So, with D applying to college this year, I ran NPCs for a bunch of schools she’s considering. Princeton’s EFC was way lower (better) than the others. (Brown’s was by far the worst; didn’t run Harvard’s.) I did notice that, unlike the other schools, Princeton didn’t ask for equity on our primary home, which could be skewing the bottom line in our favor.
I know Princeton has a massive endowment, but I was still surprised by the difference. Anyone having a similar experience?
Princeton is well known for giving excellent FA, one of the best. This is not new. I noticed this year that U Chicago was very good for low-income students, competitive with Princeton’s.
There are a relatively small number of schools that I am aware of, around a dozen or so, that don’t consider primary home equity in the need-based aid calculation. Princeton is obviously one of those schools, and yes, it can make a significant difference in the EFC as computed by the school.
Yes, Princeton and Amherst are pretty generous. Just don’t forget that if the financial situation changes, the aid will also.
“There are a relatively small number of schools that I am aware of, around a dozen or so, that don’t consider primary home equity in the need-based aid calculation.”
Do you recall any of them, by any chance? The home equity factor makes a sizable difference in our case and I’d love to look into schools that don’t consider it.
The trick, of course, is getting in. Assuming Princeton appeals to your student. It doesn’t appeal to everyone.
I have only personally verified one of these schools (Hamilton College) as not using home equity, so make no assumptions.
•Bard College
•California Institute of Technology
•Cooper Union
•DePauw University
•George Washington University
•Hamilton College
•Harvard University
•Massachusetts Institute of Technology
•Princeton University
•University of Chicago
•University of Virginia
•Ursinus College
•Whitman College
Here’s some research on the home equity question.
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/will-your-home-equity-hurt-financial-aid-chances/
Here’re some additional colleges that supposedly do not consider equity in primary home:
Swarthmore
Rice
Pomona
Stanford
Yale
Cornell
Dartmouth
Duke
Columbia
@Ferchu and there is one of the reasons our twins applied last year! We were realistic considering the low acceptance rate but the NPC number was something to see.
We consider ourselves an upper middle income class with pretty decent assets (home equity and investments). Of the 7 colleges my son was admitted to, Princeton’s FA offer was the most generous. He’s currently attending Princeton tuition free, cheaper than his older brother’s in-state flag university cost. Using the exact same financial profile, I ran an NPC on all Ivy’s plus Stanford just out of curiosity. The result showed that HYP were the most generous among all Ivy’s with P edging out HY and Stanford trailing HYP slightly. Over all, though, there weren’t significant differences among HYPS, which didn’t surprise me considering that they’re most competitive for the same cohort of students.
One other thing to consider, beyond the FA package offers, is what I’d call the “opportunistic costs” of attending a college. At colleges with very healthy endowment per student, these opportunistic costs can really add up without any financial burden on the part of the parents. Princeton, for example, which has ranked #1 in endowment per student for years, will often take their students to any part of the world for a learning opportunity with full expenses paid for. A class in ancient Greek archaeology, for instance, often takes place on-site in Greece. A class in Japanese culture takes place on-site in Japan, etc. I also know of a Princeton student whose request for gold nuggets for his senior thesis research relating to gold was actually granted by Princeton University. My son, who has successfully auditioned for the Princeton University Orchestra recently, gets to travel to Spain this coming January for a tour of that country – all expenses paid for by the university. If you add all these opportunistic costs on top of their most generous FA package, it is truly astounding to say the least.
HYPS and maybe a few others give what I call “super aid”. They often only expect families to pay about 10% of their income towards school costs (and even less than that if you’re low income).
Other schools that meet need are probably expecting you to pay 20-30% of your income towards school costs.
A couple of thoughts…
Let’s put it this way…almost everyone who tries the Princeton NPC finds the net cost IF they attend Princeton to be less than at many other colleges.
My advice to folks is always the same…ONLY look at that net price calculator result with the realization that acceptance to the college has to come first.
If you are looking at accuracy…don’t assume the results of the Princeton NPC will be matched by most other colleges…because it won’t be.
@BelknapPoint @ErinsDad @brantly @1NJParent Thank you for the lists and links!
@mom2collegekids For some reason, our EFC for Y is almost twice that of HPS. Go figure.
@TiggerDad Congrats to your son on his orchestra audition and upcoming tour!
@3sonsmom @intparent @thumper1 Yes, we’re aware of the admissions landscape, esp. in the top tier. D is “high stats” etc. but she’s also merely human 
The dilemma for us is that the school where D is thinking of ED’ing is giving a pretty high EFC.
Is it a dilemma? If you can’t afford it or won’t pay it, just say that she can’t ED that school. If you want your family to be able to compare offers, then, again, just say that she can’t ED that school. What’s the dilemma?
If you can afford it and will happily pay for the ED school, then what’s the dilemma?
I’m not saying that this applies to you, but we often see posts from parents who find that college costs/choice are the first time they’ve ever had to consider saying “no” to their child. And some parents just can’t bring themselves to do so. Again, not saying that this applies to you. Others are reading this thread and it might apply to some readers.
I agree with mom2collegekids. Prior to the whole college application process, I sat down with my kids and straight out told them exactly what we can afford and what we can’t. I made sure that they fully understood the financial perimeters were prior to applying to colleges. Although my older son was admitted to a top private school out of state, because its EFC was higher than we expected and out of the perimeter, he opted to enroll at our in-state flag university with President’s scholarship. Never gave me any issues about it.
@mom2collegekids Your point is well taken. The dilemma is that we’re somewhere in the middle of the binary you mention: “can’t afford it or won’t pay it” or “can afford it and will happily pay for the ED school.”
@TiggerDad We did run the numbers together with our daughter and she understands the parameters. I see a lot of posts on CC expressing indecision when faced with the kind of choice you and your son faced ($$$ OOS vs in-state flagship full ride). This certainly informs our conversation regarding ED, and it’s helpful to hear that in your case the flagship option worked out well for everyone.
@Ferchu – I think you need to factor in chances of admission into that ED decision— even though ED is not guaranteed either, assuming higher chances of admission ED it is a bird in hand vs. 2 in the bush equation. It doesn’t make sense to compare costs at school where admissions chances are reasonable (if only in the ED round) with one where admission chances are in the single digits.
But keep in mind that the general advice is that if you need financial aid, its best not to apply ED. Unless your daughter has her heart absolutely set on that ED college, she’ll probably have better options in the spring when you can compare awards. (And even if she does have her heart set … sometimes, as noted, the answer is “no”).