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<p>How do we know if such decisions aren’t commonplace every year? I know of plenty of kids who turn down top 20 privates to attend Cal or UCLA every year – sure, money is a consideration (how can it not be), and it is likely the primary consideration. Obviously, if Northwestern was half the price, they’d go to Evanston instead of Westwood.</p>
<p>“Most students have already sent in deposits, but some are covering all the bases by putting down deposits at more than one school. The final picture won’t be clear until students actually show up on campus in the fall.”</p>
<p>Not sure how many students are still keeping colleges (and us) guessing but I found the passage quoted above very interesting and wonder if that trend will increase next year. I would like to hear from anyone in that situation detail their rationale or expectations.</p>
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This is probably the most significant point. Otherwise the article contains some weak stats, one anecdote, and some guesses.</p>
<p>Yawn</p>
<p>This has been going on in the lower half of the middle class for years now. Dream school too expensive and they write it off to avoid heavy loans. Sounds like a pretty old story to me.</p>
<p>Now it affects the upper middle and lower upper class and it is news. Whoop dee do</p>
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<p>Financial aid is readily available and always has been at any random full need school for the lower middle class. It’s the upper middle class that gets hit with the full cost of tuition on a still middle class income.</p>
<p>I think that there are a lot new families this year. I’m self employed and these days just can’t count on the next contract coming along.</p>
<p>We were very close to taking the risk of the very-expensive / no-FA top choice until we received information on the summer program – an additional $3,000. We really did not want to face the “where will the money come from” question over and over as I nervously watched our income and retirement savings drop.</p>
<p>It has been interesting for me to read what parents post about money this year in comparison to what they posted about money last year. I’ve seen fewer “you are a bad parent because you didn’t save a bazillion dollars for your kid’s education and aren’t willing to go into debt for your kid’s dream school” messages this spring. The economy has changed things in more ways than one.</p>
<p>happymom1, the message has changed slightly to Suze Orman’s message. Now the message is that you should have saved a bizzillion dollars, and pulled out of the stock market several years before the economy went south (age 15 for the student) so you’d have the college nest egg. Oh, and remember college is paid for by current earnings (9% unemployment, less dollars to earn), savings (1/2 lost), future earnings (which needs to really be put away for retirement if you don’t want to end up living on the street). Guess that message is true, but now less PC.</p>
<p>“I have been waiting for a thread like this and if I could take it one step further, the middle class was hardest hit. Low income families receive significant need based financial aid where they can get in and wealthy and upper middle class families don’t need financial aid.”</p>
<p>Wrong. Low income families have been the hardest hit because there are only a few schools in the country that can afford to give low income families the aid they need, and those schools are places like HY, which are among the hardest in the country to gain entrance to.</p>
<p>Low income students also may have families in such dire financial straits that the students may need to work to help support their parents and siblings.</p>
<p>I thought that if you were low income you would get enough aid at any school that meets demonstrated financial need. It looks like I was wrong about that, I’m glad to be corrected.</p>
<p>There are very few schools that meet demonstrated financial need with a limit on loans; otherwise the school can give you as little “real” FA (grants/scholarships) as it wants.</p>
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<p>Heck, there ain’t that many that meet full financial aid period.</p>
<p>And just how many full need met schools are out there? not enough without huge loans.</p>
<p>Sorry but the lower middle class and the middle class are taking huge hits and have been for years now unless you have a stanford level kid, which is not common</p>