Got my FAFSA back, and our EFC was $27.5k. Unfortunately, my parents can only contribute $12k a year, then I’m on my own. I’m already going to CC senior year, but I’m wary about becoming a junior transfer since apparently transfer aid is awful. Are there any colleges that would cost less than $12k a year total? 33 ACT/1450 SAT and 91-92 weighted GPA/3.3-3.5 UW with rigorous courses for merit aid possibilities.
I have Alabama, Michigan State, FSU, LSU, George Mason, and Binghamton (NY resident) as safeties. All their NPC’s said I would pay $23k+. Ole Miss would cost $12k a year but my parents said they wouldn’t pay for it since they think I’ll get lynched like Leo Frank for being Jewish. They’re fine with taking out $140k+ in PLUS loans, but I don’t want to do that to them. $11k a debt in year isn’t terrible, but it’s not what I want out of a safety. I’m a Poli Sci/Public Policy major and would like a socially and academically balanced school that people have heard of. Any thoughts?
So…your parents can contribute $12,000 and you can take the $5500 Direct Loan which makes your total budget $17,500.
This is from SUNY Bing…
So it’s roughly $20,000 for tuition, room and board. If you get a summer job and work during college…and your parents chip in say…$5000 a year…you will have SUNY costs covered…right?
And there are some SUNY schools where you might get a small amount of merit aid…maybe Buffalo?
My parents can chip in $12k a year, but that’s besides the point. SUNY’s rarely offer more than $4500 a year in merit aid, and my goal for a safety was to come out with $0 in debt. So it will literally be impossible for me to come out of undergrad with less than $20k in debt? 
- debt is slavery
For NY residents perhaps the poster qualifies for the NY excelsior program which would take care of tuition,
however leaving cost of fees and housing. Actually sounds like Binghamton would be a good instate choice.
@sybbie719 what is the current income limit for the Excelsior?
@apost12 any chance you plan to major in a STEM field? NY offers a STEM scholarship as well which I’m sure @sybbie719 can explain as well.
You probably could come out debt free if you start at a community college, and transfer to a four year school to complete your bachelors.
Any chance one of the many SUNY campuses is within commuting distance? If so, your parent contribution of $12,000 a year will cover the tuition.
Income limit for excelsior. Is $110. If family is only offering 12k Op will still fall short after fees room board and misc expenses
Op is looking to major in Poly Sci. If Op lives in the city then the financially feasible option is to commute and attend CUNY
Taking dual enrollment classes your senior year of high school does not automatically make you a transfer applicant.
Do you qualify for any of the automatic full-tuition scholarships listed in the automatic scholarship thread at the top of this forum? Your parents’ 12k and whatever you can make in summer and school year jobs will pretty much cover living expenses, books, etc.
If the 12k each year is coming from current income, not from savings, ask your parents to start living now they way they plan to be living once you are in college, and put 12k into savings this year so as to have a bit of a cusihion when you do start college.
Alabama’s NPC is padded and includes the coat of the pricey dorms.
With your parents 12k and a Student Loan, Bama should be affordable. You could work over summers to cover any shortfalls
I thought income limit for Excelsior was $125,000 for next year?
If you enter college in 2019/20, the income from 2017 will be used for FAFSA EFC.
U of New Mexico has some pretty good automatic merit.
Forgot to add that I don’t qualify for TAP or excelsior - my family makes $250k a year. Should’ve also added that I’m not allowed to go west of the Mississippi River because my parents don’t want to go out and travel there.
Macaulay has terrible social life iirc… I though the full tuition sounded good until I realized I would hate it there.
I will be in CC full time, and I will also have 9 credits through AP scores (CC does accept them). I can’t talk about money with my parents… they didn’t even tell me what they could contribute until 4th quarter of junior year so I had to readjust my list. My mom put Emory on my Naviance. Today I ran the NPC in front of her and it said that our net price would be a cool $69,802. I understand that they have merit aid, but I may not even get in there, so I don’t think they’d be willing to chuck $60k a year in aid to an average Jewish kid in a school full of Jewish kids…
I don’t think I’ll making over $5k a summer… and that’s even if I get a job. Teenagers here only get jobs if they know someone or get lucky. I’m doing research at Columbia’s lab this summer with a research professor there but I’m not getting paid for it.
The entire point of a safety is that I wouldn’t HAVE to take out loans… even $20-25k is 5+ years of slavery to Sallie Mae.
That can be your definition of a safety, but many schools expect student to take the student loans. Even schools that meet full need might expect the student to take those loans.
My daughter made $5k last summer working in the park renting paddle boats and bikes. She usually only got 30 hours per week, and she had to take a week off to get her wisdom teeth out and she took another weekend off (her big earning days) to take a vacation. I was surprised she’d made so much.
It can be done.
I would add both SUNY Albany and SUNY Buffalo to your list. Anecdotally, I’ve heard about a number of kids who have gotten around $5k in merit money from these schools. Your scores are solid. Consider adding Muhlenberg to your list. They have generous merit $$ and the undergraduate population is 28% Jewish. Could be a good safety.
Tough to find any four year schools with total COA under $20K. There are some but they are very limited. Plan to work every summer and make at least $3K towards tuition, plan to work during the school year to pay for incidentals, books, travel and fun $. Plan to take out the student loans to the extent you need to in order to get an education. I understand you don’t want any debt, but that doesn’t look feasible in your case. Check out the schools people have mentioned here (SUNYS/Bama, etc). Have your parents not saved anything for your education or is that $12K/year what they have saved? If so, maybe they’ll continue to contribute during the four years.
Lets start with need based aid.
- With $250,000 in income, your family won't qualify for need based aid anywhere...unless you have a couple of kids in college at the same time as you are.
Are your parents divorced?? Was only one parent income on the FAFSA?
- If your parent income is really $250,000 a year, your FAFSA EFC would have been a LOT higher than $28,000. So something isn’t right here.
- Are they self employed?
- The net cost at Emory sounds closer to what I would expect your FAFSA EFC to be.
Now…about CC your senior year in HS.
- If these CC courses are being used to satisfy high school graduation requirements or are dual enrollment courses HS/CC, they will not make you a “transfer student” when you apply to colleges. You will need to provide the transcripts, and you might get some credit towards your degree.
And about loans.
- A $25,000 college loan will be less than $300 a month for 10 years. The Direct Loans that you can take each year ($5500, $6500, $7500, $7500) would be $27,000...about $300 a year. Frankly, that is a very affordable amount to contribute towards your college costs.
- Your loans might end up being less if you are able to graduate a semester early.
- Combining the Direct Loan and the $12,000 your parents will give you will give you $17,500 freshman year plus your summer earnings. Really, you need close to a full tuition scholarship to get to that.
Jobs
- Even schools that meet full need for all (you don’t qualify for need based aid....) expect a student contribution from their aid recipients. They certainly expect this from students from higher income families.
- It’s your choice to do a summer research job that is not paid. It’s a fine choice...but don’t expect a college to fund that in lieu of a job.
College suggestions…
I would suggest you look at College of Charleston. The cost is above your price point right now, but they have a decent %age of Jewish students, and a Judaic studies program as well. Charleston also has one of the oldest, if not the oldest Synagogues in the country. That might please your family. PLUS it’s a great school in a great city. The school has some merit aid, but I doubt you will get your costs below $12,000 a year.
Try York College in Pennsylvania. You would get merit aid there…and the cost might be within your price point.
If your family income is 250K, 27.5K EFC per FAFSA seems low. I recommend that you verify the results so that you aren’t in for a rude awakening later on.
Question: are you taking CC courses as a senior next year under dual enrollment? If so, then you won’t be classified as a transfer student. If not, you would be considered a transfer student and that will limit merit aid possibilities.
As others have mentioned, you should seek full tuition merit scholarships. You have strong test scores but your unweighted GPA is a bit low for many places that provide auto merit for stats. If Alabama-Huntsville considers weighted GPA, you might be eligible for full tuition there and it may be a bit less expensive than Tuscaloosa.
https://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/merit-tuition-scholarships
It is unfortunate that your parents won’t consider western schools as many are good value for out of state. Those test scores might be enough for decent merit at ASU (Phoenix is a major airport with lots of direct flights). You might also have a chance for full tuition at UT-Dallas (similarly large airport).
Do they understand what college costs these days? Long gone are the days when a student could afford a public university on summer earnings and a part time job. Maybe have them sit down with your guidance counselor for a financial reality check, if they haven’t already done so.