@wantoknow987
No one has to attend a college that costs $70,000 a year as a full pay student.
So my suggestion…find more affordable cost colleges.
What CAN you afford to pay each year? $10,000, $20,000, Nothing? What.
Figure that out first. Then look for options that will either be affordable on what you can pay…or affordable on what you can pay plus guaranteed merit aid your kid will receive.
Many…many students stay off at community colleges, or 4 year schools within commuting distance of their homes. Many go to smaller and less costly directional public universities in their state.
But first…set a budget.
@thumper1 Yes, agreed. My D applied to a wide range of schools and many do offer merit aid. I’m just blown away that some (not all) of the NESCAC schools are so rigid with their financial aid offerings. Basing it completely on need which is determined by poor calculators such as the FAFSA and CSS .
I’m sure at the end of the day, your student will attend a great college…that is affordable for your family! And will thrive.
Poor calculators? The FAFSA and Profile contain a lot of information. The SCHOOLS make their own calculators which is why there is such a variation even between schools guaranteeing to meet 100% of need.
The fact is…you own a secondary real estate property. Apparently you have equity in that property as well as that is usually what is looked at.
You could lower the asking cost of the property if it’s that much of a financial liability.
My thought as well. OP, assuming a sale at $50k less than what you paid for the rental house, what would you net on the sale (if anything)? Are there other substantial assets that aren’t protected in qualified retirement accounts?
Well that’s nice if you can afford to have the pretax money deducted from your check and still have enough to pay the day care with post tax dollars. I had two in day care and could barely afford the tuition at pretax dollars. Then I had two in after school/summer care and that was a killer too (especially summers)
I think the reality is that most people don’t attend private colleges. I think majority of students end up commuting. People do what they can afford.
EFC isn’t always based just on the FAFSA as well. Some schools (UPitt for OOS) use their own formula. We know this as our child was told he would get zero FA with their sticker price at $52/year. Unfortunately their merit starts at 1480 SAT and we were not that lucky with a higher SAT like that…so no merit either.
You need to “go to the school that loves you” unless you have the means to spend $200k plus for four years of your life.
@wantoknow987 When you sold the house, the asset will be transformed into another form. It is not going to change the calculation except for the rental income which would impact the aid in 2 years.