We are in the same boat. This is our first year going through the whole process and it is deeply frustrating. The net price calculators are so inaccurate and the EFC isn’t realistic (wish I had known that!!) so how the heck are families supposed to navigate this process. I know in the end she will be fine, but what a learning curve!
This is part of the reason why I believe kids are applying to so many colleges. Especially if you’re searching for merit scholarships, you have to cast a wide net. It’s hard to know how much a school is really going to cost until you get all the results of both merit and need-based financial aid.
Before we started the process I thought applying to 12 or 13 schools was ridiculous, but in the end my kids did it too because they were looking for money.
Safeties…reach…our GC doesn’t even know those terms. They don’t understand why everyone wouldn’t just go to a Texas college it is Texas for crying out loud.
That is crazy that they are not educated. We even have like all the juniors in a large auditorium with experts from Northwestern and University of Chicago answering questions. The parents of this class of your school should try to change the culture. We were given like a 20 page document that explained all of this. Still had questions but at least it was a start. I wish we kept it or I would post it somewhere…
I have had more luck with the schools with CSS profiles than with FAFSA only schools. I don’t know if because it is Federal, they don’t take into account the exceptionally high cost of living in my state. Even our state schools are prohibitively expensive (one OOS State school was very generous and will cost $10k less for her to live there than to stay home and commute to our local State school).
None of this makes sense to me and those that were fortunate enough to be prepared and have experience, please consider yourself fortunate. A lot of us are learning as we go and are just trying to do the best for our children with what we have to work with. I appreciate your sharing your knowledge and will absolutely be working with our high school and other parents to help educate them on what to be prepared for, as well.
Our local public high school is very good, and even has dedicated college guidance counselors (no other responsibilities but to help juniors and seniors with college planning), but even then they are a little dated in their outlook. I would estimate 25%-33% of students have an independent college counselor.
Most high schools have counselors that have combined roles, with responsibilities including social/emotional support, course selection, and scheduling, as well as college counseling (or other post-high school planning). The most recent report I have seen shows a national average student:counselor ratio of 482:1. With so many kids per counselor, I expect that many students don’t receive adequate college counseling, and many probably aren’t receiving adequate support in any area. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/high_school_and_beyond/2018/02/school_counselors_responsible_for_482_students_on_average.html
@graystrong It sounds like you are well on your way to becoming a good community resource!
Our local public school GCs are NOT permitted to discuss family finances. That’s off the table. They can discuss college costs…but they cannot give parents advice about college financing. Period.
They can tell ALL families how to apply for state grants for low income families. But they cant ask if the family is low or high income.
Family finances are considered private family business. Nevermind that most GCs wouldn’t have the expertise to look at family financial data and know how that would apply to a huge variety of colleges.
The CGs DO tell families now about the Net Price Calculators. But that’s it.
Do folks here really think it’s the GC job to help a family determine if a college will be affordable for them…or not?
Thanks @Mwfan1921
I attended a community meeting last night and the stats are really staggering. 80% of our students will be first generation college students, most at our Community College. Military and Sports are the only paths a lot of our children see. We have 6 GC for 2000 students, but they are also dealing with a lot of crisis situations - 8% of our students are homeless, many dealing with parents immigration issues or have immigrated themselves and are beyond “standard” high school age (up to 21)… so college almost feels like a luxury.
I only point this out because a lot of knowledge is taken for granted. We have some brilliant, resourceful students… some of them come on here and it can feel discouraging. A lot of parents are just overwhelmed at all that they didn’t know. I know it’s off-topic from OP’s original question, but I just felt like it was important to point out that we are all coming from different places, but with the same goal. Stay supportive ?
@thumper1 Our GCs can’t talk finances either.
But, GCs CAN educate families, starting with the concept that it’s not a safety unless the family can afford it. Other things they can do:
Explain NPCs, and circumstances where they might not be accurate
Introduce the idea of merit hunting, and how to target appropriate schools
Provide an overview of FAFSA and CSS, and provide a cheat sheet on how to fill out these out.
Walk thru a sample college’s fin aid page to highlight important points
Share info and links: sites that explain fin aid terminology, fed loan programs sites, those that calculate loan payments, CC!, etc. etc.
These are straightforward things that can be presented live, and/or via a fin aid packet handed out to all parents, which doesn’t really take much time at all.
Our GCs had two financial aid presentations annually. These were held in the evening, with child care provided if there were younger kids who needed it. I went a LOT of times…and the turnout was beyond poor. The GCs actually had outside speakers who explained the financial aid application process…and gave handouts.
These were excellent presentations…but so poorly attended…and there was a LOT of advance notice and publicity of these events.
I ran the NPC for my daughters eleven schools and the amounts were wildly different. $12,000 at the low end and $42,000 at the high end.
@thumper1… That’s crazy. It’s just the culture of the schools I guess. We have those same presentations and the auditorium is overflowing. The school sorts makes it mandatory to come. I forgot the number but our school also gets a very large amount of money per class size in merit scholarships… The number is staggering… So I guess this is why they push it so hard. Plus even with knowledge this stuff gets confusing… Fast…
I believe that @thumper1, turnout is poor in our area too…but our presentations are lacking in good, meaningful information. Obviously people are busy and can’t always attend presentations, but I think that so, so many consider finances to be such a private subject that they don’t want to attend this stuff, or even be seen picking up a packet of information, for example.
Of course there will always be people who just stick their heads in the sand, but it seems by the many posts on CC there are lots of people who want to learn.
Our experience is similar to @thumper1. The school even sends out power point presentations of everything that was discussed at these meetings, but turnout is always very poor. Our GCs are always quick to remind parents that their priority is always to the child in crisis, not the college bound applicants.
Some schools, public and private, hold presentations for the families of rising seniors to explain the process of college planning and the application procedure (which usually includes a brief description of the NPC, EFC, FAFSA, CSS PROFILE, etc) but the student and family should have some skin in the game and be able to research some of this themselves, IMO.
An associate and I gave free presentations a few years back on many aspects of college planning and the college application process. It was held over 3 different days and took 2 hrs each time. These are time consuming to prepare, make handouts, powerpoint presentations, research updated info, etc. and many school systems may not have the available staff to present more than one. Agree that a summary handout could/should be available on a school website. That said, there are lots of online resources. Here’s some info on financing from NACAC https://www.nacacnet.org/knowledge-center/financing-college/ that is available to counselors and has materials open to the public. Look up Lynn O"Shaunessy’s materials on financing college. Very helpful as well. Lots of free material on her pages.
Counselors typically need to stay away form any discussion about personal finances as not only is it a privacy issue, but it could affect their taxes and can be construed as giving tax advice (which you need certification for).
Many, MANY schools gap students. That is the difference between the EFC and the FA. Many/most schools do not guarantee to meet 100% of need, and how they calculate need will differ from what you think you need. Then there is the concept of admit/deny, where they admit a student but do not provide enough funding to make the school affordable for the student. Lots of variables in the admissions process.
Wildly different NPC results from multiple schools shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has a basic understanding of college pricing and need-based financial aid. There are just so many variables that impact the net price: start with the school sticker price, add in the percentage of students for whom full need is met (from 100% down to a much lower number), then the factors that the school’s formula takes into account, etc. NPC results are not the same as the FAFSA EFC – every school will give the same student a different number.
Colleges are under no obligation to meet 100% of demonstrated need and vast majority just don’t have the resources to do so even if they wanted to. Only about the 50 most selective schools have the resources and policy of meeting 100% of demonstrated need, and even there it is based on their perception of your need. I wish high schools did a better job of educating parents regarding these things so you could strategize where to apply. If you did the NPC for the various colleges and if their award is less than what you got on the NPC, and if the student is interested in attending, call the financial aid office and inform them of the disparity. And politely ask why there is a disparity and explain how the additional cost puts the school out of reach for you. I think you will find that more often than not they will try to help you. Inform them of any additional extenuating circumstances. Good luck and I hope you are able to get some additional financial aid.
OP. Unfortunately you are experiencing what many of us here have also. We too were taken aback by the high cost of college. Not much you can really do about it other than send out applications to those schools your child would consider and then make the final decision based on the packages they provide. All these estimates on the NPC are fine and dandy but don’t really mean much. The only thing that truly matters are what they offer you in writing. Then based on this, your family has to decide what is right for you.
Given the price point you stated your best bet is commuting like you mentioned and community colleges. Then maybe you can follow up community college by attending a local 4 year city school. You might be finding yourself in the middle class doughnut hole where you can’t afford to pay for more expensive schools yet make too much to qualify for FinAid. It is a place many of us find ourselves in.
We might be seeing the upper edge now of what colleges can charge. Cracks are beginning to appear for families and many are just not able to justify the crushing burden of college.
Best of luck to you and your family.
@BelknapPoint - yep, many people do not have a basic understanding of college pricing and need-based financial aid. I certainly didn’t know as much as I thought I did. Running the NPC for my daughter’s situation was very eye opening. I expected some variance, but certainly not this much.
There are state aid programs like Best Futures in FL, Hope in GA, Excelsior in NY, Calgrant in CA.
Students and families might be able to afford public colleges instate with these programs (tuition and fees will be mostly covered, leaving room and board to pay, if not commuting).
Or the student can get merit or need based aid at OOS publics or meet full need schools if they are a competitive applicant
We are in PA where instate tuition ranges from $14,000-$18,000 at public colleges.
Well, the PASSHE schools technically have tuition of $10,000 but $4,000 in fees.
If a $0 EFC student can commute, they can just afford going to college with Pell, state grant and student loan.
To live on campus they need parent help.
My kids go to the closest instate school with their major, over an hour away. These are their first choice schools thankfully.
There often seems to be a tendency for students to look down on their instate options though and wanting to go away.