<p>I was thinking about how to sum up the concerns about financial aid here, when I saw a post by Calmom saying what is in this post's title. I first heard this advice given in somewhat different terms by David Colfax, a homeschooling dad who has spoken at homeschooling conferences for years with his wife Micki after they wrote the book Homeschooling for Excellence. The Colfaxes both had higher education degrees, so their children were not "first-generation" college students, but the Colfaxes made a living by raising dairy goats in the mountains of northern California, and were pretty sure that they didn't have sufficient means to send their children to a good college. They were advised by a friend that the "big schools" (that is, the elite schools) are actually better endowed financially and thus better able to provide good financial aid than most other colleges. They encouraged their oldest son, who hadn't attended school since elementary age, to apply to the big schools. He was admitted to Yale, Harvard, and other desirable schools, and was able to afford Harvard because they got sufficient financial aid. That was an eye-opener to me--until then, I had never heard of anyone of economic level similar to my own being able to afford to go to private college. </p>
<p>There are a number of strategies for finding affordability in a college. The principal strategy is to consider the family's overall readiness to pay list price (pretty low, for most of us who read CC) and available channels from each college for getting a discount from list price. Don't assume you have to pay list price. </p>
<p>Some colleges discount their list prices ("provide scholarships") only for students who have means too limited to pay full list price. (That is, such colleges have stated policies of providing financial aid only on the basis of need.) But for the great majority of American families, OF COURSE list price at the most expensive schools is out of the question, so anyone at a moderate level of income and assets should definitely apply for financial aid at all schools to which Junior applies. Amazingly, there are still parents who forget to fill out the forms, but I hope no regular reader of CC would miss the huge economic opportunity that is represented by a college's financial aid application forms. </p>
<p>Some colleges discount their list prices ("provide scholarships") for students with desirable characteristics. (That is, such colleges have stated policies of providing "merit aid" to some students.) If a student has characteristics highly desired by many colleges (e.g., top grades in high school, high entrance test scores, sports ability, musical ability, etc.), then the student may be able to get substantial reductions in list price from some schools, and even stipends above and beyond list price at a few schools. But it probably takes years to lay the foundation for having that much desirability as a student (see point 1 of this thread), so this channel is most open to the student who shops around in the whole range of desirability of schools among all the schools available. If you have a child with an exceptional set of credentials, merit aid MAY (or may not) provide an even better net deal than need-based aid from another college. It definitely increases the range of affordable schools for desirable students. </p>
<p>The availability of financial aid starts before the college years. Some young people attend "prep" day schools or boarding schools on substantial scholarships, some of which are based strictly on financial need and many of which are based on some mysterious combination of merit and need. Other young people can study challenging courses through distance learning and summer programs without paying full list price. My own family's income and asset range is such that we have to pay full list price once in a while, but also get HUGE scholarships based strictly on need once in a while. To the best of my knowledge and belief, most American families with school-age children have a level of wealth similar to ours. The only way to know, at college age or at precollege age, what is on offer is to apply to each program and see what happens. Many applicants this year are reporting that schools like Princeton and Harvard with unimaginably expensive list prices are actually less expensive than State U if their family is at middle-income level. Other applicants report being offered huge benefits as part of being named a "presidential scholar" or the like at a college with merit aid. It's worthwhile to ask what's possible at each program you desire. Don't assume what you can't afford until you apply for all available discounts.</p>