<p>Everything I’ve ever learned about financial aid has indicated that extended family paying off loans at the end is the best. But if a family can’t continue to borrow at the level set freshman year, I see this as a sticky situation. If extended family comes to the rescue early, the kid won’t get the full financial aid they should be awarded because the outside help looks like income for that year - on the other hand if they don’t get outside help they will be priced out of school before they graduate because they can’t borrow any more money.</p>
<p>I’m not aware of any calculator that can really tell a parent if they are likely to be approved for future loans of similar amounts - or at what point they will cross that threshold. It seems the schools are offering what they can, even though that may not make the school affordable for four years, but if the kid is planning to take their relatives up on an offer of assistance it means they are not getting the aid they could and if the relatives don’t continue to come to the rescue they are out of school with no degree.</p>
<p>I can see from the school’s point of view that they’ve put together a certain package, not knowing whether or not extended family will step in to make the college affordable. With the extraordinary costs that are now the norm I see a new grey area where the true affordability of a school may be difficult to gage. The parent is thinking not only about what they can afford per year, but also whether or not the school will continue to be generous and if a family member will come in with X amount of money at some point, how does that impact the other aid numbers and can the child truly afford the school? It seems to me that this whole sorting process was easier when total cost was lower - the ability to juggle and offset other expenses could allow you to “squeak by” with short term sacrifices if things didn’t go the way you’d planned. But if a relative stepping in with a few thousand dollars sophomore year means a 10 or 15 thousand dollar cut in aid junior year, that isn’t a gap you can easily cover - and might mean that the kid drops out of school junior year, right after the school has gained the benefit of freshman retention data for the school.</p>
<p>I know of no formula that allows a parent on a tight budget to accurately asses all these variables…</p>