How is the FA at top-tier LACs?

Paying for College
21

<p>"I have some friends ('08, '09) who chose Amherst BECAUSE their FA packages were better than Harvard/Yale/Stanford. I thought this was a little bizarre. I don't know how it is now that policies are shaking up."</p>

<p>That wasn't our experience:
Last year as a freshman, HYP all gave ca. 20k/yr in grants, Amherst only a couple thousand in loans.
This year as a transfer, Y gave 25k/y in grants & WS, Amherst only a couple thousand in loans.</p>

<p>csleslie,
What I always wonder about is how assets are assessed in these new policies. In all of the news articles or websites, they only mention income, never assets.</p>

22

<p>I think it's all in what entomom is saying about assessing assets. It seems there's a lot of variation in that, and often hard to get concrete answers about it from the schools' FA offices. In the experience of my son and his friends, the schools with their own dedicated FA calculators on their own sites get you the most accurate estimates.</p>

<p>The trick, of course, is not just in saying you'll go to HYP because the aid is better, because it's only better if you get accepted. If you're applying only non-binding EA (where schools offer that option) and RD, then there isn't much point in plowing energy and speculation into which will give you the best award. Just apply, see where you get in, see what the awards are, try to negotiate if necessary, and make a choice.</p>

23

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<p>My guess is that most schools will consider this a family choice. Unless there was some highly restrictive reason why your grandparents needed to build a house, they could have made a different choice (renting or living in a less expensive already built house)...and so could your parents. Please don't misunderstand..I think it's great that your family was able to support your grandparents' wishes, but I think most colleges will view that as an asset that could have been used to at least partially fund your college education.</p>

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<p>We are a family that made some choices that included helping out relatives including grandparents. Those choices would not be considered. It was our choice. If your grandparents qualify as dependents, then their needed support would be taken into consideration, but within certain parameters. Other than medical expenses, little is considered necessary. Still, I would let the colleges know on the PROFILE statements as those are subject to much individual judgements. The venture may be taken into consideration though not dollar for dollar.</p>

25

<p>I agree assets are tricky to figure out. Could only find these statements in a brief search:
From Harvard's website: "How are assets considered in determining need?
We have not considered retirement assets in our financial aid calculations for many years. And, with our new initiative, we now no longer consider home equity. All other assets are considered in determining the parent contribution, but only after an additional amount is protected to ensure the financial safety of the family. In cases where a family has little or no retirement and/or home equity, a larger amount of other assets may be protected."
From Yale's website: "Yale also is increasing the number of families who qualify for aid, eliminating the need for students to take loans, enhancing its grants to families with more than one child attending college, exempting the first $200,000 of family assets from the assessment of need"</p>

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<p>Thanks, that's interesting and good to know!</p>

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<p>Stanford also does a good job of spelling out what assets are considered.</p>

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<p>I'm in the same situation as you--at H we'd pay <10k under the new initiative, but Amherst's calculator works out to more like 20k. That said, you never know what will happen.</p>

29

<p>
[quote]
>>what if my dad donated a huge sum of money to help my grandparents build a house>></p>

<p>My guess is that most schools will consider this a family choice.

[/quote]
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<p>I think a reason that building a home for a grandparent needs to be viewed as a choice is because there would be parents who would "hide" assets by doing this. By hide, I mean that grandparents (grandparents who do have assets) could gift that money back in some way (collectibles, or some other means that is off the fafsa radar), or parents could park money (parent assets) in the home for a lower efc, and get it back after all their children have graduated from college. Not all grandparents truly require financial assistance.</p>