Too rich for FA, too poor to pay...

Paying for College
1

<p>Many universities offer great amounts of financial aid to low income families..but what about the rest of us? I come from a family that make 120k a year, which sounds like plenty, but really does not cut it. I have a brother in college with no financial aid and watch my mother struggle just to pay his tuition. I am approaching my senior year and I am scared to face the costs of college. I don't want to sound like a whining brat, but how will I ever be able to afford college if I am too "rich" (and I use that term loosely) to qualify for financial aid? I plan on applying to scholarships but that still leaves thousands to pay.I don't want to place a financial burden on my mother but I do not want to graduate school with an abundance of loans.</p>

<p>I know I cannot be the only one in this predicament. </p>

2

<p>If you have another sibling in college, you may get some need based financial aid while you are both in college (and he might as well during that time). Run the net price calculators on the financial aid website at some colleges you are interested in and see what the numbers look like. Although note that divorced parents, a parent owning a small business, rental real estate, or trusts can cause the calculator to underestimate your cost of attendance. </p>

<p>Students in your situation often do the following to keep costs down:

  • Attend community college for two years, then transfer to an in-state public school.
  • If you have fairly high stats, there are some schools that give automatic large scholarships based on test scores and GPA. There are also competitive scholarships at some schools – look for schools where your stats are on the top end, but don’t count on those coming through – great if they do, but make no assumptions.
  • Attend an in-state public school and live at home to save money.
  • If you qualify for federal loans, you probably will need to take those out. But try to limit yourself to just the federal loan amount, it is hard to pay back beyond that.
  • A lot of student work during the school year part time, and full time in the summer to try to offset their costs.
  • Some students have to take semesters off to earn money and then go back. That isn’t a great situation, but it is what some students do.</p>
3

<p>Those are all things I would never want to do, though I may be forced to with no other option.</p>

<p>live in FL and my mother has set up a FL Prepaid Plan and I qualify for Bright Futures (which I thought was enough). It clearly is not helping my brother and even worse, I plan on going out of state!</p>

4

<p>If finances are a significant consideration, you will need to work within your family financial limits. Ypunare fortunate to have FL prepaid and Bright Futures. </p>

<p>Look at the top of this section for a stickie thread for automatic full tuition or full ride merit awards. See if you qualify for any of these merit awards.</p>

<p>You can apply wherever you would like…to those OOS colleges (which will most certainly have a higher cost of attendance than instate FL) and maybe you will receive enough aid to attend someplace. If it were me, I would not waste time or money applying to OOS public universities…unless you qualify for merit money at one of them. They typically do not provide sufficient aid to OOS students. Private colleges are going to have varying policies,with regard to need based and merit awards.</p>

<p>Just be very prepared to walk away from any offer that doesn’t offer you sufficient aid. And please, work with your parents to understand their bottom line. </p>

5

<p>How will you ever be able to afford college? You just said you have FL prepaid and Bright Futures. If your tuition is paid for, that’s how you afford college. If you meant to ask another question, like how can I afford any college I want? The unfortunate answer is that sometimes you can’t. </p>

6

<p>“live in FL and my mother has set up a FL Prepaid Plan and I qualify for Bright Futures (which I thought was enough). It clearly is not helping my brother and even worse, I plan on going out of state!”</p>

<p>Well, you need to also have a back up plan with some FL schools since going OOS may prove to be unaffordable. </p>

<p>If your brother is getting BF and money from the prepaid for a FL public then it is helping because your mom isnt paying all costs. she’s probably paying less than half of his costs…which would be a big help.</p>

7

<p>ROTC! My friend…or a military academy </p>

8

<p>Your mother set it up for you to go to college through FL Prepaid. That was her planning vehicle, so use it and honestly, don’t expect more money from her. Florida prepaid is not a very good deal if you go OOS or private as you’ll only get a fraction of what you would get at a state school, and there are many state schools you can pick from - small, huge, by the beach, inland, close to home, hours and hours away.</p>

<p>If you want to go OOS, pick a school that will give you a full tuition scholarship, and then you can handle the r&b by using your prepaid. You’ll lose Bright Futures if you go OOS, and while it is only $2500-3000/yr, every little bit helps. If you want a private school, if you pick a Florida one you’ll get FRAG for $2500 and still get to use Bright Futures, so that’s about $5500/yr.</p>

9

<p>A lot of us are in the middle! First, take a deep breath because it’s going to be just fine. Those of us in the middle put in a ton of work to get the best packages possible for our preferred schools. Use the net price calculators and research schools that offer significant aid. No falling in love with a school until you get financial aid packages but ask yourself what’s important to YOU in a college and write down the top 10 items. Start your college essays as soon as school is over and plan on rewriting them until they are genuinely you on paper. Read the “how-to” books on college admissions, writing the college essay, and such. For each school, document the financial information, scholarships, student impressions, graduation rates, freshman retention rates, and other factors that are important to you. Visit sites like College Navigator to get the facts. Visit your top schools beginning this summer. There is no substitute for going on campus. Trust both your instincts and the facts. No school will be perfect but you’ll figure it out as you go. Good luck! </p>

10

<p>Sorry, but I think a lot of this advice ^ doesn’t matter if you can’t afford the school. No matter how good your essays are or how much you like a campus and what your instincts tell you, there is no point in applying to schools you can’t afford. “Best package” may not be “good enough” given the OP’s situation. He should not waste his time on schools he and his mom can’t (or won’t) pay for.</p>

11

<p>Focus on trying to win merit aid at some of the universities listed in the automatic scholarship thread.</p>

<p>We are here in Florida, too, and the top Bright Futures only covers 50% of the cost (not including room and board), and, unless you get additional scholarship money from the in-state schools, you may find your COA to be higher at a Florida school than at one of those out-of-state schools. The Florida Prepaid only pays the other 50%, right, so you are still left with room and board - which turns out to be the most significant cost.</p>

<p>For us, only USF in Tampa would have been cheaper than going out of state with scholarships to University of Alabama or the University of Alabama Huntsville. Ole Miss would have been less expensive than USF, and Louisiana Tech even cheaper.</p>

<p>You probably went to school with seniors four years ago who did receive Bright Futures that paid a lot more, but since then, with the tuition differential, Bright Futures pays some, but not even close to all. The fees are starting to total more than tuition.</p>

<p>Of course, going the community college to UF/UCF/etc route makes the most financial sense. If you can live at home, even better. Perhaps not what you planned, but we know a lot of students who are following that path who never thought they would be.</p>

<p>One private school was very compelling, but they did not offer a program my son wanted - Flagler College in St Augustine. Beautiful college, wonderful location, and comparatively low tuition for a private school. You can use your Bright Futures and Prepaid there, along with the FRAG grant. So perhaps worth checking out.</p>

<p>There are options out there, and you are ahead of the game with Bright Futures, Prepaid, potential additional scholarships, and you have some time to work this summer and next saving up some cash. Create a spreadsheet and start comparing your options.</p>

12

<p>Alijas…you only mention your mom. Your dad’s income would likely get considered at the schools that give the best aid. </p>

<p>And if your mom is a single parent earning that much, then her income will get hit harder with the FA calculations. The FA calculations are softer on households with two parents. If you have a household of 3 (1 parent), then your EFC will be high even with two in college.</p>

13

<p>NO ONE should join ROTC only for the scholarship. One should do ROTC if, and only if, one wants to serve in the military.</p>

<p>If this OP cannot afford colleges in Florida with FL prepaid AND Bright Futures, he/she should be looking at that list of merit schools to see if he/she is eligible for them.</p>

14

<p>In any system, there are niches where someone makes out, and where someone does not. The way financial aid has evolved in this country, the top private schools have cried out loudly and clearly, bragging and beating their collective chests saying they will meet all need and no student needs to hesitate to apply to them because no one will be denied due to financial need. Well, sort of They are all big fat liars, in that they do not give the whole story in their boast which is that they define the need, and that need is the parents’, not the students’. You got a parent who the schools think should pay, and the parent can’t or won’t, that’s the end of that line for the student. That’s a niche we see a lot of kids on these boards, and if you run with crowd that is upper middle/upper income in the whole scheme of things. If you look at total incomes in the US, most people don’t make that much money, and many here who say they are middle class are really upper echelon. The reason your parents likely cannot afford to send you to college is because they are and have been and want to continue using their income to live the way there are. There are families living on a third, a half, far less than what your family is making in your area, even if you live in the richest area of the US. They just don’t live in your community. Look at who is cleaning the houses, doing the yard work for a living, working at the fast food places, are clerks at the stores. Lots of such people, and they are somehow living somewhere on a lot less than your family is. </p>

<p>The fact of the matter is that when schools, programs, the government has money to give out for college, or anything, for that matter, the amount is limited and the lines are drawn according to what’s there. So those getting financial aid, for the most part ARE making a lot less, have a lot less than your family. You are used to your setting, so you consider it “middle class”, average. Hardly. 6 figure incomes are not middle class, you will find out when you start looking for jobs. </p>

<p>Before you think that the “poor” kids have it so good, bear in mind that it is truly a tiny niche, even tinier than those in your financial situation that come from such families that even qualify or obtain entry into these top schools and get the aid to go there Very few. So, yes, those very few make out on this lottery of sorts. Also, though your family could have and can trade down for those chances of getting a better chance for more aid, it’s is highly unlikely any of you would want to do this. It means trading that 5 figure income for one about a quarter of that and getting rid of your assets. It 's eminently doable however, whereas the family making poverty wages with little or nothing absolutely CANNOT move up in the world. That’s why they are stuck down there in the economic spiral. Easy to move down, not move up. So if you want to trade the everyday amenties for a chance (there is no guarantee) for a fat financial package from a highly rated school, that choice was and is there for your family as it is for any family. Need a place to send the money to get a quick start, PM me. I’m taking donations. </p>

15

<p>I don’t understand while you are worrying about college cost and yet thinking about going oos. I make a lot less than your family and yet my D hardly get any aid from some oos public schools. If you really want to go oos, then merit aid is probably the only way. You should look at those schools that offer automatic merit aid based on your GPA and test scores if you do not qualified for NMSF.</p>

16

<p>Bright futures only pays about %50 of tuition (if you have the highest award) but FL Prepaid can pay all of tuition/r&b - it depends on which plan was purchased. If all you</p>

<p>My daughter is going to a very expensive private school, but between bright futures, FRAG, grants and scholarships, her cost is going to be less than a year at a state school. You just have to find a school that works for your situation. Flagler is a great suggestion and a beautiful school.</p>

17

<p>

Then don’t go OOS. Problem solved.</p>

18

<p>“I don’t want to place a financial burden on my mother but I do not want to graduate school with an abundance of loans.”</p>

<p>Need to define “financial burden” and “abundance of loans”. Get your parents’ income numbers as filed on the 2013 tax returns, the amount in assets and you run NPCs for a bunch of schools and see what you and your family are expected to pay. Ask your mother what she can afford to pay without what she considers a financial burden. If she says even a hundred bucks, a thousand bucks is a burden, it’s a whole other thing than her being able to come up with $20K or more </p>

<p>You can borrow $5500/6500/7500/7500 on your own After that it requires a parent or other credit worthy adult to get involved and put themselves on the line for you to borrow more. What can you earn each year over the summer and schoolyear. You need to pull it all together and see what the possibilities are. </p>

19

<p>Most students go to the best school that they can afford. That often means dealing with reality instead of dreams. You are more fortunate than many students because you have Bright Futures. And for many, many students, avoiding direct student loans is not an option. Feel sorry for yourself for a little while about what is not an option for you, and then start looking at the ones that are. The primary goal is to get an education - how can you do that within the limitations and opportunities that you have? Neither of my kids could afford their first choices of schools, but both enjoyed college and now love their careers.</p>

<p>If you have decent grades and test scores, look at schools that offer generous merit scholarships. One of my daughters found private schools that offered aid, making them more affordable - for her - than our state schools that had limited financial aid.</p>

20

<p>My top choices are 1) LSU 2) U of Alabama 3) UF. I can qualify for merit aid at LSU but it may still be more expensive than in state schools. My test scores are high enough for merit aid from UA ut my GPA is too low. UF is still pretty expensive for instate. My brother got about $3,000 for each semester and his housing is only paid for his first year. Another issue with BF and FL Prepaid is that it does not cover the nonsense taxes and fees the university/state piles on.</p>

<p>Also the 120K income may be lower in the next couple years depending on how Obamacare plays out…</p>

<p>My parents are divorced and my mother has provided for me but my father has helped pay for some college. </p>

<p>Does it make a difference that I am African American?</p>