<p>This is our first child and our first experience dealing with the road to college. Nobody close to us has sent a child to school so we are blazing this trail for the rest of the family. Our daughter has a everything she needs to get into several schools on her list. She is interested in an out of state college in New England; the only issue is the cost.
From everyones experience is there ever any room for negotiations when it comes to final cost of tuition? We talked to one local family that claims they received the New England discount from the exact school my Daughter is interested in.
We are from NJ, which is clearly exempt from this discount as per the terms of the schools website. Does it help to hire an advisor to help in these matters or should we save this money and handle this ourselves? Are there deals to be made?</p>
<p>I suggest you start with the draft version of our new Financial Aid FAQ:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15615683-post37.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15615683-post37.html</a></p>
<p>Don’t hire an advisor. Waste of money and you can get needed info here for free.</p>
<p>Advisors, in my opinion, are more focused on the app process to get students into desired univs with the assumption that parents will pay. They don’t seem “in tune” with things like discounts, merit awards, etc.</p>
<p>There are several things you first need to determine since (in my opinion) the NE isn’t a great source of good-sized merit scholarships. There are some, but not as many (or as big) as there are in other parts of the country.</p>
<p>First determine how much you can pay each year.</p>
<p>Merit scholarship don’t reduce your EFC UNLESS the merit is so HUGE that it covers the REST of the costs and then “cuts into” EFC.</p>
<p>So, if…</p>
<p>$55k = Cost of attendance </p>
<h2>$40k = EFC based on income/assets (this would be the EFC of @$135k income/no assets)</h2>
<p>$15k = “need” </p>
<p>BUT… if you can only pay $25k per year, then you would need large merit ($35k per year) so that your remaining costs could be covered with your contribution. </p>
<p>What are you looking for? Large merit awards? If so, then your D’s test scores are very important and must be very high for the college.</p>
<p>From the thread title I thought it was SPAM.
Isn’t it always? Use the Net Price Calculators on each school’s web site to see what you might get for aid. You won’t be able to possibly “negotiate” until the end of the process. Some schools will match aid offers from other colleges. Until that time it’s based on the college’s reading of financial need and merit which, as Mom2CK points out, is based on stats.</p>
<p>Call the school about the New England discount. I am not aware of any such thing. A friend of mine’s so received a nice merit award from UMass Amherst but it was not due to any agreement between the states. You’ll hear a lot of things that don’t pan out when you check them out more carefully. Athletic scholarships from schools that don’t give them and can’t since they are Division 3, merit awards from schools that give none, only financial aid, Financial aid when a family is well to do and you come to find out that it was a merit award, and sometimes just straight out lies. So don’t waste your time counting other people’s money. But solid info about a school that your DD likes, is something to pursue. Find out if there is any “agreement” between states.</p>
<p>Buy the book, “Paying for College Without Going Broke” Princeton Review, Kalman Chany.
Read it and go through worksheets in back of book, with your 2012 tax returns.
Buy the book every year while you have children in college.</p>
<p>I think you are referring to New England public schools charging in state tuition to an OOS New England student, if the student’s major is not available at their own in state public.</p>
<p>This won’t help for New England, but in the Southeast they have the Academic Common Market which is similar to what SLUMOM describes: <a href=“http://www.sreb.org/page/1304/[/url]”>Academic Common Market - Southern Regional Education Board;
<p>Here’s the New England tuition exchange program (it’s in the FAQ, BTW). It does not include New Jersey:</p>
<p>[Overview</a> : New England Board of Higher Education](<a href=“http://www.nebhe.org/programs-overview/rsp-tuition-break/overview/]Overview”>Tuition Break | New England Board of Higher Education)</p>
<p>I know of some exchanges but I don’t think any include NJ or NY. There is the Academic Common Market, Western Interstate Commission, Midwestern Higher Education. Even within those there are limitaions and often a major has to be selected that is not doable in your own state.</p>