Undergraduate scholarships and graduate school

Parents Social Lounge
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<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I'm a college junior attending my UG school on a fairly substantial scholarship (four years will probably cost around $24k, including tuition, fees, room, board, and Greek dues). I hunted specifically for merit aid schools during the application process and chose my chepest option out of the seven I applied to (in hindight, I probably could have applied to schools that would have been cheaper, but...). </p>

<p>The projected four year costs for the schools I applied to were around $150,000 (OOS public, little merit aid), $110,00 (OOS public, little merit aid), $90,000 (OOS private, decent merit aid--1/3 tuition), $80,000 (selective OOS private, good merit aid--1/2 COA), $60,000 (IS private, good merit aid--3/4 tuition), $40,000 (OOS public, full tuition, got into a six year professional program, which would have made it about $60,000 for 6 years), and the school I attend. The only better deal might have been the six year program because that is high-paying profession compared to the one I have know chosen (though I may not have been able to complete that program in hindsight, so maybe turning it down wasn't a bad thing...? No idea).</p>

<p>Anyway, I hope to graduate next year and go onto graduate school (necessary for my career goals). I'm planning to apply to a handful of funded PhD programs as well as mostly unfunded one-year MSW programs, which tended to run about $20,000-$30,000 per year in tuition and fees. There are some cheaper outliers in there and a few with funding and I'm looking--hard--for them, but I don't know how much--if anything--my parents will contribute (assuming financial equillibrium--<em>looks at market</em> <em>cross fingers tightly</em>).</p>

<p>I've read on CC before that some parents will fund or help fund grad/law/med school because of funds saved through substantial UG merit aid. Your thoughts on this idea of "banked money" or equivalent costs? Is it valid? Or just entitlement?</p>

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<p>My thought...that is a personal family decision.</p>

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<p>I agree that it's a personal family decision. As far as entitlement goes, though ... there is no such thing.</p>

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<p>Does parents income come into play at all when it comes to graduate school and a fafsa? Is a student with a bachelor's degree automatically considered independent (even if they are under 24 years old).</p>

<p>Do schools STILL expect parents to pay for post bachelor degrees as well? Please say no!</p>

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<p>Our son picked an inexpensive school for undergrad and could graduate in three years if he wanted to or do a four or five year combined bachelors-masters. Given that, I'm definitely open to funding graduate school. He's working on internships for next summer so it may that he goes to work after graduating and then gets his advanced degrees later. Obviously the economic picture is cloudy right now for parents, students, the job market and colleges so we're staying flexible and evaluating options as things roll along.</p>

<p>Each situation is different though. We have only two kids and things are quite manageable. If we had several more to put through college, then we would have to spread funds more thinly. You could just ask your parents about this - perhaps the sooner the better. They may just assume that you're done in four. If parents know that their kids have further needs, then they might be able to plan for it. Dropping it on them at the last moment can make their life pretty hard.</p>

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<p>Yes, graduate students are automatically independent for FAFSA purposes. All that is available in terms of federal aid is work study & huge loans, though (Stafford sub & unsub and PLUS). </p>

<p>Some colleges require parent info for grad programs, even though they are independent for federal aid purposes. These would be schools that have their own aid to award.</p>

<p>Even if a parent is helping to pay for a grad student, the parent cannot include the student in their household size if they are filling out FAFSA for an undergrad sibling.</p>

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<p>It would be a family thing if my family could agree! My mom, who wants me to go to law school (not happening), said they would even pay for three years of law school. My dad told her if that was the case, she better pick up some more shifts at her part time job (half-jokingly)... Right now, my parents' way of dealing with the question is... not talking about it.</p>

<p>I wanted to see if, ceteris paribus, the logic that my parents should help out has any support from others or if it is just off the wall. Chosen field isn't high-paying, so I'm trying to minimize/eliminate debt.</p>

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<p>We've told my daughter that (she's a junior in hs) if she accepts a substantial scholarship for undergrad we will help her to the best of our ability in graduate school. we love her and want her to realize her dreams. Of course, there's a finite amount of money, but if we don't use all of what we think we can afford for undergraduate, what better use could we have for it?</p>

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<p>They may be looking at the value equation which parents are entitled to do. It sounds like they know what you want to do and may be just putting it off. That's a common response to having to deal with large expenses or unpleasant tasks. That's why a leaky faucet can take a few years to fix.</p>

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<p>It really is a family decision. We have decided to do all we can to ensure that our kids graduate from UG with no debt. Any further schooling is on their own. </p>

<p>Should parents be required to help out with grad school? No.</p>

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<p>I'm an MSW student, and the majority of students in my program are not being supported by their parents - they're either going on loans, a scholarship (such as the Title IV-E scholarship, which pays 18.5k each year), or a combination of both. I agree with earlier posters that whether or not your parents pay tuition and/or living expenses for grad school is a family decision. If your parents decide not to pay, it's not a hopeless situation. As an in-state student, average debt between tuition and living expenses after the 2 year program is 40-50k: not pennies, but not as bad as it could be either. (Out of state students pay an additional 15k per year in tuition.) While not a field that will make you filthy rich, you can make a good living in many SW jobs and be able to pay that kind of debt off.</p>

<p>My recommendation, if you end up funding your own MSW education, would be to go to an in-state public school and take the one-year option. As long as your program is CSWE accredited, it doesn't really matter where you get your degree in terms of getting a good job. The MSWs I've talked to who've gone to expensive private programs (WashU, Smith, NYU, USC, etc) and gone significantly in debt for them usually end up regretting their decision and wishing they'd gone to a less expensive school.</p>

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<p>^
Thanks for the input. I am looking for cheaper schools and have heard the same thing about CSWE accredition and expensive schools/debt.</p>

<p>My question here was also a broader one: Should kids be "rewarded" for picking a cheaper school, even if parental support or college at all is a right, not a privledge? It's an interesting question, I think,</p>

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<p>The best time to have had your parents agree with the idea of your reward would have been at the time of choosing your undergrad college. Otherwise they might have already spent the difference in cost on other items or not have saved that money in the first place.</p>

<p>I see no entitlement to the difference.</p>

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<p>My parents had a deal with me where we split the cost of college. Everything I got in scholarships went towards my share, so it was a good push to try and get as many as possible. I suppose the reward I would have gotten from them would have been needing to cover a smaller half of my tuition.</p>

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<p>We learned something interesting when our D (also beneficiary of a substantial scholarship undergrad) began applying for a clinical doctorate degree program in grad school. Her program is a professional degree and typically is not funded like a regular Phd.</p>

<p>DEPENDING ON THE SCHOOL, the parents' income/assets CAN affect the amount the student is eligible to borrow. For example, Duke DID count our income, but Northwestern did not. THey viewed graduate students as "independent" for purposes of financial aid. We had assumed that once a student was in graduate school, that parents didn't count anymore. Wrong.</p>

<p>She chose Northwestern over Duke (not because of the financial aid situation but for program-specific reasons) and frankly we were glad. She is eligible for full loans. Since we are nearing retirement, we were grateful....we will plan to help her as we can, but she's bearing financial responsibility.</p>

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<p>Some law schools and medical schools REQUIRE parent information for the awarding of financial aid regardless of the student's otherwise independent status, age, marital status or anything else. In other words...the parent info is required of ALL applicants for finaid.</p>

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<p>I think it is fine to ask - will you be willing and able to help me if I chose to go to graduate school - but personally would not even bring up the cost of undergraduate schooling - other than to say thank you.</p>

<p>To me continued funding is the parents decision - and I would not say that the choice of a cheaper undergraduate program means automatic granting of parental aid. The world changes a lot in the 4 years since you made that decision - and their ability and willingness to pay will have changed as well.</p>

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<p>I've tried
And tried
And tried</p>

<p>To discuss this with my parents! All they do is brush me off or contradict each other. </p>

<p>They refused to discuss finances with me when I was applying to UG and then when I applied were appalled at some of the COA's, pre-merit aid. I even asked them direct questions, such as "How much can we afford per year?" and got no answer.</p>

<p>Trust me, I've TRIED!</p>

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<p>^^^ Seems to me you have your answer.</p>

<p>They don't plan to participate in your graduate school costs. The question is yielding different answers from each parent - not a particularly good thing. It was uncomfortable for them to grapple with at the undergrad level, but apparently they did contribute.</p>

<p>It is not any more comfortable for them to grapple with it now. And now you are at an age where, in my opinion, unless parents have stepped forward and volunteered to contribute to graduate school - or - quickly agreed to help when first asked.... you should consider yourself on your own.</p>

<p>Congratulations to you for having had such success in your undergraduate quest for a good financial choice. You seem hugely resourceful in your hunt for graduate level options.</p>

<p>The economic world has changed a LOT since you entered undergrad. As you said in your OP, when you look at today's financial market you need to cross your fingers tightly. Well... your parents are dramatically closer to retirement than you and likely dramatically more and more immediately affected by what has happened to the value of their assets.</p>

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<p>^</p>

<p>My parents pressured me to apply to expensive, need-only schools for UG--I ignored them, to their annoyance, and went for merit aid. They seem to be of two minds on this and I'm confused.</p>