<p>I know NYU is known for its stingy financial aid, and it doesn't help at all that my dad makes over 100k a year. I don't think he has fully realized how much it actually costs. </p>
<p>Is FAFSA for people with high incomes too? Just because my dad makes a lot of money doesn't mean we can blow it all on college! I am seriously considering going to a cheaper local school just so we don't blow our life savings on NYU. </p>
<p>Maybe I shouldn't be worrying about it until the winter, but does anyone here whose family has a high income have any advice?</p>
<p>FASFA is for everyone; it's the need based aid that is not for high income folks. 100k my not be TOO high , but schools will expect you to spend "savings". Check the "sticky" at the top of this forum. Lots of good info there, but it will take until winter to read it all!</p>
<p>FAFSA does not give you any money. It is just the form that the government made to decide who gets federal money. The number that it generates are based mainly on income and about 5% on assets. That number called the expected family contribution, EFC, is used to determine your eligibility for the Pell grant and the subsidized Stafford loan. The combination of those two programs will net someone with an EFC of zero of about $8500. Your EFC will not be low enough to net you any of the Pell money, but you can get the subsidized Stafford which comes to about $3500. </p>
<p>The EFC is very unlikly to be used for full funding by colleges unless you are going to a school that tends to meet full need using FAFSA only, which I don't think exists. Also if you are a top dog applicant, there is a possibility that most if not all of your need is met. Those schools that guarantee to meet full need, use the FAFSA to get your eligibility for government money and then assess your family's need themselves through their own application or more likely with PROFILE. IT is the need number generated by PROFILE that most full need met schools use. Even then, you are not home free, because the need met may be with loans, not grants. </p>
<p>NYU is known to gap a lot of kids. BUT, I know kids who got full need covered by NYU. Depends on how much they want you. They have some great scholarships they give kids they want the most. If you fall in that category, you could get a great package from them. Vassar meets 100% of need, at least they used to. They do not give merit money, only need based aid, and they meet what that need is. BUt I do not know what the quality of the aid is, whether the packages are loan heavy or if there are some good sized grants in them.</p>
<p>If you and your family determine that your need for college is more than the schools will provide, you will need to find a less expensive course. In your case a financial safety school or two is in order. I would not throw out the reach schools you like. Give it a whirl and see what you get. As long as you understand what has to happen for you to be able to go there, it's fine to giv it a try. Just make sure you are covered both from an admissions and aid perspective and you can apply anywhere else you want.</p>
<p>You should run your family's numbers through the FAFSA calculator at FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans This will give you a good idea of what the real FAFSA will calculate your EFC to be. Then you and your family have to sit down and think about how you are going to come up with that EFC. </p>
<p>If your family cannot come up with that EFC, you will need to look for schools where you would qualify for serious merit-based scholarships.</p>
<p>As cptofthehouse has written, you also need to find a financial safety (or financial safeties if you prefer). This school is one that your family can pay for without financial aid other than what you might be awarded using the Federal guidelines. Most often this is a home-state public university or a local community college.</p>
<p>Our offer from Vassar was generous, but they also had a big chunk of loans and they calculated our EFC much higher than FAFSA due to home equity. This was a few years ago, before so many schools had the no loan policies, so things may have improved, but you really need to run your families numbers through the IM/FM calculator</p>