<p>Say my parents made 500k last year, could I expect any sort of student aid back?</p>
<p>If your parents make 500k/year, I don't think you would need student aid.</p>
<p>Very very very unlikely. Plus, trust me on this, with that much you can definitely afford to pay full tuition.</p>
<p>If your parent made $500,000 per year, and had 10 children in college at the same time (next year), and another 5 children still living at home, and they had no other assets (no home ownership, no savings, no retirement accounts, nothing), AND they were retiring...you might qualify for aid. The formula is NOT only about income, but also about assets and the number of people being supported by those assets. Still...it amazes me that folks with families with incomes of 1/2 a million dollars a year could think they would qualify for need based aid. Why?? No...regarding merit aid...depending on your application, you certainly could qualify for that at schools that do not consider need when awarding merit aid.</p>
<p>What about income in the range of $150k-200k?</p>
<p>I think in that range it would really depend on the other assets involved. More than likely you wouldn't get all too much, in terms of grants and need based scholarships. </p>
<p>With that kind of income generally you can pay full tuition at most places.</p>
<p>Go check out the FA estimator at Collegeboard.com. This will give you a good estimate of what you can expect.</p>
<p>You should always file the FAFSA and other FA forms anyway because it will give you the opportunity for the Stafford loans (should the parents wish the student to take on part of the responsibility), and many merit and other institutional awards are dependent on the FAFSA filing these days.</p>
<p>at a ca state university,
my fiance...who has one sister at home...with a father who makes 35k..received no aid from the fasfa...no pell grant..no cal grant...
he gets student loans and applies for scholarships that are not income based...</p>
<p>happy day all...</p>
<p>igasp, does your fiance live at home with his parents? In-state tuition at a CSU is only $3200 per year - so if the student doesn't have to also pay room & board, the full COA for the year (including books & incidentals) is probably well under $5000. So basically, even a kid with -0- EFC would probably not qualify for any aid beyond a basic student loan & work study.</p>
<p>thumper, I think people with 500,000+ in income believe that they could qualify because some schools encourage you to apply by saying that families of all income levels may qualify, and quote a percentage of families with 100-150/200,000 that did qualify for need. </p>
<p>One also comes across families with very comfortable incomes that do qualify, but there is a reason. For example, I know of young a man who was very proud and happy of the aid he received. If I did not know his story, I would think that if he qualified, perhaps I could qualify for this very sizeable amount too. It turns out that he is one of a set of triplets, all entering expensive private schools at the same time. In addition, there are other unusual family expenses and circumstances.</p>
<p>We were told that we shouldn't even bother trying for any type of aid. </p>
<p>It is unfortunate that a family with a combined income of 150k - 200k a year is considered to be wealthy enough to pay for college tuition. Don't get me wrong. I am certainly not expecting anyone to feel sorry for us and I realize that we are very fortunate to be in the place we are in. But, everything is relative and in California, that income is really nothing to brag about at all. I also live in a million dollar home which would make many of you laugh to see it! You walk out the front door and your likely to step into traffic, you walk out the back door and you walk into the jacuzzi-sized pool. Trust me, between the mortgage payment and two high school tuitions, that income doesn't take you far in California!</p>
<p>FAFSA doesn't really take into account expenses- just income-
But you have some great choices with the California public system.
I even know people from out of state who could have easily afforded private school anywhere who send their kids to CA state schools.
We are going to look there ourselves :)</p>
<p>"It is unfortunate that a family with a combined income of 150k - 200k a year is considered to be wealthy enough to pay for college tuition."</p>
<p>Well, with median family income around 46K per year, you're making around 4 times that--- placing your family in the top 10% of income earners in the country. You have a million dollar home, a pool, and can afford to send your kids to private high schools. If you don't pay for your children't tuition, who do you expect to pay it? The other 90% who make less?</p>
<p>Government money doesn't just fall from the sky.</p>
<p>With income between 150K and 200K, your taxes are going to help the more needy attend college, not the other way around.</p>
<p>I knew I might offend someone. As I said, I am so fortunate to be just where I am with this economy being where its at. But, it is odd to imagine that a street cop and a sales rep make the list of the top 10% in the nation, even with all the weekend side jobs. While it is true that we live in a million dollar home, we bought our first home 23 years ago with 15K down and then watched So. Cal. real estate go crazy. Today, we could never afford to buy our current home back if we needed to. Private school tuition - it was more about religion than exclusivity. By choice, we opted to drive beater cars 'til they die and forgo vacations outside of camping. As far as taxes go, don't worry about our helping the less fortunate, they collect our 33% every year, not to mention the 3K we ante up every 6 months for property taxes. It's all relative and you pay the price for sunshine and shorelines because it can't be beat. </p>
<p>All I am saying is that it aches to tell your kid that you can't afford to send her wherever her hard work has earned her a place to be. And, that kind of parental ache transcends any income level or economic class.</p>
<p>As a single parent with an annual income of under $50K, I have a very hard time fathoming how a family with an income of $150-$200K + cannot manage to pay private college tuition if you want to. Keep in mind that EFC's for everyone are based on an assumption that some of the money will be borrowed, and a family with a 6-figure income has more borrowing power. If you have been paying for private tuition through high school, the same money could be applied to loan payments.</p>
<p>If you read some other threads youll see that nobody is thrilled with their EFC- even the families that have EFC of under $500.00, only have such low expectations because they are without the financial resources that most of us have.
Since you have equity in your million dollar house I expect that the schools will expect you to tap some of that.
(your taxes seem low- do you have caps on property taxes in CA?-</p>
<p>calcaitsmom-</p>
<p>I certainly wasn't offended-- but on reading my reply, I was probably a bit blunt. It's obvious that you're sincere and want the best for your daughter.</p>
<p>Congrats on working hard, doing well, and being smart enough to buy California real estate 23 years ago. Our family situation is somewhat similar to yours-- including the law enforcement connection and owning a California home for years that we couldn't afford to buy today.</p>
<p>The UC's are a huge bargain for in-state kids-- our son landed at UCLA (his heart was set on Stanford), and he's loving it. You've probably already considered it, but a home equity line of credit might be a good way to help make financial ends college-wise for a family in your situation. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>ek4-</p>
<p>Yeah-- since Prop 13 many years ago, property taxes were capped at 1% of value, with a max increase of 2% (I think) annually. The home gets reassessed when sold, or if you do a major remodel, I believe.</p>
<p>Anyway, our home is probably worth a bit over 1M (and like calcaitsmom said, that's not hard to do here), and our prop taxes are less than hers since they're based on a 1986 assessment. Can't afford to move. :)</p>
<p>smoky: 500 grand a year!!! wow.</p>
<p>I would not advise a family who was making even $200,000 a year, not to apply for aid.
Situations can change- FAFSA may be required for merit aid- and you will want that to already be on file.</p>
<p>Still though- if you are paying low interest on your mortgage, with income of $150-200K ( pretty big discrepancy- $50,000?), you should have plenty to live on and still be able to afford college. I would expect that depending on number of dependents and cost of school, a student coming from a family who makes $150,000 would still qualify for some need based aid.</p>
<p>I wouldn't limit your daughters choices until you take a hard look at your finances, at her ability to take on small loans and add in summer earnings, and at your ability to tap some of that equity.
<a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/financial_aid/index.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeconfidential.com/financial_aid/index.htm</a>
take a look at those EFC calculators both for PROFILE and FAFSA to get a better idea of what expectations will be</p>