<p>I would keep this very very simple. I’m not going to compare travel costs and other discretionary items that are common … even meal plans and such. All that really needs to be compared are tuition, fees, and housing expenses net of grants and subsidized loans. That’ll give me a ballpark of the out of pocket differential. Then it is a question of what premium are you willing to pay for first choice, second choice etc.</p>
<p>PhotoOp, my spreadsheet from last year looked like this. It got very large and I eventually just made one sheet per school so that we could keep track of the additional, non-numeric, information as it came forth.</p>
<p>Tuition
Fees
Insurance (if needed)
Room (Std Dbl)
Meal Plan (the one that we would select, not the one the college uses by default)
Total</p>
<p>Less:
First Year Scholarships
Renewable Scholarships
Federal Grants
State Grants
Institutional Grants
Net Cost (First Year)</p>
<p>Less:
Subsidized Loans
Unsubsidized Loans
= Gap</p>
<p>Add:
Additional expenses
= Total Cost </p>
<p>We added out of pocket expenses (books, transportation, misc) to the gap to arrive at total cost. Most of this extra expense was covered by my daughter through her savings/earnings/senior awards but it was still a consideration as some schools required purchase of a specific computer package for her major (which was nearly $2K) and some were OOS and would have required several flights a year. At one school, these extra costs would have exceeded $10K over 4 years so it was a significant difference for her.</p>
<p>We did not consider work study in the formula as too many kids either don’t have time to work their first year or can’t find a work study job as a freshman. In any case, the first year gap probably won’t be covered by work study funds anyway.</p>
<p>I also projected these costs out 5 years based on expected tuition hikes and other expenses and increases in student loan eligibility. We made notes on the requirements to keep merit aid in play and, once we narrowed it down to 3 schools, we asked the schools what their FA packages typically include for returning students. We found that some schools tend to give less after the first year, and some have additional funds which they offer to returning students first. Not an exact science, but I tried to account for these in my projections.</p>
<p>This info takes time to develop so be prepared to fill in the blanks and ask questions as FA packages come in and you do revisits. If you have concerns about being able to afford certain schools it’s worth the time and effort to really step back and look at the numbers objectively. Our target was to find a school that she liked and we could afford with only subsidized loans and to cover the books/transportation/personal expenses out of pocket. If possible, we wanted to reserve her college fund to cover increases, funding cuts, grad school, etc. and also give it some time to recover from the market slump. As a single, almost 50 parent without a company pension plan, I was not willing to take on student loan debt on her behalf and made that clear from the onset. My income varies from year to year so I committed to an annual amount that I would feel comfortable with in a low year (which was a good idea since 2009 was a record low!) and anything extra that I can contribute increases her college fund/decreases her loans for future years. D is only a freshman but so far, that has been a successful strategy and neither of us are stressed about college finances.</p>
<p>On a side note, one benefit of knowing your target figure is the ability to tell schools that fall short of that number exactly what you’re looking for in additional aid. Although the difference was only $1K, my D politely asked and her school came back with a provisional grant (must be repaid if she leaves the school in the first two years) that paid for her computer. Her HS friend also wrote a detailed letter to her top choice and was offered an extra $4K grant at a private school, which was what she needed to attend. Other friends who appealed generically for “more aid” generally did not receive enough to make a difference.</p>
<p>Also look at student loan amount and if capped. My kids’ university (Rice) caps total student loans at $10,000 - that’s total for the entire 4 years! Some other universities give students large loan amounts freshman year and then the amounts increase each year, so that students graduate with well over $20,000 in loans.
I agree with those who do the fairly simple math comparisons: I looked at total tuition, fees, room and board (but didn’t include student health insurance, since kids are covered under our plan). Subtracted off all free money (grants, scholarships). Added in an amount for travel (since some schools flights away, some just bus ride away). Looked at totals there. All personal expenses, books, etc were not my concern, since kids use their summer earnings and work/study to cover those costs.</p>
<p>Housing costs can be VERY different in different areas of the country, so I would strongly advise that these be included in any calculation unless the student will be living at home so these costs are moot.</p>
<p>HImom, that is an excellent point! I did not think about that because my son is currently looking at schools where most students continue to reside on campus. At many schools, they are off campus as early as sophomore year. Other considerations are whether the local student apartments/houses make PARENTS cosign leases. Lots of things to check out regarding leasing. Remember that many if not most leases mean 12 mos. of payments even if the student is only there from September-May.</p>
<p>^^ All that can wait until next year however. Let’s not complicate things for the OP who is getting set to compare Freshman year offers. The published CoA’s take into account an average cost for a typical freshman, so if there is a bulge in the room and board cost at that school it is accounted for.</p>
<p>Sorry, I was just responding to one poster above who said they would just factor in the basics & I didn’t notice the poster mentioning housing. When we were looking at schools, housing varied greatly from school to school; e.g., CO --CSU in Ft. Collins had much less expensive housing than LA & more urban areas.</p>
<p>Well, from my experience it matters. We were very lucky but had to sign a lease that did not work out (long story). Fortunately our son was able to find a person to take over that apartment, but we could have been on the hook for over $5,000 (and that is relatively inexpensive as far as housing across the country). That plays into my preference of a school where chances are good that students live on campus for most of their 4 years, if not all 4 years. YMMV</p>
<h1>27: You should try comparing off-campus housing costs between places in Texas and L.A. As you know I have two that go to USC, and the close-by off-campus apartment rents are appalling.</h1>
<p>A more complete analysis would factor in off-campus living costs in Years 2-Graduation.</p>
<p>^
Yes, you should also consider what value you are getting for the price.
A bed in downtime LA is not the same as a room in the boondogs.
There is price and then there is value. Just my two cents.</p>
<p>this is FANTASTIC information - thanks to everyone for sharing… keep it coming, I’m learning so much!
:)</p>
<p>Bringing this thread up to thank everyone for the useful information in the replies and to make the thread visible for families just receiving their first financial aid offers. </p>
<p>I recommend looking at College Results, </p>
<p>[College</a> Results Online](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/search1b.aspx?institutionid=100858]College”>http://www.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/search1b.aspx?institutionid=100858) </p>
<p>searching for the college that made the offer, and then using the “similar colleges” search and the “finances and faculty” tab there to look at the “student related expenditures per total FTE” column. (The college I put in the search is just to show an example; I’m not intending to draw attention to any particular college’s practices with this post.) I would be EXTREMELY leery of enrolling at a college at which the family’s total net out-of-pocket cost after aid is higher than the student-related expenditures per full-time-equivalent student. Such a college would seem, in a sense, to have negative value for that student. Look for a college that at least spends more per student than YOUR student (plus you) will spend to attend it. </p>
<p>I look forward to seeing further advice here and more tips on how to apply the advice already given. Thanks for opening the thread and the great ideas.</p>
<p>OP, nice job and excellent thread !</p>
<p>I want to warn against falling into the ‘monthly_payment’ trap. Loans ARE debt that you WILL have to pay back, with interest. I completely understand that parents have to consider cash flow, but first and foremost add up the cost of the college and ask yourself if it is reasonable. THEN figure out a payment schedule you can handle and the carrying costs associated with it.</p>
<p>It’s similar to buying a car. It is a financial mistake to walk into a dealership and let the salesperson convince you that any car on the lot is within your means, all you have to tell him is your monthly payment limit.</p>
<p>When I evaluated my D’s finaid packages I identified what appeared to be the top three or four offers. I then called the various financial aid offices and asked to speak to the director. I then went over the packages line by line and asked very specific questions about what the package would look like in years 2, 3 and 4. Only then was I able to see the whole scope of the offer. I found most finaid officers to be helpful and upfront. I made no effort to ask for more money or anything like that. Strictly informational.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for all the exceptional advice. </p>
<p>I spent an afternoon creating a matrix - a first draft at least. THings are feeling more familar now.</p>
<p>After reading the last post - and a few others - I want to go through each of the financial aid packages and create a “top sheet” of information and questions to have in hand as I call each financial aid department… hoping to get the kind of help the last poster talked about.</p>
<p>Sorry if I am repeating what others have said, but here goes… MAKE SURE YOU ASK about how the F.A. packages will change in the coming years!</p>
<p>$40,000 student debt is too much, IMO.</p>
<p>And yes, don’t just consider the monthly payment for anything. HOW LONG will this payment go on and what sort of interest will you ultimately be paying?</p>
<p>We got a thing in the mail about refinancing our mortgage and reducing our monthly payment by about 30%. Wonderful, until you see that the payments will go on and on for years longer than currently scheduled. Do they think we’re stupid or something? :D</p>
<p>Don’t know if it has been mentioned, but surely you have to consider the value of the school. If the really good program you want costs more, that may be worth it over the mediocre program that is cheaper. How much more is another question. I don’t mean just a “big name” vs. state school, but a truly good program in your field which may indeed be at state school.</p>
<p>I am hoping someone can help me. My daughter just got accepted at a high priced LAC (aren’t they all?) We have done all the paperwork for financial aid. My son just found out that he will be transferring to a moderately priced LAC. We had not done FAFSA or anything else for him as I don’t expect our EFC will be favorable for his tuition. My question regards my daughter. Someone had said that if your EFC if $30,000 and you have two in college that the EFC for each becomes $15,000. Is that correct and did we have to file FAFSA, etc. for my son to have that happen? Is it too late? My daughter’s financial aid letter comes out tomorrow. Thank you so much in advance!</p>
<p>Just to clarify, we did say we would have two in college on all the forms including CSS profile and FAFSA.</p>
<p>FAFSA uses 50% if two are in college (15K)
Profile uses 60% if two are in college (18K)</p>