<p>they should cover everything but your EFC. Your child will have to work. He may have to take out loans. But it should cost you your EFC out of pocket. Did your child apply to any of these schools?</p>
<p>Proudpatriot…I think there are a few issues with the schools that meet full need for ALL students. First, these are highly competitive schools, some
accepting less than 10% of applicants. Their generous financial aid won’t help you if you are in the 90% who are not accepted. </p>
<p>Also, many middle to upper middle class families have family contributions that are greater than $30,000. While the calculations say this should be the family contribution, the reality is that for some families, meeting this is a stretch financially. So…if the school meets your need and “all” you have to pay is your fame contribution …that is fine IF your family feels they can do this. Some can and others cannot. Things NOT considered…younger siblings who will be attending college in the future, consumer debt, cost of living in different areas of the country, past leer income. These all can have an impact on a family’s ability to meet their family contribution.
Someone made a comment that all middle class families should be saving for college. The reality is that the vast majority of families do NOT save for college. Also, some families were not in the financial position to save in previous years.</p>
<p>Ignore the text below. I’m typing this on my iPad. There is a “open advanced options” that prevents
iPad users from being able to delete things at the bottom of these posts (as the advanced options open). I sure wish CC would eliminate this iPad advanced options feature!
Saving</p>
<p>Expensive private colleges have not been this inexpensive in 32 years! During that period of time, families who could reasonably be expected to pay the full board have had their assets increase well faster than the cost of attendance. It’s a real bargain for the core market. </p>
<p>In 1980, of course, most families who have private college envy would be attending state universities. Middle class parents for the most part didn’t send their kids to private colleges unless the kids had scholarships, or there was a trust fund. In fact, a large percentage of parents would have.</p>
<p>The EFC per FAFSA might be
$11,000, but that does not mean the family contribution at these Profile schools would be (exception Princeton which does not use the profile but has its own form). </p>
<p>And as noted…with sometimes 90% getting rejected, these schools are not a sure thing for just about anyone.</p>
<p>There are plenty of private colleges with costs significantly below $55k. Look in the south and midwest. Stay away from the northeast if you are looking for lower priced schools.</p>
<p>“It looks more and more like the average middle class family is being priced out of the elite private college market.”</p>
<p>Of course it is. It always HAS been priced out of the elite private college market. It’s only in the past couple of decades that “average middle class families” aspired to elite privates. Those schools were created by and for… other elites. (I count exceptional athletes, or exceptionally talented academically students as elites who get a shot at those schools.) </p>
<p>I think it’s odd for the ‘average middle class family’ to be somehow miffed that it can’t afford the pricy private. Are you miffed that you can’t afford a private jet? </p>
<p>It’s NOT like there are no good educational opportunities for that ‘average middle class family.’ It’s called the state u. And it’s usually a very good u at that – one could argue that most are better than many privates.</p>
<p>I wasn’t assuming anything new. By elite, I mean top schools not necessarily Ivy schools (created by and up until recently largely attended by the elite class).</p>
<p>And I wouldn’t consider athletes/exceptionally talented students elites in the traditional sense. </p>
<p>Basically all I’m stating is that top schools offer only financial aid mostly. If they offer any merit it probably won’t be enough to make a huge dent in the expenses. So again, top schools become a reality for students with high stats low(er) income or wealthy students not dependent on financial aid.</p>
<p>Please be nice in how your words come across. As my D would say- " Ain’t nobody got time for that".</p>
<p>Just to clarify: as an average middle class person, I am in no way miffed that I can’t afford a pricy private. I don’t expect that all options in life should be available to me. </p>
<p>I am just curious how people like our family might do it without going into the poorhouse.</p>
<p>Be glad that you live in California, not Illinois or Pennsylvania, where the state universities (at least the flagship level ones) do not come anywhere close to meeting need for low-to-middle income in-state students – the gap between EFC and net price for schools like UIUC and Penn State is likely to be around $20,000 per year, far more than a student can realistically expect to contribute from Stafford loans plus work.</p>
<p>On the other hand, flagships in some other states like North Carolina, Florida, and Washington are even more generous than California to low-to-middle income in-state students, with an ESC that can be met with either Stafford loan or work earnings, without needing both.</p>
<p>More properly, “meet full need” colleges would cover everything with grants but a net price of EFC + ESC. ESC is the expected student contribution of student loan and/or work (typically offering a Stafford loan and/or work-study to cover this).</p>
<p>Note, however, that different schools may calculate EFC differently, and may have different ESCs (for example, University of Virginia has a higher ESC than University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill). Also, if your AFC + ASC < EFC + ESC, that is going to be a problem even at “meet full need” colleges.</p>
<p>Our EFC is about $11,000 also and my daughter applied to three expensive private schools and got into two of them (she was rejected by an Ivy–no surprise there). The FA package at one of the private schools was more than we could have hoped for and the total cost is actually cheaper than our state flagship because of their generous financial aid. The package was about $4,000 short of meeting our full need but our state flagship was about $12,000 short. We are in the process of submitting more financial information to our state flagship so we’ll see if that makes a difference in their FA package. We are still waiting for the FA package from the other private school but my daughter received a $10,000/year scholarship there (not enough $ if there isn’t additional FA). Just as an FYI, the private with the great aid required the CSS Profile and I think that gave them a better financial picture than the FAFSA does.</p>
<p>My daughter knew all along that she couldn’t attend the private schools if she didn’t receive enough FA. She also knows that if the FA dries up in the future, and our financial situation doesn’t improve enough to make up the difference, she’ll have to transfer to another college if she chooses one of the private schools.</p>
<p>OP, if you haven’t received your FA packages yet, you might be surprised at the amount of aid your daughter receives.</p>
<p>In Midwest, we found many private Tier 1.5 and Tier 2 LACs that could be less expensive than our in-state UIUC, once financial aid and merit aid offerings were considered. In Illinois, flagship UIUC is expensive, has little financial or merit aid available, and can become a 5-year BA/BS track for many of its students. The other state university colleges are Tier 3 (or lower) caliber, and not particularly prudent choices for academically-inclined students. Check out Beloit, St. Olaf, Ripon, Gustavus Adolphus, etc.</p>
<p>If your daughter is willing to consider rural Midwest, go research the private LACs</p>
<p>We saved up on one income and were very fortunate in the stock market. Basically rode the bubbles up and got out before they popped. Did this several times over several bubbles. Also rode the gold and energy markets up starting around 2000/2001. We also lived a very frugal life (sleeping on the floor, old cars, etc.) and live in a state with no income taxes which helped a lot.</p>
<p>Goingnutsmom, I actually wasn’t writing in reference to anything you wrote, rather, I quoted OP’s comment that elite privates are becoming out of reach for ‘average middle class families.’ My point was that they always were, and that ‘average middle class’ families didn’t aspire to them until fairly recently. The gulf between what average middle class can afford - and what it feels it should be able to afford - is what gets people in the huge credit crunch that’s proven so dangerous to millions of Americans swimming in debt. Maybe it’s time to become realistic - and live within one’s means. Which for the ‘average middle class’ doesn’t include elite private schools. </p>
<p>I still stand by my comments, though I apologize if I came across as harsh.</p>
<p>I have to agree the private elite colleges have never really been a middle class family expection until recently. It wasn’t until we all were told you can get into some of the Ivy’s with some very good FA that they became the middle class dream. I do not know any middle class family that can really afford these colleges. The ones I do know that attend had one kid and they got very good FA to make it work. </p>
<p>I honestly believe that the Ivy’s pick up the poor to help them feel better about themselves and make everyone think they are good guys.</p>
<p>My parents, squarely middle class, could have afforded any college in the nation for me back in the early 1980s. Bennington was the most expensive college in the nation at about $11,000 per year total COA. Starting salaries for teachers were about $18,000 and for engineers about $30,000. A nice new house might cost $60,000.</p>
<p>Crizello - We are in the same boat as you. We had savings, but a couple periods of unemployment and a round of cancer treatments took care of that. We also have an EFC of around $11,000. Son applied to 2 (WA) state schools. The first Fin Aid letter came last week - loans only, Stafford, Unsubsidized Federal, and Parent Plus. No merit. Essentially the banks will “allow” us to send him for his $100,000 education if we give them $150,000 over the next 10 years.</p>
<p>Next year, our daughter will be applying to way more schools trolling for merit money. It’s tough on capable academic kids not in the top 10%.</p>