<p>Over the past year or so, my parents have casually mentioned that they have an account for me with about $1,000 saved, in case of emergencies while I'm in college, like critical computer repair/replacement, or back-up money for rent, should I ever need it. However, they haven't said a whole lot about tuition contribution. I've heard about one sentence from my dad and it was "we won't help with your tuition." Amongst other things, (and maybe I'm being completely ridiculous) this has lead me to believe that my parents expect me to be financially independent the second I step foot out the front door for the school year.</p>
<p>I can't figure out why they are like this. I have a good, if not excellent, relationship with my parents. We argue sometimes, like every parent/child, but never to the point that it would affect something as huge as this. They earn just north of $80,000 a year, and the school I plan on attending has a sticker price of $26,000 per year. At this point, I don't even know what to think. Should I expect my parents to be contributing at all? Are they being ridiculous by not being willing to help foot the bill? I have no idea where I stand in regards to financial aid, and I have no idea how to start a conversation with them about this. Any ideas? Advice? Comments? I'll take anything.</p>
<p>It is their choice, of course, but it sure would be nice if they understood that you will need them to fill out FAFSA and that while they might deem you independent, the federal government (for grants and loans) and the school will not. Has this school offered you any scholarships or grants? Is it close enough to live at home?</p>
<p>Does your school offer and college nights or guidance counselor appointment to review college and how it works? You need to get your parents to attend. I don’t really fault them because when they went to college, it wasn’t like it is now. My sister did declare herself independent and file her own taxes and pay her own expenses. When I found out parents had to complete the FAFSA until the child was 24, I didn’t believe it. How could that be? The state says the child becomes an adult at 18, the IRS says anyone who provides more than half their own costs can be independent, but the Dept of Education says otherwise.</p>
<p>Independence for tax reasons and independence for federal financial aid are two completely unrelated topics that happen to have the same noun; the rules for each were not even written in the same decade.</p>
<p>I second @twoinanddone’s suggestion. The priority here is making sure that they understand that they have to complete the FAFSA and possibly the CSS Profile every year. Completing the form is NOT a commitment on their part to pay, but it does make it possible for you to obtain most need-based aid available through federal, state, and college sources.</p>
<p>Additionally, even if they won’t pay for tuition if they are willing to let you stay at home rent free while commuting to a college then that would be extremely helpful if that were feasible. </p>
<p>In the interim, consider looking into schools that will give you non- need-based aid – merit aid that is based on your SAT scores, GPA, or other attributes and not on your parents’ income or assets. Have you done the PSATs yet to determine if you are in the running for the National Merit program? Some schools will give you a full ride or full tuition scholarship; maybe your school is one of them.</p>
<p>Your problem is that the colleges will likely expect them to contribute a non-trivial amount of money. This means that need-based financial aid is unlikely to be sufficient for you to be able to attend college.</p>
<p>Will they cooperate on filling in financial aid forms? If not, then you will get no financial aid at all, including federal student loans or work-study.</p>
<p>Your college search needs to focus on schools where you can get a full ride merit scholarship. Unfortunately, the economic situation now is that it is much less likely for a high school graduate to support himself/herself through work and have some left over to pay for state university tuition and books, like it was when your parents were college age (they may have worked their way through college and expect you to, but college is much more expensive now, and high school graduate pay is less relative to living costs).</p>
<p>I quickly checked your other threads to see if I could discern if you are a senior or junior. You are a senior and you have one full ride offer? It sounds as if your parents won’t pay for college when they know you can go nearly free to your safety school, Ferris.</p>
<p>You have to have the financial talk with them and you need them to fill out the FAFSA. You can only borrow $5500 on your own without a cosigner. </p>
<p>$80,000 a year is not a lot for a family of four. I can’t imagine that you think they should use more than 25% of their income to send you to the school you like better. I doubt they can contribute more than $5k or so per year. How much have you yourself earned and saved toward college? Good job on the scholarship offer. </p>
<p>.>>>
They earn just north of $80,000 a year, and the school I plan on attending has a sticker price of $26,000 per year. At this point, I don’t even know what to think. Should I expect my parents to be contributing at all? Are they being ridiculous by not being willing to help foot the bill? I have no idea where I stand in regards to financial aid, and I have no idea how to start a conversation with them about this.</p>
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<p>Depending where you all live, that income may leave little to put towards college. </p>
<p>I don’t know why you wrote, “able to pay, but won’t.” What makes you think that they are able to pay $26k per year or even half that amount?</p>
<p>Frankly, it would be unusual for a family with that income to be able to pay $26k per year. That’s why most kids do NOT go away to college. Most go to a local public and commute from home (and the parent contribution is living at home for free).</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>Did you apply to any local public univ? </p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>You can only borrow $5,500 as a frosh, so you can’t borrow your way thru. </p>
<p>Sounds like the school you want to attend is UMich…but it won’t be affordable since your parents won’t/can’t pay. </p>
<p>You mention that you’re applying for FA, but surely if you’ve run the UMich NPC you know that you wouldn’t get nearly enough aid…and the aid you do get will already include a fed loan.</p>
<p>Outside scholarships aren’t going to make UMich affordable. They’re mostly for small amounts and only for frosh year. </p>
<p>What is your career goal?</p>
<p>What are your parents expectations for you in regards to college? Do they want you to go to college? If so, where? and how do they think college would get paid for?</p>
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<p>On the other hand, I just submitted my early action app for UMich, and I’m gonna be on the edge of my seat and biting my nails until I get a decision. I feel like I have a fairly good shot (GPA: ~3.94 unweighted, 4.083 weighted, 32 ACT, plenty of ECs, NHS, work experience), and it is, without question, where I plan to go if I am accepted. I’ve applied to a few other schools, but UMich has been shining like a diamond at the top of my college list for as long as I can remember. I’ve been to Ann Arbor more times than I can count and I’ve been on two official visits already. I’m feeling a little guilty because of the cost, however. I think my stats are good enough to get me in, but I don’t find them exceptional enough for much in the way of merit-scholarships, considering the competitiveness within UMich’s applicant pool. There’s always need-based aid, and I am a Michigan resident, but my parents make just short of $85k a year and I only have one other sibling, who will be a HS junior when I start college. I know I can still apply for outside scholarships and whatnot, but I feel like, given I get accepted to UMich, I would be making a mistake by taking a pile of student loans over a debt-free graduation. Advice? Input?</p>
<p>Ak! I looked at your reply to a U Michigan thread. You got in, and you are in state. Good job. Did you hear anything about financial aid? Are you eligible for in state grants? As mom2collegekids says there probably isn’t much left in your parents budget to pay much. There has been much anger expressed on this site that middle class kids often get gapped with financial aid. That is why so many kids have to live at home and commute to local schools these days.</p>
<p>Well…if the student is an instate student at Michigan, the good news is they meet full need for instate students. Michigan uses the Profile as well as the FAFSA.</p>
<p>ETA…I could not find anything about a priority deadline for EA applicants for financial aid. It looks like the financial aid awards are sent following one deadline date. The date, oddly, is APRIL 30. But…if you want a financial aid award when you make your matriculation decision, it would be very wise to submit the Profile and FAFSA ASAP after January 1.</p>
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Well…if the student is an instate student at Michigan, the good news is they meet full need for instate students. Michigan uses the Profile as well as the FAFSA.</p>
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<p>I think the problem will be that the school meets need with full fed student loans and work-study, and the family will have a decent EFC, but this student won’t be able to cover it. </p>
<p>Yes, they meet need for instate students … but that still leaves this student with a gap, because the parental contribution is not going to be 0. </p>
<p>OP, you need to have a heart-to-heart conversation with your parents. They may very well feel that because you can go to Ferris for free, that is what you should do. Then again, they may tell you they can pay X amount of money for you to attend UM. But you have to determine where you will get the rest of the money for UM … wait until you get your aid package and see what the shortfall will be. </p>
<p>Where do you live? Can you attend UM-Dearborn or UM-Flint for a couple years and live at home? You could work, save money, and transfer as a junior. I know several students who have done this. </p>
<p>What do you plan to study? My S was at Ferris with a scholarship for a year, but he changed his mind about his major. He had wanted to be in the pharmacy program, and you cannot go wrong with Ferris for that. However, when he decided to focus on biology, he (and we) did not see the program as being strong enough for his needs. He ended up transferring to Oakland. That is another school that has a really good full ride program, by the way - if you have the stats for the full ride at Ferris, you are probably qualified for Oakland’s.</p>
<p>^^
He doesn’t have a full-ride at Ferris, he has full tuition. Yes he should apply to these various schools that will give him similar merit. </p>
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<p>This kid can’t afford to transfer if affordability relies on huge merit. Even full tuition may not be enough if tuition, room, board, books, etc cost more than a fed student loan and earnings.</p>
<p>How could he possibly save enough to pay for UMich later as a transfer? </p>
<p>Has the poster said what his major and career goal is?</p>
<p>I do suspect that once he got full tuition from Ferris, his parents thought he should go there or to a similar school. With that income, many families can’t contribute more than just a small amount…especially if that income is from both parents working.</p>
<p>Well…if the student got a full tuition award for the first two years…at a school where the student could commute…the costs would be lower for those two years. Perhaps the parents would be willing to fund the remaining two years to complete the degree under this circumstances. </p>
<p>Also, the student could take the Direct loan of $5500 for Freshman year, and $6500 for sophomore year…and not use that money until transfer time. I’m not advocating this…but it is an option.</p>
<p>With an income of $80,000 a year, I’m guessing their family contribution will be about $20,000 a year plus. I wonder if the family can pay that? </p>
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Perhaps the parents would be willing to fund the remaining two years to complete the degree under this circumstances.</p>
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<p>It is too much of a risk for a student to depend on that now unless the parents put money in the bank that they can’t touch. His parents are clearly communicating that they can’t pay much/anything. He can’t risk transferring as a junior and then having a much bigger bill to cover.</p>
<p>I truly think that the issue is that the family just doesn’t have much/anything leftover each month. They student says, “they earn”…which suggests two incomes. Well, from what I’ve seen, when two people are working and only making a combo of $85k, then there isn’t much leftover simply because there are “costs” when both people work that are lessened when the same income is earned by one person. If that is the case, then the family isn’t suddenly going to be able to fund college 2 years from now. And, even if they said that they might, who could trust that? </p>
<p>The kid needs to take what he can get NOW…full tuition or more at various Mich schools or elsewhere, and then ask his parents if he can ALSO have the tuition tax credit that his parents can get at their income level. </p>
<p>This is a discussion you need to have with your parents. However, they may simply be strapped with obligations and things that they want and just not have anything extra to contribute. It’s their money. You can’t force others to do what they decide they will not do. You can only control your own actions.</p>
<p>You should start getting info together to get PROFILE completed for UMIch and then FAFSA will be quite easy in January after you get the true year end w2s and other tax forms. You should run some NPCs and find out what the cost will be for you at various schools Also let Ferris know that you are interested in seeking any other opportunities in merit money. </p>
<p>Be aware that most college students do work full or at least part time, and eke their way to a degree, if that, over time as they can afford to do so. Going away to school is a luxury. Someone has to pay for your boarding, food and other living expenses, and it’s a cost your parents can afford marginally at home, since they have the residence, and can make the food and supplies stretch. To come up with first and last dollar for those expenses away is an expensive proposition. Living at home is a value of $10K easily. That’s a lot of money to squeeze out of their income. Can you go out and live on your own? it’s expensive. So do keep that all in mind.</p>
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However, they may simply be strapped with obligations and things that they want and just not have anything extra to contribute</p>
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<p>This is what I’ve been getting at. If both work, they both need reliable cars…maybe they each have a car payment or at least one large car payment. They may also be providing this student with a car. If one or both have jobs where they have to maintain a certain “professional image” (clothes, hair, etc), that can also eat into one’s salary. They also have their own household-related expenses…rent/mortgage, utilities, cell phones, internet, cable, food, car/home insurance, gasoline, medical/dental, clothing, incidentals, etc. That income isn’t high when earned by two people and living in an area that isn’t cheap. </p>
<p>This is why I don’t think the student can count on them for much/anything now, or even later if he transfers. He needs to go where he’ll get the MOST money NOW. I’m concerned that he has stars in his eyes about UMich and will choose UMich hoping it all works out in some magical way. He’ll get there, the bills will go unpaid, and then he’ll have to come home and those merit opps will be gone.</p>
<p>Last night I got a very sad phone call from a mom who has to tell her son over the holidays that he can’t return to his school. There is an outstanding bill for Fall semester, they have no means to pay it, her son can’t register for classes…and he could have gone somewhere else affordable but he insisted on this (unaffordable) school. </p>