<p>Another poster just posted this. It is very good as guide for those who need to learn a bit about financial aid as well as merit aid. It may be an eye opener:</p>
<p>5</a> Big Financial Aid Lies - College Cash 101 (usnews.com)</p>
<p>Good pick, Northeastmom. The biggest lie, I think is that EFC. Because you have to fill out FAFSA to get any financial aid and because of what the letters EFC mean, once folks get over the shock that the government thinks they can pay that amount, they get hit with the info that it doesn’t matter any ways because the liklihood of getting what your need is even using the EFC is very small. The more generous schools tend to use PROFILE and that form can go after the silver in your teeth. Also, few school guarantee to even meet 100% of need even as they define it. Worse yet, some that do, use a lot of loans to meet this need. Very disappointing.</p>
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<p>I agree, and very sad in my opinion.</p>
<p>The interesting thing to me is that even after the crash, the mediocre schools charging $50K are getting more applications than ever.</p>
<p>Well, I think that people do not understand the bottom line as far as cost to them. I have read in the past that one should not pay attention to sticker price, that there are scholarships, few pay the sticker price (so what, it still may not be affordable), etc. </p>
<p>The truly wealthy can afford 50k, 60k, and 70k per year. At some point it can get crazy, but if one has grandparents or parents who have 40 million socked away and there are 2-4 grandchildren/children, they can pay 100k per year too. There really isn’t an issue.</p>
<p>And a lot of people are playing the “safety”, “match”, “reach” game, applying to 7 - 10 schools. Combine that with the high number of high school graduates, and it would be more surprising if the number of applications at any school went down, regardless of the economy.</p>
<p>The whole thing about “don’t let the sticker price scare you - apply anyway” is what bugs me.</p>