<p>We're currently paying significant private school tuition for three children. The eldest, will be a senior this year and is in the college search mode for the fall of 2011. From what I understand, the FAFSA doesn't factor in private school tuition in its calculations to determine a parent's EFC, although I believe the PROFILE form does ask this question. I'm interested in whether most selective private colleges/universities will consider this expense under special situation issues, or do they deem it a voluntary luxury expenditure and therefore make no allowances to our proposed EFC? FYI, our private school tuition, after the oldest child enters college, will still be in excess of $20K+. </p>
<p>Also, it is best to address this topic when first applying for aid with a special letter, (putting your cards right on the table at the outset) or ignoring it initially and then appealing the financial award once it comes with this issue?</p>
<p>Lastly, will colleges rule differently on the payment of private school tuition if there's some specific reason or issue that prompt parents to opt for private versus public, (unique learning issues, specially challenged students, weak public schools in your community, etc). </p>
<p>Nope, private secondary school tuition is optional. You do not have to send your kids to private school, same as your option to go on an expensive vacation or a large house. They are all personal luxury options you chose to have. Any of the reasaons you have listed for sending your kids to private school are not good reasons. </p>
<p>If you could afford to send 3 kids to private school, you will not be eligible for any FA.</p>
<p>Both of my kids went to private school from K-12, and it was our choice.</p>
<p>Many colleges consider private K-12 education a choice/luxury. I know some Catholic colleges take that into consideration. Don’t know if those that do take it into consideration will consider the entire amount or just a partial amount. </p>
<p>I don’t know if there is a list somewhere of schools that meet need AND take that into consideration. It may not do much good if the school takes it into consideration, but doesn’t meet need anyway.</p>
<p>That said, I would imagine that most consider private K-12 education a luxury. That’s not meant to be insulting; my kids didn’t go to public K-12 either.</p>
<p>It is actually one of the things that is allowed to be considered for a special circumstances adjustment for FAFSA - but special circumstance adjustments are completely at the discretion of the school so it would depend on each school’s attitude to it.</p>
<p>I do not know exactly how financial aid officers calculate available parental income, and i’m sure it differs by school. However, the fact that you are paying $20K for private school tuition for 2 younger kids in no way precludes your older child from getting financial aid. It depends on the rest of your financial situation, and on the institution. For example, if your annual income is $125k and you have $100K in non-retirement assets, and out of that amount, through scrimping and saving you are managing to pay $20K for 2 kids at private school, you will still get significant FA at HYPS. Yes, it’s unlikely that the average kid will be admitted to HYPS - but the point is that FA policies vary, and the fact that you have 20K available to pay for private high-school tuition does not automatically mean that you won’t get FA anywhere. It depends on a lot of things, and if you e-mail the FA office of a college, they should be able to tell you whether they make any special allowance for siblings at K-12 private schools or not.</p>
<p>Many Catholic schools do take this into consideration, but they don’t tend to meet 100% need anyways. I have heard that some private colleges will take the private tuition into account under some circumstance; it’s one of those case by case things. They will also take into account other sibling expenses, again some colleges, and in again, on a case by case basis. For instance, a family I know has a child with special needs issues who is in a very expensive residential school. All of the colleges did take the tuition portion of the cost of that school into account when figuring the financial need (not that it made that big of a difference) . Another family has a child who is undergoing special training in a field which involves heavy costs. Surprisingly, some schools do give that a consideration too. But “consideration” does not often mean a big deal. It might net the child a thousand or two additional in need, and the schools might then draw in the Staffords or work study to cover that. I believe Vanderbilt did take private school tuition costs for siblings into account for some families. Hearsay, not fact.</p>
<p>*Which colleges consider private secondary school tuition as a special circumstance? *</p>
<p>I don’t have the facts about this, but I would think the "special circumstance"would have to be quite serious for FAFSA consideration…not just a claim that your local public schools aren’t good (because nearly everyone could claim that) or that your child learns better in a private school. </p>
<p>When a family sends all kids to private, it looks like a choice…not a “have to” situation. When a family only sends one child, then it looks like a necessity. </p>
<p>But, even so, since most FAFSA only schools don’t meet need, how much could it matter anyway? Could it reduce EFC enough to qualify for Pell? or would it leave EFC the same but maybe allow for some institutional grants if available (which often aren’t)?</p>
<p>To the OP…If taking your kids out of private K-12 is not an option and it’s possible that pricey privates won’t take their tuition into consideration, leaving you with a “too high” family contribution, then as a safety net, your child also needs to apply to some affordable schools - either schools that you can afford to pay for or schools that would assuredly give him big merit scholarships for his stats. Those schools can be his financial safety schools. No one wants a student to have a pile of acceptances with unaffordable expected family contributions.</p>
<p>Have you used an institutional calculator to see what might be expected if K-12 tuition is not considered? If not, try the one here and choose Institutional Methodology.</p>
<p>You sound like you’re in the same situation that my entire family is in. Kids in private K-12 and no financial aid for college. You need to prepare for that possibility.</p>
<p>Another one in the same boat. It would not have mattered anyways unless the private school tuitions were counted like sibling college tuitions, and that was not the case. It isn’t a logic sort of a thing, by the way. Some schools do it, some don’t, and they all vary the reasons. They may do it for one family and not another. </p>
<p>When it comes to PROFILE, the financial aid officers have a lot of leeway in how to view the whole family picture. And they do look at the apps on a case by case basis when it comes to awarding need. We are talking about schools that meet 100% of need, by the way. The other schools can consider it all they want; it won’t matter if they aren’t going to be meeting the need anyways. </p>
<p>It is often said that 401K and IRA money is not included in the parents assets. Well, if you have a big fat account in either of those areas, you had better believe most of those schools will look at that money and take it into consideration. They do ask about it. They use every bit of info they get and have when they make the awards.</p>
<p>Such things can be helpful in getting some kids a bit more aid, or consideration for merit within aid awards. If a school really, really wants you, and admissions lets financial aid know that this is a five star applicant, a lot of things can be taken under consideration in upping an award if that is what it takes. Another student who isn’t so highly prized is not going to get the same consideration. </p>
<p>That is another factor that occurs in 100% need met schools. Yes they may meet 100% need, but it is need as they define it, and they don’t necessarily define it the same student by student. Some animals are more equal than others. Just like the packages for two same need students may not be the same, with one having more loans and self help than the other.</p>
<p>I know a number of Catholic schools that have high schools attached to them. They probably do take the high school tuition of those going to their schools into consideration. I know that faculty and staff at those high schools do get some tuition benefits not only at the high school, but at the college as well for their kids, so there is a big connection there. But again, the ones that I know do not tend to meet 100% of need anyways.</p>
<p>My experience has been that some CSS Profile schools automatically include tuition for younger siblings (high school/grammar). If you use Williams college FA calculator and look at the detailed report you will see they credit up to 8,140 in siblings’ tuition - I don’t know if that max is per child or total. All the schools my DD applied to credited her sister’s high school tuition. These were all highly ranked full need met schools. My FAFSA EFC was higher than my IM “EFC” due to this tuition expense. I would ask each school specifically if they credit this expenditure and if so is there a cap? I did not file any extra paperwork for consideration it was all provided on the CSS Profile. I do have to send a form annually to D1’s college from D2’s high school indicating our expenses (with required signature by FA).</p>
<p>I wonder if the schools that consider K-12 tuition also consider home equity as an asset? I noticed that Williams does consider home equity if it exceeds 1.2 times of income.</p>
<p>True. And schools use the info in some cases and not in others. With PROFILE, the rules are not as firm since it is the college’s own money that is mainly at stake. They can do pretty much whatever they want in how they distribute it and it does not have to be fair. Some years ago, a student who was accepted to Bucknell and had his entire application process followed in the news, had a section devoted to the session with the financial aid office there related. That angered several families I knew because they had circumstances that were the same as in that story, that were not treated by Bucknell that way. If a college really wants a student, leeways can be made and they do not have to be consistent with other students’.</p>