime in…but I have NEVER seen a net price calculator for a school like Barnard, or NYU, or Columbia or NU that has a maximum income input of $99,000. NEVER.
@twoinanddone This makes sense, but also one could argue that ppl who grew up in lower income areas and attend a school in a higher income, urban area tend to stay and work there afterward. So paying these loans off becomes more manageable for them.
Parent(s) having an early cognizance of the accelerating cost of higher education, combined with a dedication to saving as much as possible as early as possible, topped off by money invested wisely growing over a long period (17+ years). Add an ability and willingness to use at least some current income/assets for a child’s college expenses, and finally relatively low-cost guaranteed federal loans, and that’s the recipe for families like yours where the income/asset combination is likely too high for much (if any) need-based aid and yet the current income/asset combination isn’t high enough to cash-flow the whole deal.
My kid is in professional school and will have just over $100,000 in loans. professional school…not undergrad. There is absolutely no way that $100,000 in loans is reasonable for undergrad school, in my opinion.
Will your parents co-sign those loans for you…or take loans out in that amount! Because YOU the student cannot take $100,000 in college loans yourself.
And think of this…your parents have a higher income…and you are saying they can’t afford these costs. What makes you think YOU will be able to when you are a newly minted college grad?
NYU’s net price calculator uses a very minimalistic template, as shown here: https://www.nyu.edu/financial.aid/misc/npc/ . It asks for income in $10,000 brackets, with the highest one as “Above $99,999”, and does not ask about assets.
Barnard and Columbia both use custom versions of the College Board template, which ask much more detail about income and assets.
Not generally, since large amounts of debt will limit your career and life choices (e.g. you may have to chase money when seeking jobs, even if a lesser paying job would be better for future career development). In any case, student loans of that amount will need to be cosigned or be parent loans. This is not generally a good idea if you and your parents do not really have the money.
What is your SAT or ACT score? What is your GPA? If you are really a competitive applicant for Columbia, then you could likely garner some decent merit aid at say…University of Alabama.
@thumper1 Woah, please calm down. I never said that. I’m not assuming anything. I’m just looking for as much information on this as possible. A private college education is something I want, not something I feel like I have a right to, something that I feel like I am obligated to get. I am well aware of the privilege it is. I’m just looking for as much information on this as possible.
Your family is in the donut hole category - not rich enough to be full pay, and not poor enough to qualify for FA. This has been discussed often on this forum. I think more parents should come on to CC when their kids are in grade school. So many people are shocked they can’t afford every school they want to go to. In the States, it is a privilege to go to college, it is not a right, and it is especially the case for private schools. Some parents also have misconception that students could put themselves through colleges.