@tsbna44 I thought you asked what happens to the money. I apologize.
I was saying tell your daughter short of 100% merit sheâs going in-state. Sheâll get over it
Reality is college is a crapshoot. U choose what u think is best. But get there And have a tough class or bad roommate and you hate it. Or go where u donât want and u might meet your BFF.
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You have to go to a Florida school (and start within a year of hs graduation) to get BF. Use it or lose it. Many states have programs to pay tuition in their state schools - Georgia has Hope, NM has a few scholarships, Colorado gives an amount per credit. If you donât go instate, you donât get the money.
The FPP is yours. Itâs like a 529 plan except the return is based on the cost of tuition at a Florida school (and some fees, sometimes room depending on the plan you picked and paid for). Itâs not wasted, just not honored as full tuition at non-Florida schools. Even at a private school in Florida, they give you the value that youâd get at a public school, right now about $7k. Residents also get a grant for the private school of 40% of the tuition, so I think it is about $3500 now.
There are plenty of smaller schools in Florida, both public and private. UMiami, Rollins, Florida Southern, Embry Riddle. Most kids can find a size, location, major that will work, and the costs at some of those can be low too. With BF ($7000), the resident grant ($3500), and some local scholarships, many kids can start with $12k-$15k off the COA before merit from a private school.
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I see. My son got 50% scholarships at FIT and Embry Riddle so yeah you can still find a good deal it seems. Thx for the info. We have nothing like that In TN.
@twoinanddone for 2021-2022 you will get approx $6500 if you purchased the tuition and fee plan prior to 2007. It cost $11000 in 2003.
Florida knows what they are doing, they want to keep their brightest kids home. Combine FPP with BF, merit and anything else itâs amazing - basically they pay you to stay in state.
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Iâm always puzzled over what people think their kids will do with a $320K degree that will make them more successful than graduating college with $320K in the bank for a house downpayment, grad school, etc. Do you believe your kid is going to go into a high paying prestige focused career like investment banking or strategy consulting where they might get a return on that money? Or are you just paying for them to have what you believe is a nicer experience for four years? Is it really $320K nicer?
I have a ~$100K difference in cost over four years for my twins and the one with the cheaper option and $100K left in the bank (remaining 529 funds) will undoubtedly be in a better place financially for many years after graduation, if not forever.
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Donât know if this parent is offering to give the student the $320k if they stay instate. Itâs the parent who is out the $320k and thatâs paid to the school, not the student. In the Florida case with FPP/BF/extra scholarships, the student might get some money to save, but it would be more like $25k, not $320k.
For most families that can afford to full pay $80K/yr cash, their students will not suffer later for the expenditure. Most families in that income bracket will still be able to help their children go to grad school, gift the downpayment for their first (and second) home, and provide the seed money for their grandchildrenâs college funds at birth.
Itâs just not the same for families that would receive $10K/yr merit, pay $30K/yr and take out a loan for $40K/yr. That familyâs child might later be in a different situation from families that can actually afford to be full pay.
Is it worth it isnât really a question to be answered by families that canât actually afford it in the first place. As the saying goes, âif you have to ask the price, you canât afford it.â
TL:DR, Some families can afford it.
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To add to my previous comment, @Twoin18 , This week I listened to three podcasts by Malcolm Gladwell about the financial state of universities, from cost to endowment to more. One of the episodes featured a deep dive into Vassar and Bowdoin.
Gladwell discussed how, a decade ago, Vassar made a decision to be more accessible to low-income students. By definition, that meant accepting fewer full pay students in order to admit students whose education would be funded mostly by institutional funds. Spending the funds on on diversifying its student body to provide what the university feels is a âfullerâ educational experience for all students meant Vassar had less funds to spend on âperksâ (dining, dorms, gyms, etc) that attract full pay students accustomed to a certain type of lifestyle.
Meanwhile, Bowdoin has held steady on the percentage of low-income students it admits whose education are paid for with institutional aid. Bowdoin instead used those funds to pay for the perks to attract full pay students. One of those perks is paying for a world-class chef to design Bowdoinâs dining options, and their meals are recognized as among the best in all universities.
Gladwell made no moral judgement on either side - he praised Vassar for its efforts, without denigrating Bowdoin for choosing a different path. A wealthy Vassar student who excoriated the dining options at Vassar said she thought it was worth having less than glorious on-campus dining options if it meant more low-income students were able to attend. And a Bowdoin student gushed over how great the food was at his school, and how he was eating different foods he would have never considered before.
While I applaud Vassar for what itâs doing, I donât think poorly of Bowdoin for not providing as much SES outreach. Different strokes for different institutions. Itâs good to have some variety. And I can see why some high income families might decide that for $80K/yr they would prefer their student get a world-class chef along with Philosophy 103.
It was a very interesting listen. For anyone interested, the podcast is titled âRevisionist Historyâ and the Vassar/Bowdoin episode is titled âFood Fightâ and dated 13July2016. BTW, while the focus is on V/B, other universitiesâ financials are discussed.
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We are effectively paying full sticker for two private colleges now. My kids have some merit scholarships that is reducing the price somewhat, but that didnât affect where they applied or how much we were willing to pay.
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If I were worth 50 million I probably wouldnât even be on thos board thinking about it 
If your gross salary is 200 grand youâre pretty much full pay. And in many areas of the country that puts you squarely in the middle class.
I really shouldnât complain. We chose to live here, we only have one child, and I have an inheritance that is helping a lot. Without that we would be looking at loans even though weâve been saving for college since he was born. We prioritized saving for our retirement and paying off the mortgage also so he would never feel like he had to help us financially. I know way too many middle aged people trying to help their parents and pay for college.
There are definitely some great options and excellent schools that offer merit, but also some kids that have their hearts set on T20. Itâs a difficult conversation.
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That is a very old Gladwell piece and not very well researched. Bowdoin responded afterwards and I think that response needs to be here.
http://community.bowdoin.edu/news/2016/07/bowdoin-responds-to-malcolm-gladwells-food-fight-podcast/
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I think Bowdoin does a great job for low-income students. I think Vassar does a better job by comparison because a larger percentage by a factor of 100% of their student body (according to the piece) was Pell Eligible.
If it is true that twice the percentage of Vassar students are Pell students than at Bowdoin, that speaks for itself.
FWIW, I personally think both schools are awesome and I see no reason to speak ill of either.
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I know a lot of families who are expected to pay full price based on income in a high COL area but who certainly are not well-off. Weâre one of them. I told my son early on that we have enough to pay for his undergrad degree anywhere he wants to go, but that means heâs on his own for grad school. If he gets merit that money we saved will help him pay for it. We are certainly not buying him a house or anything like that. Weâre close to retirement age ourselves and ready to be done working.
I think thereâs a misconception about families who pay full price. Sure there are some richies but plenty more are like the people I know who are juggling priorities.
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I was not speaking of such families in that statement.
I was speaking solely of families that actually pay the full price of $70K-$80K/yr. Regardless of situations, the families that cannot pay generally do not pay. But the ones that do pay (cash) ostensibly can afford it.
But thatâs what Iâm saying- there ARE lots of families in that situation who pay 70-80K a year. I am a parent in this situation and know several others.
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Are you saying you actually pay $70K-$80K/yr cash for your student to attend college? If so, doesnât that mean you can afford it?
Or are you saying your student attends such a university and the cost is covered through a variety of merit money, cash, and Parent Plus Loans? If so, my comment wasnât including families like that.
My son is a HS senior and has applied to schools that will cost us 70-80K out of pocket. Can we afford that? Yes, because of saving in a 529 since he was born and an inheritance to help. But we live pretty frugally. My husband put 250K miles on his Prius and would have driven it to the ground if he hadnât totaled it. We clip coupons and buy whatâs on sale. Other than buying a house in a nice area, in large part for the good public schools here, we live frugally so that we were able to save for college.
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I wonât derail the thread anymore but I do believe Bowdoin has increased its Pell Eligible percentage since 2016 and is inching closer to 19% while Vassar is around 23%. Anyone who really knows Bowdoin knows itâs not about the food.
Edited to add that Bowdoinâs FA is no loan for all who receive aid while Vassarâs is only no loan for those with the most need.
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Got it.
In my original comment, I surmised that families that could afford to pay $80K/yr in cash ($320K total) would likely be able to help that student later when it came to Grad School, helping with buying a first home, etc.
If youâre telling me that in your situation you can pay for expensive undergrad (without loans) but will be unable to help with the other, I will note the exception.
I do have a followup question, that will also probably answer @Twoin18 's original question.
If you are such a family that can pay $320K with no loans but would then be unable to assist with grad school and first home, what about that particular university (whichever it may be) do you find worth such an expense that would cripple your ability to do the other things?
I understand why families would spend that much cash when the expenditure would not impact their lives much. But I am genuinely curious as to why a family would make such a choice that would result in great hardships and not being able to afford grad school. As @Twoin18 phrased it: âIs it really $320K nicer?â