Multiple kids in Private School, FA question

Hi all, we have one in private school and the second one is applying for next year. We would like partial FA, and I have a question about how to approach the issue. So, the question is…if we believe we need about1/3rd of the tutition as FA, does it impact the kids chance of admission if we put down what we think we need or does it make sense to push the limit to ask for the absolute minimum. Could a 2-3K dollars difference in FA one is asking for impact the kids admission decision chances or that is not really a significant factor for the schools, because they decide FA based on what their calculations show you need not what you ask for?

Thanks for any thoughts/ experience you have with applying for FA and the amount you received/ did not receive or if you thought the admission decision was affected because of your request.

If you need less assistance than your EFC indicates, then you should let the schools know you need less, but you either need FA or you don’t. If you need it, no matter how much or little, you must apply for it, and that puts your child’s application in the highly competitive FA pile. No way around that.

I’ve posted here several times that we applied for FA because we didn’t think there was any way we could be FP. Our EFC said we could be full-pay, so two schools called prior to M10 to say they would admit our son if there was any way we could be FP. It caused a lot of agony in our family as it meant living paycheck-to-paycheck for four years and giving up all saving of any kind, even into our 401Ks. Both schools offered loan programs, but we wouldn’t consider debt, so it was a rough financial decision for us even if the pain was temporary.

But to answer your question, yes, the schools base their FA decisions based on what your EFC says you need, not what you ask for unless that amount is less than what the SSS reported to them. There are folks here who can tell stories of needing more than the EFC reported, and that information/situation needs to be conveyed and discussed as well.

Thanks @ChoatieMom! That’s very helpful. So the EFC gives you the estimated amount you can put in for each child or does it give the total amount combined for all children if you have more than one in private school?

The EFC divides the parental contribution equally by the number of children enrolled: https://www.nais.org/articles/pages/calculating-the-family-contribution.aspx

“2. SSS suggests to schools your Estimated Family Contribution.
This number is a portion of your Discretionary Income that is available to pay for education for all your children in tuition-charging schools. If more than one of your children is applying to tuition-charging schools, the basic expectation is that you can split your parent contribution evenly among them. Your Estimated Family Contribution also includes an expectation that some portion of savings in the student’s name will be added to the amount parents can contribute from their own resources.” https://www.solutionsbysss.com/parents/apply/understanding-your-family-report/

Thankyou @GoatMama and @ChoatieMom once again! At some point the question of is private school worth it compared to the money one can put in for a graduate degree like, med school or an MBA or a JD becomes highly relevant (even we assume one can somehow manage a bachelors degree). This is even more important if sending kids to private school without any FA means no savings at all for college or for anything. This is an issue on which there is still a constant debate in my mind…and logically thinking the latter option makes more sense, although this is a difficult decision emotionally after having applied to private schools.

Am I giving too much credit to possibilities at pubic high schools? Does it make sense to say “logically” (not emotionally) public school + saving money for college possibly grad school makes more sense?

I believe there is a significant distinction between what you can pay for and what you can afford. To me, it makes no sense at all to endanger college funds. If there is a good public option then, IMO, sufficient college funds trump private school every time. Don’t imbue private schools with magic they don’t possess. A good student can do very well from a decent public school, and not paying pricey tuition may free some funds for supplementing the public school experience where/if necessary.

It depends on your particular situation and the probable college prospects for your children. It has been evident to us for a long time that whatever we might be able to save for college tuition would be woefully insufficient. We have received very generous financial aid for boarding school while still paying an amount that is difficult but doable (I actually think they did a very good job of calculating the fair amount for us to pay to make BS possible). If we had instead saved that money (and in reality, instead of saving most of it we would likely have replaced one of our old cars, done some house repairs, and funded some extracurriculars for the kids), it wouldn’t have drastically changed the college financial landscape for us, what with two children going through at the same time and a relatively modest income. We have been counting on the fact that our children are decent candidates for colleges that meet need or for merit scholarships at some others. If they weren’t quite such good students, the financial equation would look very different and I would have to say that boarding school tuition had not been a good use of potential college funds, although it certainly has been a great choice for other reasons.

@ChoatieMom, absolutely agree with you…giving up college funds to send the kid to private school seems very risky. But what do you think about funding a specialized degree like saving money for med school or putting it towards private school…? Is there an obvious answer to that?

@twinsmama saving for college does seem like a daunting task. The decision for private school is much easier with some FA It is the FP scenario with more than one kid in private school at the same time…that could become a very difficult decision. Let’s see what happens. Kid who has done both public and private school, sees a lot of value in private school education.