<p>Harvard has a $2,500 term time contribution through loan/work study and a $1,500 student summer work contribution for freshman and $2,100 for upperclassmen.
Harvard</a> College Financial Aid Office - Fact Sheet</p>
<p>My D will graduated with $15,000 in debt, and we are thrilled. She is graduating this year and between generous financial aid and real belt tightening to pay the rest out of pocket. We are assuming the $15,000, but if she had to, she would still be thrilled.</p>
<p>My S is attending Williams and will graduate loan free except for the initial $1500 loan before the school went loan free. </p>
<p>My D got generous FA at a prominent women's college. She saw she could be admitted and receive the caliber of education she would at the very tippy top schools. The school is on the Kiplinger's top 50 privates.</p>
<p>Neither kid is a rock star or exceptional in the way some posters have suggested. </p>
<p>Both are intelligent, hard-working and interesting.</p>
<p>I think the system is not fair and the article ridiculous, so I agree with those points, but our family has been very fortunate and I'm grateful for that.</p>
<p>We are a middle class family and have received FA that made it possible for both kids to attend the schools they wanted to.</p>
<p>There are many wonderful schools that offer aid to a majority of their students and are not impossible to be accepted to. Beloit is a wonderful example. For women both Smith and Mt. Holyoke accept more than half of their applicants. </p>
<p>These schools can be found, but it is a lot of work.</p>
<p>Check Curmudgeon's old threads. There are other threads, too.</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone. I really mean that.</p>
<p>And the SUNY schools, not just Binghamton, are excellent bargains, even for those OSS.</p>
<p>^Thanks cellardweller</p>
<p>Both of my kids had work study as part of their packages. My daughter has taken her full work/study hours each semester and used the money to pay all her personal expenses. Since she is in NYC she finds she really needs spending money.</p>
<p>My son needed his time to practice his instruments so he did not do his work/study hours. His solution was not to spend any money at school and he has also gotten his book free. In Williamstown there is not that much to spend money on.</p>
<p>The schools do not "force" kids to do their work/study hours. It is just one way of paying for expenses. </p>
<p>You are also not "required" to accept the loan part of the package.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I think it is wonderful that you are so secure in your finances that you do not feel the pinch that many do.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I did not say that. </p>
<p>We feel the pinch. We worry. Median income and where both you and I are in relation to it is a simple fact. Your family made a completely voluntary choice to spend a lot more money to send your son to one state school instead of another. We plan on doing the same thing. I make it a point in life to not complain about choices I freely made. </p>
<p>Having a child who is bright and health enough to attend college? Being able to get ones child through an excellent university with less than 20K in debt? Those are gifts. I will treat them as such.</p>
<p>
To be honest, I think many of the posters in this thread would complain about anything more expensive than free. </p>
<p>A bit surprising, considering that many of them chose to send their children to expensive colleges anyway. If parent(s) and child agree to shoulder the cost of an expensive school, the rest of us don't want to read the griping about it. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>
[quote]
Why should the savings be put in the parent's names? Just curious. I think our savings are in our kid's names.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The answer to this question is that assets in the child's name are "taxed" at a much higher rate by the FAFSA formula than assets in the parents' names. If a child has a savings account that is worth $10,000, then 20% of this money is included in the expected family contribution as calculated by FAFSA. If that money were in the parent's savings account, then at most 5.6% would be included in the EFC. </p>
<p>Parents have an asset protection allowance (based on age of older parent) that's around $50,000, so the first $50K of a parent's savings is protected (ie not expected to be used according to the EFC calculation). Students do not have any asset protection allowance.</p>
<p>Despite years of tax accountants and financial advisers who have touted the benefits of gifting money to children so that the funds are in their names rather than the parents', this advice has backfired for many who are now looking at filing for financial aid. The answer isn't as easy as "just have the kid give the money back to the parents". In most states this is counter to UTMA/UGMA regulations. There is one simple solution, though, and that is to transfer the child's money into a child-owned 529 account. This maintains the title of the account in the child's name, and the money is "taxed" at the parent rate of 5.6% by FAFSA.</p>
<p>If the child's savings were originally intended to be used for college anyway, then it's perfectly reasonable to have them in a tax-advantaged 529 rather than a taxable UTMA or savings account.</p>
<p>Proud that Binghamton is listed #4 on the publics. =)</p>
<p>Sons are UVA graduates. D1 is currently enrolled in W&M and D2 has applied to W&M. I am so thankful VA residents have top notch state schools.</p>
<p>momray--right about that! I grew up in Va. & my brothers/families still live there. It's incredible that UVa and W&M are public schools!</p>
<p>Momray and Mommusic, You are so right about Virginia schools. We are very lucky to have UVa and William and Mary. Virginia Tech,James Madison and George Mason,etc. provide good choices as well for kids in Virginia who want or need to attend public schools.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The answer to this question is that assets in the child's name are "taxed" at a much higher rate by the FAFSA formula than assets in the parents' names. If a child has a savings account that is worth $10,000, then 20% of this money is included in the expected family contribution as calculated by FAFSA. If that money were in the parent's savings account, then at most 5.6% would be included in the EFC.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Our experience is that assets in the child's name are expected to be fully expended over the four years according to all insitutional methodologies. (Maybe not FAFSA.)</p>
<p>@ MattsMomFL</p>
<p>It looks like your son's QB Pomona package is a little bit better than my Haverford QB package.</p>
<p>Grants $47,917
Federal Work-Study $2,200
Parental Contribution $0
Student Summer Work Contribution $1,700
Student Savings 25%
Student Loan $0
Total $51,817</p>
<p>The only real difference is the student summer work contribution. I guess Pomona actually gives your son an allowance for book and travel? Haverford has you earn money over the summer, although I am somewhat leery about future employment. It may be difficult to find a job given this terrible recession. :( But hey, I can't complain. QB and Haverford have been generous to me far beyond any expectations.</p>
<p>Yah for NC State... on the list again!</p>
<p>Wow! Glad to see TCNJ in the TOP 10 list yet again....I think it's been in the top 10 colleges listed by US News for 17 times in a row. Nice to see it on Princeton Review list as well. </p>
<p>In response to post #2 - Financial aid at this school is indeed need blind. DS got a full ride in their 7 year BS/MD program based on merit. He loves the place. ALL students accepted in their 7 year BS/MD and BS/optometry program get full rides. There are many other students who are not in their combined degree programs getting full rides as well.</p>
<p>
[quote]
@ MattsMomFL</p>
<p>It looks like your son's QB Pomona package is a little bit better than my Haverford QB package.</p>
<p>Grants $47,917
Federal Work-Study $2,200
Parental Contribution $0
Student Summer Work Contribution $1,700
Student Savings 25%
Student Loan $0
Total $51,817</p>
<p>The only real difference is the student summer work contribution. I guess Pomona actually gives your son an allowance for book and travel? Haverford has you earn money over the summer, although I am somewhat leery about future employment. It may be difficult to find a job given this terrible recession. But hey, I can't complain. QB and Haverford have been generous to me far beyond any expectations.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Hey Sligh!</p>
<p>Slightly better - they do pick up 2 RT tix and books. </p>
<p>Economies run in cycles - good times will return and demand will be higher than ever...this is actually the perfect time to be hiding in academia. Also, you have grad school to look forward to. I am already checking into what's involved in getting Fulbright and Rhodes scholarships! (Never too soon :))</p>
<p>I agree with you, Momofknowitall, except I'm in New Jersey instead of southern California. Our gross pay is less than yours but we too will not quality for much. And, I'll be 64 when my daughter graduates.</p>
<p>why didn't Berkeley make the list?</p>
<p>Especially since they have HUGE numbers of Pell Grant recipients (between 4 and 5 times that of UV or W&M, and hence a far, far better value proposition.)</p>
<p>LukeJDavis -</p>
<p>I think the list is not solely based on quality of education but also the cost of education - 30 factors as listed in their article. </p>
<p>'Overall selection criteria included more than 30 factors in three areas: academics, costs and financial aid. Academic ratings were based on student surveys about such issues as professors' accessibility and class sizes, as well as institutional reports about student-faculty ratios and percent of classes taught by teaching assistants.'</p>
<p>Best</a> Value Colleges for 2009 and how they were chosen - USATODAY.com</p>