<p>If I apply for financial aid at Berkeley, what kind of package can I expect?
My parents make 90 k a year but are in a ton of debt, I'm out of state but a top student at a top school. I know Berkeley isn't supposed to give out a lot of money to out of staters, but at the same time they say on their site that parents making what my parents do only pay 15% of their income? So I'm really confused about how much its going to cost to attend Berkeley (35k a year or 13k a year?!) and I think it'd be lame if I couldn't go because a PRIVATE school would be cheaper. Can anybody help me make sense of this? </p>
<p>PS. I do think I'll qualify for some merit based scholarships unless those are reserved for in state students or something...</p>
<p>[New</a> UC Berkeley financial-aid plan targets squeeze on middle-class students](<a href=“http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/12/14/berkeley-mcap-conference/]New”>New UC Berkeley financial-aid plan targets squeeze on middle-class students | Berkeley News)</p>
<p>I believe that the new rule is 15% of income …but that is only considering INSTATE rates…which is about $33k…after that, your family has to pay the rest. OOS cost is about $52k per year.</p>
<p>So…your family would have to pay $23k per year (difference between OOS and instate rate)…PLUS 15% of their income…so they’d have to pay about $35k per year. </p>
<p>Berkeley is not subsidizing the OOS rate…just the instate rate.</p>
<p>Merit scholarships are for mostly for instate students. Regents at Cal is for LOW amounts unless you have high need, which you don’t. Regents for those without need is about $1k per year…and may mostly only go to instate students.</p>
<p>edited to add…</p>
<p>Here’s the scoop on OOS…that part is NOT considered…</p>
<p>income. For out-of-state students, the additional $22,878 that they pay in non-resident fees will not be factored into this cap</p>
<p>I suspected that. Thanks anyway. I’ll just shoot for Harvey mudd or caltech :)</p>