<p>I was just using Colgate as an example, although it is a reach for me. Fine, fine, so after grants, Oberlin College (a liberal arts college) has an estimated total cost of about $34,000, while UC Davis (my in-state public university) has an estimated total cost of about $27,000. Is there a way to make up the difference between the two total costs?</p>
<p>Private loans and rare outside scholarships.</p>
<p>You might want to look into smaller, lesser-known private schools that offer merit aid, because that’s the only way I see that cost approaching the cost you’d like. You are running calculators at schools that are highly-ranked already-- they don’t need to attract high-caliber students, because that’s where students want to go. A lot of merit aid (the kind you’ll need so that the COA approaches UCDavis’s) is going to be at the itty-bitty colleges that are not, perhaps, recognized nationally, because they want to attract high-caliber students with money. It might be that with your family’s financial situation, a lot of colleges are simply going to expect you to pay a lot more than you and your family is willing. In that case, you’re going to need to redefine your expectations and start looking at smaller, lesser-known private schools with substantial amounts of merit aid or your in-state publics.</p>
<p>Staticroar, I assumed your family income to be close to the $100K range. As you edge towards the $150K range, the financial aid scale becomes a lot less generous until it is a zero when what your family is expected to pay starts to approach what the school COA is. If you fill out some NPCs for schools that guarantee to meet all need, and do not have merit awards, you can get an idea of the range that your family will be expected to pay at these types of schools. Colgate is a good example as it falls into that category. NPCs tend to give average awards and when merit is in there and if the schoool does not meet need, it becomes dicier as to whethe the generated numbers pertain to your specific situation since you are not an average. </p>
<p>As I said before, it is hard to beat in-state public prices, even in those states with high cost public colleges. What you have to do is look for schools that offer merit, and where your stats put you up in the top group of students. </p>
<p>The way aid works at colleges is that the official COA including estimates for room, board, books, transportation, other expenses is used, not just the tuition and fees. Financial need is defined as the difference between that official COA and what the college expects your family to pay (on FAFSA it is the EFC, but private schools that tend to meet need calculate their own form of expected contribution). The calculations can vary from school to school. Given the Colgate result it appears that your familiy is expected to come up with about $40K a year towards your college costs. Schools that will meet your full need may come up with about the difference of their COA and that $40K figure for financial aid, which in your case still brings the cost of a private school to be higher than your UCs. About $13K more, is what it appears to me.</p>
<p>But with your stats, it is possible that a private school may throw in a merit award that makes up the gap. That has to come from the scholarship/merit fund, not financial aid, most likely. Exceptions would be the absolutely most geneours schools like Harvard.</p>
<p>Fine, fine, so after grants, Oberlin College (a liberal arts college) has an estimated total cost of about $34,000, while UC Davis (my in-state public university) has an estimated total cost of about $27,000</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>If you only get $18k of aid from Colgate (is any of that student loans? can you copy/paste your NPC results), the it will cost more than $34k for you. Colgate has a current COA of $58k. So your costs would be around $40k.</p>
<p>Your COA for Davis is a bit low…it’s probably around $30-31k. However, if your aid estimate for Colgate includes a 5500 student loan, then to compare the two properly, then if you had a 5500 loan at Davis, your cost would be about $25k. </p>
<p>That said, if your family will only pay $20k, then you may find that only Calif publics and schools that give huge merit will be affordable. </p>
<p>As for “getting more money” to get the costs more similar, there isn’t some magic way. Private scholarships are very hard to get, often have a “need” component, and are usually ONLY for frosh year. So, you’d be stuck for the last 3 years of college. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that college costs go up every year. The prices you’re seeing now are for THIS year. Next fall they will be higher…and they will continue to rise.</p>
<p>StaticRoar, Most of the aid at Oberlin and Colgate is based on financial need. The students who would find their costs lower there than at their state schools have substantial financial need-- which you don’t have. Otherwise, it is possible for you to get enough merit at an out-of-state public to lower your costs. There are threads about automatic scholarships but it’s also just possible that a particular school wants you and will give you money. This happens with students who get all sorts of scholarships: academic, athletic, etc. Two of my kids have found that several out-of-state public colleges did meet their need. In one kid’s case, it was one of only 2 state colleges that meets need for all students. In the other kid’s case, it was a combination of merit (music scholarship) and need based aid and the schools were not flagships.</p>