Hi everybody,
Congratulations to ALL you who got in to the most desired college/University.
So, here is my little story and kind of dilemma. I am an Immigrant, became a citizen long time ago. Have my Master’s from my country (evaluated here). I am a single, head of household professional, mother of 2 exceptional HS students and a dog :-))). Yes, I take education very serious!
My oldest son’s stats are: 4.59 W/GPA, rank 17/465, 1420 SAT with Essay 15 (taken only one time due to pandemic), almost all AP classes (Government and Politics), hours and hours of community work, finalist on most of Math and Chemistry Olimpiads in Region, fabulous statements…SO PROUD OF HIM!!!
Got accepted to:
Muhlenberg with the Presidential Scholarship, Honor’s Grants, Merit money…it’s practically FREE education! WOW!
Lehigh University (his top choice)—not so much money there, but…willing to take out the loan (again, education is so important)
Lafayette (the same, not so generous, but still thank you :-))
Villanova (I think this college is only for those who can afford a full pay)
So, anyway…In your opinion…are the money the factor in deciding on going to college for you? We all want the best for our kids, I know…But, let’s say if I had extra 200-300K, I would send the boys to the best college without even asking for any FinAid.
Would you send your kid to the college that offer you a Free ride even though the top choice is another one, but you need to take out a loan?
I know 100%, my kids will do great anywhere they go, but sometimes I think…Would the money make a difference?
Thank you all who read my long post! And thank you to those who reply!
What would be the total loan amount? And what are his current career goals? I am not anti loan. But I am about value and setting up young adults for success so loans generally should be limited to no more than the federal maximum and in some cases less. Sometimes a little more in loans makes sense, but not usually.
Mine is a minority view on CC, but I would take out a loan for a super elite school, yes (that is, Harvard, Stanford etc). However I would not take out a loan for a school that wasn’t orders of magnitude better than the free ride. And, excellent though they are, Lehigh and Lafayette are not orders of magnitude better than Muhlenberg. (Let it be said, Lafayette was my own personal dream school back in the day, and I didn’t get in ). I would guess student outcomes are not very different at the 3 schools either.
Finally as a single parent I think it would be good to be more risk averse.
To take loans or not take loans is a decision that has to be more nuanced than always take loans for a super elite school. Full ride to a good school where the kid will have ample opportunities and able to achieve their goals vs. HYPSM with $150k in loans is a very easy choice and it’s not HYPSM. There is no value in choosing HYPSM in that case. So the answer, which is often the answer in all decisions, is it depends.
I think the mistake that a lot of people think is that by taking on the debt, a lot more opportunities will be available. The reality is that it can severely reduce opportunities because you have to service the debt. For example, I can’t take the lower salary in return for equity at a startup.
Are you talking about federal loans he’d take, or parent PLUS loans you’d take on top of his federal loans?
Have you requested a review of your FA by Lafayette and Lehigh?
From a previous post, it seems like you might have qualified for Questbridge (but didn’t know about it in time). If your finances make you eligible for Questbridge, I would have thought you would have received good need-based financial aid from all/most of your son’s colleges. Did you?
Also, do you own your own home? If so, it looks like Lehigh uses 100% of your home equity as reportable assets for financial aid. But…colleges have flexibility with this. I would call them right now and ask to speak to a Lehigh financial aid counselor to see if you can file an appeal to have them re-examine the home equity part of your financial aid package.
Also…a common mistake that people make is that they include 401k assets as “regular” assets in the FAFSA and CSS Profile. If perhaps you made that mistake too, that can negatively impact your financial aid package and can be corrected.
In fact, I would recommend having your son contact Lehigh and tell them it is his first choice but that he can’t afford it. Tell them he was given a much better package elsewhere and although he really wants to attend Lehigh, for financial reasons he has to choose a different school but was wondering if Lehigh would be able to work with him to make it more financially affordable. Some schools will want to see other offers to see if they missed something or if they want to try to meet those offers.
I would call them now, if that is of interest. Your deadline is only a couple of days away. Kids should call admissions offices, but it is acceptable/encouraged for parents to call financial aid offices.
However, if the financial difference is significant, and Lehigh isn’t affordable without loans, I would choose Muhlenberg. You say he will thrive and be happy anywhere, and it is a really good school.
Considering how much colleges cost, money should always be one of the primarily factors for families on a budget. Taking on a large amount of debt is never a good idea unless the outcome is certain that the debt can be repaid in a very short period of time after graduation. It only works out financially for the right student at the right college on a right career path. Then again, that student probably has other options.
Note that what makes the decision is “what’s affordable”, not necessarily “what’s cheapest”. When several colleges are affordable, the student chooses based on “fit”, what college best matches their interests and personality.
Also, you mentioned a younger sibling Will he/she be in college at the same time as the current student?
Right now, colleges will give more financial aid for each student when you have siblings in college (not grad school) at the same time. That benefit is disappearing for FAFSA-schools in two years, but CSS-profile schools might continue to include that benefit. It is worth asking Lehigh to project a financial aid package for the four years, including if a sibling is in college – but make sure to ask specifically about whether that sibling benefit will remain based on the new rules.
The point is that maybe the cost for the last year or two is more affordable than the first year, and the overall 4-year cost is within range.
Finances are always important. In terms of taking loans for a “better” school, it really depends. Even for HYPS I wouldn’t encourage anyone to borrow $150,000, but taking some loans isn’t always a bad idea IF the student can manage the payments. I’d suggest working backwards to determine that: for example, if student takes X amount in loans, he/she will have payments of X amount following graduation. Does that seem like a manageable number considering their planned career or would that amount limit their choices (of job, where they can live etc) Another thing to consider: does the student want to attend graduate/law/medical school where loans are typically $100k + --if so it is best to really limit any undergraduate loans.
In my opinion one needs to determine what they are willing to pay. This would include from savings, current income and loans. Once that is done then the real work of choosing a university begins. You would do the same with nearly any other purchase. If the university after scholarships, grants etc is affordable then it can be considered, if not it cannot be. If it’s within your budget money shouldn’t be the deciding factor. If it’s not it shouldn’t be considered.
How much loans are in question, and would they need to be parent loans?
Students can take loans of $5,500 first year, slightly increasing in later years. Beyond that would require parent loans or parent-cosigned loans, which are generally not a good idea. Also, since you have another kid, it can be a difficult conversation if you use up all or most of your money (and borrowing capacity) on the first kid’s college and have much less available for the second kid’s college.
Uncertainty seems to be the new normal nowadays. All debt does is add to the uncertainty. If there’s a way to do it debt-free, then it’s ALWAYS better. Talented, hardworking people succeed because they’re talented and hard working. The university has nothing to do with it.
Money is a factor is most people’s final college choice. If money is an issue (ex. other schools would require sizable loans, financial hardship) I’d grab the huge scholarship and send my child to Muhlenberg. It is a really fine LAC. (And for full disclosure my D is a proud Lafayette grad LOL).
It’s a tough choice to make. My D will be going to an excellent LAC, but per the rankings, is perhaps a half tier down from other, better-known LACs she was accepted to. But all those other LACs are about $20k more per year. She just didn’t see the point in even seriously considering them - she doesn’t want loans, she knows the school she is choosing will get her where she wants to go, and she feels it’s a great fit for her.
So, money wasn’t the only factor, but it also wasn’t insignificant. Combined with all the other factors, the other schools simply didn’t make sense.
I would say if your son would be happy going to Muhlenberg, if he feels he fits there and feels it will get him where he wants to go - maybe that’s the right choice. But I’d see if you could get more from his top choice, if he feels that strongly about it.
Money is first a gating factor. Certain schools are not financially viable, given costs and awards/aid, a struck from the list.
After that, the weight of cost is very dependent on ability to pay. There are certainly families where cost makes no difference. There are others where high cost schools would be possible with significant sacrifice and debt. And families in between the two.
The school options are also Important. Someone recently asked about UIUC and Purdue for engineering at a $10k annual cost difference. Given how comperable the schools are, this seems like an easy one. Similarly, an extra $5k per year to go to Harvard vs. a directional state school also seems to be an easy choice.
). I would guess student outcomes are not very different at the 3 schools either.