How are middle class parents making 200k a year supposed to pay for their twin sons to go ivy league colleges?
200k a year is a good amount of money. If you have 2 in college at the same time and at expensive Ivy colleges you’ll still get some aid. They’re not going to pay everything with that income though.
$200k is definitely upper-middle-class–in fact, you’re in the [95th percentile](Household income in the United States - Wikipedia).
If the boys have the ability to get into Ivies, then they most certainly have the ability to get into any number of other schools where they’d receive substantial merit aid. But if the only schools you’ll settle for are Ivies, then you’ll have to pay for it. Figure out what you want, and what you can afford, and plan accordingly.
Savings, current income and loans.
You’re not middle class.
Run the NPCs on a few ivies websites…not just HYP, but also the others (since HYP give super aid, you need to check the others).
With two in college, unless you have a good amount of assets, you probably will qualify for some aid at the non-HYP ivies and maybe a good bit of aid from HYP.
However if your finances aren’t simply (own a business, take business deductions, divorced, own other properties, investments), then the NPC’s will not be accurate.
Have your twins been accepted? If not, how do you know if they’ll be going to ivies?
Do you know how much you can pay for each twin? If so, how much?
You may discover that even with some aid, that the ivies or similar aren’t affordable. If so, then you need to make sure that your twins also apply where their stats will get lots of merit.
We’ve figured out that IF our son gets accepted to Ivies and Ivy likes that give no aid for high asset folks, he’ll get more value out of full or near full rides at solid state schools with Honors colleges. In fact, our son has figured this out on his own and told me he’d be stupid to ignore hundreds of thousands of dollars of free money. I agree with you…I bet the Ivies have an interesting mix of kids from lower income families and the ueber rich families but a small number of kids from the “middle” (not middle class, just middle of those two categories I mentioned) who cannot fund college from their income nor can take such a big hit from their assets so close to retirement…what does this say about having a well rounded class? I don’t know…
I agree with post 4.
And with post 3. Ivy stats could net significant merit aid at other schools.
“Middle Class” haha. 200k a year is not middle class. Having two children in college will help grant enough financial aid to where your parents can cover the remaining cost.
If you reduce your income, you may get better aid, but that also assumes you are already maintaining a standard of living that say $70,000 before taxes is enough to support.
You pay for college the same as the rest of us. Decide how much you can pay out of savings, how much you’re comfortable borrowing, and what you can give up out of current income to make up the difference.
OP, when you run the NPCs, you’ll enter that two will be in college simultaneously. You really have to read what the colleges themselves say about aid policies, whether it’s Harvard, Stanford or some other school that’s not as generous.
And on another thread, you say you’re the student. Be aware that getting into an Ivy or other top tier requires you have this ability to do the research, consider the facts, not just go on easily found info or assumptions. It’s more than stats and being top dawg in your own hs.
To be fair, nothing in this post says he claims to be a parent.
You might get aid, wait til you get your packages. As others have noted, you could reduce your income, perhaps a parent could retire early? You could develop an app or an income generating business and self-fund. You could hit up extended family. Your parents could sell secondary property if they have any or liquidate other assets. Last option, you max out your Stafford loans and your parents get Plus loans. The reality is you won’t be alone in doing so, but it’s a dangerous game.