<p>My son currently is a junior in HS and is of mixed heritage. He is predominately African American but has some Filipino, Thai and Caucasian blood as well. He currently attends a 90% or greater Caucasian public high school. The overall SAT score for his school is currently ~1670. His score is as follows: CR 770, Math 730, Writing 750 10 E (2250). He was recognized as a GATE student in the third grade and received a 1980 on the official SAT when he was in 8th grade. His GPA is strong, extracurriculars are average. Like most parents with high achievers I always had Ivy league aspirations for him. Now for my dilemma, we are planning a college tour trip in a few weeks and I asked him where and what types of colleges he wants to visit. His answer was that he wants to leverage his SAT scores/grades to try to get a full ride and he would consider small class size to be optimal. I did some research and he qualifies for Presidential Scholarships at HBCU institutions, meaning full tuition, room/board,meal plan, and in some cases $1000/year for books and a laptop. Our Income is in the $180k/ year range so financial aid is not a reliable option for us, but we are far from rich in the area where we reside. He is considering dental school but he is only 17 therefore he may change direction. Two or three of the HBCu's have accelerated dental programs that he qualifies for and seem like a great fit in terms of merit aid and class size. Question: what would you do if you we're in his shoes? Apply and possibly matriculate in Ivy League school or other top 25 institution with a parent/student loan contribution $20 to 30K/year or matriculate at an HBCU in an accelerated dental program and have zero debt until he matriculates in dental school. Please note: he and his younger sister both have a 529B account that can cover 2 years at a top 25 school at this time. My son stated he does not want to spend it for undergrad as he would rather save it for professional school or use it for his sister. Also, please let's not make this an affirmative action debate :). I really could use some advice it is his life, but it is a family decision overall. Thank you in advance CC'ers!</p>
<p>If you currently are making $180k per year, and will have only one child in college, your family WILL NOT qualify for financial aid at HYPS, which means you will be paying the full-fare. Can you afford $60k+ per year?</p>
<p>Honestly, I think your son is making some sense.</p>
<p>With high grades and high test scores, he can, as you’ve said, qualify for a free (or at worst, nearly free) ride at many HBCUs. I don’t think there is a HBCU that is really Harvard’s or Penn’s peer, but if he chooses, say, Howard or Morehouse, and graduates magna, (NOTE: this part is my opinion, and I don’t have data to support it) he should still have post-baccalaureate options that are just about as good as if he’d gone to an Ivy or Northwestern. And a lot of money left over, too.</p>
<p>If professional school might be in his future, saving his money may be smart. Professional school costs a king’s ransom, and there isn’t much financial aid besides loans.</p>
<p>gibby,</p>
<p>A lot depends on how much savings folks have, whether they have a great deal of home equity, savings outside of retirement accounts, interests in businesses, etc. However, at even $180K per year, many families would still receive financial aid. Looking at the Harvard net price calculator, a family with $180K in household income, with a quarter million dollars in savings, home equity, etc., would still receive about $16,000 per year in financial aid. Even at $500,000 in assets, the family would still receive a little bit of financial aid.</p>
<p>And remember that that’s not including retirement accounts.</p>
<p>If money is at all an issue, I’d recommend to the poster that he/she look at the Harvard net price calculator - [Net</a> Price Calculator](<a href=“http://npc.fas.harvard.edu/]Net”>http://npc.fas.harvard.edu/) - and to fill in the approximate figures that are appropriate to his/her family, to get a very rough idea what Harvard might offer by way of financial aid.</p>
<p>WatchfulEye - Good luck with your son’s college planning!</p>
<p>Thank you Notjoe, income as we know is relative. Our income is at the average for where we live. I have personally used the net price calculators and that was our real life contributions based on our financial situation.</p>
<p>FWIW: For the purposes of calculating financial aid, Harvard adds back current contributions made to a retirement account. So, a family having gross income of $180k, who contributed a non-taxable $12k to a retirement account would for FA purposes have income of $192K, which would be over Harvard’s upper limit. In these kinds of circumstances, I would recommend calling Harvard’s financial aid office for more specific information about your family’s possible financial aid rather than relying on the FA calculator.</p>
<p>BTW: Harvard’s financial aid calculator does not seem to be in sync with the information in this article.</p>
<p>[The</a> College redistributes aid among lower- and higher-income undergraduates | Harvard Magazine](<a href=“http://harvardmagazine.com/2011/09/bending-the-curve-on-financial-aid]The”>http://harvardmagazine.com/2011/09/bending-the-curve-on-financial-aid)</p>
<p>“Families with incomes from $65,000 to $150,000 will pay from 0 to 10 percent of income toward the cost of attendance, depending on their circumstances—as at present—but those enrolling with the class of 2016 and subsequent classes from families with incomes from $150,000 to $180,000 “will be asked to pay slightly more than 10 percent of income,” according to the College’s news release. Currently, the upper bound is $180,000 (a level that remains in effect for students enrolled this year), so this change represents an increase in the cost of attending Harvard for future students whose family income exceeds $150,000.”</p>
<p>Thanks Gibby, if that is the case for non-taxable contributions to 401k we could be in trouble as far as FA goes as we are in schedule to contribute 35K ( 2 incomes) to workplace 401K’ s in 2013.</p>
<p>I would call Harvard’s FAO and ask them. When I have called the FAO for an explanation of our aid, I have been told that it’s just not your income that Harvard looks at, but income + non-taxable 401k + non-taxable flexible spending accounts + non-taxable contributions towards health insurance or disability insurance. All of that can add up and may put you over Harvard’s upper limit, in which case you could be paying full-fare or close to full-fare.</p>