<p>My first year at Smith is less than paying instate tuition at Slippery Rock. That’s as specific as I’ll get. I’m covering it with Staffords, parents aren’t paying a penny, but they aren’t in a position to really, with my dad sick.</p>
<p>i hope your dad feels better soon, louise.</p>
<p>Thanks!! He’s doing very well!</p>
<p>R6L, glad to hear your dad is doing very well. Have you by any chance read the thread about a family’s EFC went 5X of the 1st year when their dad got back to work? Have you considered the situation when your dad goes back to work and your family income goes back up? </p>
<p>best of luck at Smith.</p>
<p>PS. to answer OP’s question- both our kids attend great Universities at very high cost to us per our income. We must significantly cut other spendings. However, we are glad that they have the opportunities, and we have the means to pay. It is an investment for their future.</p>
<p>My parents are paying full tuition, room and board at a top-tier private institution. I’m lucky they’ve been saving for a really long time.</p>
<p>We will be paying approximately 3600 after Hope and scholarship kicks in for D. No loans, so she’ll be debt free at end of four years hopefully.</p>
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<p>DadII…you are very fortunate that your kids (by YOUR reports in other threads) hit the need based financial aid lottery at their schools. You are also very fortunate that they were accepted to schools which have the resources to provide need based aid to families with incomes in excess of $100K per year. Not everyone has this kind of “luck”…and yes, that’s what it is as these schools have tons of high level applicants each year that do not get accepted.</p>
<p>To the OP…college is expensive…and the price tag seems very high for all but the independently wealthy. We also had two kids who graduated from very good private universities where we paid the bulk of the costs. To be honest, we were happy to do so and were able to do so. Total out of pocket costs for both kids…about $250,000.</p>
<p>Rocket-
I am glad to hear your father is doing better. Cancer is a nasty illness that takes its toll on families, not just the patient with the diagnosis. I hope your father is able to return to work, but IIRC, his income level differs from those posters who imply that cutting back on expensive hobbies, meals or vacations could be considered a comparable sacrifice.</p>
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<p>DadII, you have said in the past that your D got an excellent FA package at Stanford and you’ve implied that your S did well with his FA at Chicago, too. What, then, is the “high cost to us per our income”? According to you, your income is over $100K per year so what do you consider a high cost in relation to that income? </p>
<p>You are very disingenuous in your posts about what you have to pay but you claim to be poor and then you post about expensive purchases and annual European vacations. Are you at all concerned about the possibility of FAFSA verification one of these days?</p>
<p>^^ I thought the Dad II’s were Hawaii-bound this year 
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<p>Dad II to answer
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<p>Thank you for your concern. My dad is not the primary income-earner in my household. He normally contributes right around 9-10k/year. so the effect on EFC shouldn’t be too awful. Plus, he’s getting colostomy reversal(hopefully) and by the time he recovers, he will make less money this year than he did last. So, my EFC won’t be effected til my 3rd year, which I should be able to handle with loans. My fourth year should also be okay, because even with my father back at work, my sister will be entering school. </p>
<p>Our EFC based upon my dad being fully employed and no medical bills is doable. It’ll require a good bit of loans, but it’s not an awful amount</p>
<p><code>Double Post. Soo sorry!
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<p>A classy response, R6L. Hats off to you.</p>