I didn’t tell you that you weren’t entitled to financial aid, I told you how some schools fund their students.
Most of the students, that I worked with at my high school, had low incomes and qualified for free or reduced lunches.
We had families whose combined income for a year was $30K for a family of 5. Your beginning number of $18K EFC was half of an annual salary for a family of five. So the schools look at these students, who have performed well under limited circumstances, and give them priority for work study.
You are aware that work study hours and jobs are limited? Typically 10-15 hours per week and usually at minimum wage. I think my daughter’s roommate made $2000 for the full year on work study. In other words, you make enough to fund incidentals. It’s not enough to knock off significant amounts of tuition and fees.
This is great because you have options! Go to one of these schools. A number of students don’t receive multiple choices.
You seem to be set on Northeastern so you have the following options:
Ask them:
If they can't give you more in aid, then you have to make a decision about your other options.
The schools just don't have the money to fund each student according to what each student wants. Where would they get the money from?????
My husband owns a business and our income is similar, plus we had some savings for college too. A lot of universities were too expensive for us and the NPCs were never accurate.
My daughter is at a large southern state flagship on a merit scholarship, NOT where she dreamed of at all, but she has made it work for her via specialist programs and other opportunities. With the lower cost we’ve been able to help with study abroad, sorority dues, internships etc. She is learning a lot (not just in the classroom) and enjoying herself. It will be the same situation for my next 2 kids…
I tried transferring to Tulane. My EFC was about $2k on my FAFSA. My mother makes about $40k as a single parent. No businesses, no investments, nothing out of the ordinary other than some equity in our house. My father’s income was waived because he’s not in the picture.
They calculated my EFC as somewhere around $20-22k. I asked for a recalculation, but it didn’t change. It’s worth contacting them, but the sad reality is that schools calculate EFC however they want. They probably won’t give you specifics, and they’ll just tell you that’s your award. What is NE calculating your EFC to be? They must be saying it’s a lot higher than $18k
Your family lives in a $700,000 home and currently owes about $400,000. Their taxes on this home are going to be a minimum of $25,000 a year…assuming you live on Long Island or the northern suburbs. They are not making $115,000 a year…something is off here. Add to this your dad’s business…that creates more confusion/uncertainty/questions etc.
You have the right to call Northeastern and ask them how they calculated your aid, but you have to accept their answer and move on if the school remains unaffordable.
While I understand your disappointment about Northeastern, it seems to me that you have 2 affordable schools…GW and Bing. Many students have this problem, and I hesitate to use the word “problem” given you have 2 great schools to attend that are affordable. Many don’t have this luxury.
Where do you get this $21,000 number? NONE of your Profile schools came in with a net cost of $21,000. You said GW was $30,000. Or so.
Bucknell had a similar net cost to NEU. Not sure why you don’t see the similarity there.
You have $400,000 in home equity. NEU used some of that to calculate your need based aid.
What was your family GROSS income. I’ve asked this more than one time. There are a LOT of deductions allowed for businesses for tax purposes that are not allowed for financial aid purposes. These are added back in as income when need based financial aid is calculated at some colleges.
Also, you don’t mention whether your parent(s) contributed to tax deferred retirement accounts in 2018. Every penny of those contributions is added back in as income also.
You live in a $700,000 home with $400,000 in home equity. I hope you understand that most low income students aren’t that fortunate.
What assets do your parents have. Clearly there is something if they can pay $30,000 a year for you to attend college. So…what are those assets? Those count too.
Bing is a terrific school…really terrific, and you are fortunate to have that as your instate and affordable acceptance option. Take the offer, and excel there…you do know that’s possible, right?
Most of this discussion is irrelevant IMHO. OP can clarify with NEU but I highly doubt they budge. I’d start planning for GWU, which is in some respects a better school anyways. There’s a wisdom in going where you’re wanted.
I’m sorry, but you can’t afford Northeastern. And frankly, I think Binghamton is a better school than either NEU or GWU. And it’s affordable.
I get the sense you are looking for prestige a bit. Bing is rising fast and the best students in NY state attend. It’s increasingly drawing OOS students. An anonymous donor has just given the school $60 million to build a state of the art baseball facility. The new Harriet Tubman Research institute was just opened. The campus has brand new high end dorms and is adding new improvements all the time.
NEU isn’t known for its generosity. You have an excellent affordable option in Binghamton, so please think strongly about your affordable choices.
P.S. If you are interested, there is a free QA session with a Bing student today at 12:30 EST. Look on Event Brite and do a search for Binghamton. It will come up and you can sign up to join.
The landscaping business may have a “net worth” of $40k (is that equipment?), but likely your dad is grossing a lot annually and that’s come into play. Your FASFA EFC isnt relevant.
thank you all for reminding me of how lucky I am to be living in a $700,000 home, and for other people commenting showing they are less fortunate than me. You should understand that I am not asking for a full ride here. My parents are not supportive at all and are not paying for my college. I know I didnt mention that In my original post but thats the truth unfortunately. My father is quite honestly just something else, and will not put a dime towards my college, and did not put a dime towards my sisters’ educations no matter how much money he makes. In applying to colleges I simply wanted to find a good school in a good loaction that would come out to Binghamton’s $25k price tag so that I would be able to go there, instead of Binghamton because I do not see myself there, nor do I want to, but that doesnt matter anymore. When I saw my FAFSA EFC I had hope I would get into a school for the similar cost. I applied a lot of top schools, two ivy leagues, vandy (waitlist), because I knew that they have great financial aid and would most likely give me close to what I needed. That plan didnt work out because I got rejected from all of them, but I was lucky to get into NEU with a scholarship. When I saw how much money GWU gave me based off of my need, I was expecting NEU to give me the same, especially since GWU is a more expensive school. So, you can imagine my disappointment when that didn’t happen. Sorry for wasting your time.
If your parents aren’t giving you a dime for college…where will you get the net cost for any of these colleges so you can pay the bills?
You say you need a cost of $25,000 or so. Where is the $25,000 coming from? You can’t borrow that much in your own name anyway. Freshman year, you can only borrow $5500 in your own name. Any additional loans would need to be either co-signed by your parents or taken out by them.
If your parents aren’t paying for college at all…you need a cost to attend that is $5500 plus any money you are able to earn working. That’s your annual budget. Do you have any colleges that come in at that price point?
Your parents’ choice to not help is kind of a huge hurdle. At that moment your search becomes about affordability, not favorites. The formulas don’t care what your parents choose, and the schools are not bound to be affordable for everyone. If getting better aid was just a matter of saying No then no parent would ever pay for school.
So you need to be certain that the $30k is really there, and nail down your concrete, real dollars-in-the-bank budget. Then take another look around or you could be transferring out after one year. (And if you think this process stinks you’re going to hate that one.) Then go back around and find a place you can afford. Lots of good ideas above, but get moving while you still have options. Good Luck.
@StPaulDad we take out the loans, i think my parents co sign them, and then we pay them off when we get jobs, that’s how my older sister is doing it now. I also have a sister at bing right now who is graduating.
So you have to fund your own education, 100%? Please clarify. That’s the most important information. How did your sisters pay for college?
You have the hand you were dealt, and that’s what you have to work with. You didn’t get into the other schools. No one here says you are looking for a full ride. Unfortunately, it’s not lucky to get into a school you can’t afford. You have GWU and Bing, neither of which you want to attend. You say your parents plan to contribute nothing, so how were you planning to pay? The price isn’t ideal if you have no means to pay it. What are we missing here?
I just saw post #35. Please do not allow yourself to take out huge loans. Your better option is to go to CC then. Save money and only take out loans for your final two years.
I’m sorry your parents are doing this to you. It’s horribly unfair to saddle kids with huge debts that they don’t truly understand. Taking out $120k worth of loans for undergrad is going to take you 30 years to pay off and affect your credit rating. Honestly, it’s crazy to take out that much in loans. And your parents are not being sensible by co-signing for these big loans. If you default, they have to pay. I just don’t understand that mentality.
@Lindagaf loans, loans, and more loans. My sisters took them out and now I will have to as well. Family friend did the same thing because her parents did not pay for college and she just paid off her college last year and she is 35. Its unfortunately the route im forced to take. Now, if Vanderbilt wants to swoop me off their waitlist and give me this amazing financial aid that they are known for, I could be saved, but at this point the odds of that happening are next to none. I will probably be attending Binghamton, I will probably like it there when I get there, I hope. I dont know. It just sucks that I worked so hard in high school, got to the top 10% of my class, 34 ACT score, just to end up at the school I worked so hard to not end up at. I know its a good school, too, it’s just not my scene, but its fine, ill make it work.
You don’t HAVE to take out all those loans. You can go to CC for two years and save yourself about $40k. If I had had to fund my own education, that’s what I would do. That’s real money. Think of how much of your own money you’ve actually earned so far. It’s nowhere close to that amount. Now imagine you’ve graduated, started a job at $60k a year if you are lucky, have to pay rent, bills, buy food, clothing, gas, insurance, maybe vet bills, maybe going out, a vacation every now and then. And maybe you want to get married, have kids, buy a home. And you’re still paying off $100k + in debt.
FWIW, my son scored 34 on the ACT. He had several good choices, a couple of great scholarships, but went with the last school we thought he would choose because it wasn’t his scene. Binghamton. He loves it. He had an option to transfer to USC in California. He’s sticking with Bing. Maybe you are nothing like him, but the fact is, most students bloom where they are planted.