Though it wasn’t my son’s reason for choosing loyola, his scholarships do feel a lot safer than USC (99% need based).
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Is this only a FAFSA change? Will CSS continue to provide a discount for having multiple kids in college?
Whether CSS schools will change or not is very much an open question…one that will probably be answered individual school by individual school.
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grad school kids dont count in the FAFSA EFC formula of having kids in college any year, right?
socalmom007 - i do appreciate your thoughts and posts here, but i’ll disagree with your logic on cost of living in the midwest based on one thing - Home Equity!
eg: our midwest house, bought 21 yrs ago at $227K is worth now $380. <50% increase in equity. My guess is that anyone who has had real estate in LA, NY, SF has seen a huge increase in equity in their property in the past 20+ yrs. That’s money available to tap, or, as we’ve seen many californians do, purchase McMansions here with all of their equity cashed out. I’d rather have that exponential growth in my home than a low cost of living . … cuz i know what i could do with that growth!
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Having equity is definitely a plus. We’ve been in our house for nearly 20 years and we have definitely built wealth that way. My poor kids can’t see how they can stay here though. They make healthy livings post college, but when a crappy starter house is 600-700k, the math just doesn’t work. I have many work colleagues, teachers, who have not been able to break into the market and honestly they probably won’t ever be able to buy here. It’s a significant problem. We are losing faculty left and right to more affordable states.
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i wonder where the perfect place to live would be. my dream: great weather, geographical diversity, low cost of living, no tornadoes, no droughts, no hurricanes, opportunities to build wealth, and kind independent people. probably a pipe dream; easier to find a perfect college!
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I didn’t think so either. My oldest was not initially going to of to grad school, so we filed FAFSA with 3 kids (2 UG and 1 Grad), and had X amount EFC. He decided to go and we went in and adjusted FAFSA for 4 kids in college and our EFC dropped 8000 for each UG kid.
Last night, I got a call from an Admissions volunteer from one of our two down-to-the-wire top-choice schools — she lives in our area and is a parent of a current student at the school (which is in another state), and was offering to answer any questions we might have. I know this was entirely an Admissions yield strategy, but I think it was a brilliant one — I did have some last-minute questions, and it was really helpful to talk to a current parent who’s from my area. Probably not something the larger schools can do, but a smart move for a SLAC!
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“Always Be Closing”
Glengarry Glen Ross
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You know who’s not unhappy - the schools that use Federal Methodology and meet full need. Now they get to give less aid.
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TAMU Engineering is very very strong. The new engineering building is gorgeous, and my D found the campus clean, safe, and beautiful, with very friendly students, when we visited. Congrats!
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Yes but unless someone in a hcol area wants to cash out and move to a lcol area, we need to live somewhere! My home may have appreciated exponentially value but I really couldn’t cash out because I couldn’t afford to live anywhere else here, I need to live in a house, you know?
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It is true. D23 is going to a university that I was unfamiliar with before we started the process. I’m a little worried that it’s not very known in our area. But I went to St. Lawrence University, and let me tell ya - not many people have heard of it and as far as I am concerned it was the absolute best. It’s funny now to look back and wonder what my parents thought of my decision!
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I think even some of them won’t be happy. I don’t think fin aid officers like to see a family’s bill double, because it may lead to transfers out. And I’m sure many parents aren’t even aware this is coming.
I have older children you were 4 years apart, and I never felt disadvantaged by people with 2 in at once. Now I have 2 going in at once. This policy change will most hurt the middle class. Some families will lose aid at state schools. I don’t see how it is logical that if a family is estimated to be able to pay $20,000/yr, suddenly they will need to be $40,000. There is a limit to how much cash most families can come up with every year.
I think this will push more students into community college and part-time schooling. Again, hurting middle class students and families the most.
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oh of course i get that. but i’ll just add that people who’ve been fortunate to have seen home equity wealth in HOC living areas overall have more options to tap that equity, and retire other places - than those who have lived in LOC of living areas where the wealth hasnt grown nearly as fast. we could not move your way. but you could move ours; and you would be very welcomed here! LOC. Low unemployment. Come! 
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We’ll stay put for now to be close to aging parents but eventually will retire and move, who knows where we’ll end up (Bali has been mentioned 
but might be more like AZ!)
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Probably somewhere in the Mountain West. Despite the long term drought, some places have fairly ample water. Grand Junction CO always struck me as having many of these attributes, while remaining pretty undiscovered because it is so far from major population centers.
Those schools know they don’t need to wow anyone. 
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@LAP23 Congrats on Syracuse! I hope your student has a blast! 
Did your 23 attend an interview with admissions? Our 23 didn’t get accepted, and I wondered if the interview would have helped. 