<p>My parents EFC was around 9800. Total income for our household is around 50,000/year. Family of 5, with 2 kids expecting to attend college within 10 years. I live in Minnesota.</p>
<p>I got financial aid estimates last week. I basically got $3,700 total in scholarships (MN); $2,500 (UW), around $2000 in work-study offers for MINNESOTA (none for Madison), and the rest of the aid in loans.</p>
<p>So in the end, it would cost my family around $20,000 of their own money to attend University of Minnesota, and around $23,000 to attend UW-Madison</p>
<p>I didn't expect to take out $20k-$23k a year for in-state/reciprocity cost. </p>
<p>You have a very good U. in your home state with in-state tuition. You have a GREAT U. next door with basically in-state tuition because of reciprocity. And you’re accepted to both. What’s wrong here? Did you think all these costs were going to be covered somehow?!</p>
<p>If your folks can afford those comparatively reasonable costs or take out a loan for them, great. If not, attend a CC & give the spot at both U’s to someone else.</p>
<p>UW-Madison and UMN are the state flagships so they are more expensive than some of the other state schools. Both will give you and excellent education for a fair price, but neither are inexpensive or offer alot of financial need aid. If you and/or your family cannot afford either of these, perhaps you can check out the other state schools. I know that in WI (where you would stilll get reciprocity) LaCrosse, Eau Claire and Platteville (excellent for engineering) are a little less expensive. Perhaps Morris or one of the other schools is more affordable. Otherwise, going to CC for two years and then transferring is a good possibility.</p>
<p>It’s a lot. Pennsylvania is the same way. My cousin’s son was accepted to Pitt, Penn State and Temple. Their family income is about what yours is. I think the biggest award was $5K, and the lowest cost for him was to commute to Temple but it would take nearly an hour one way to do so, </p>
<p>For us in NY, the state schools have very reasonably priced tuition. But when you start talking about going away to school instead of commuting, it’s a whole other story. The cost shoots up to close to what yours are. Our tuitions are under $5K a year, and there are state options just about everywhere,so what that means is that if a family cannot come up with living expenses for college kids living elsewhere, commuting is what the student has to do, at minimal cost. The Stafford loans would cover the whole thing for those who don’t get any aid, and for the neediest, there is the PELL as well at TAP and HEOP programs. </p>
<p>What are your state school options to which you can commute? Those are the most affordable choices. If you work and save your money, maybe take out Staffords and stash them, paying interest only, you’ll have enough to transfer and live at either UMinn or UWis for your last two years and have a doable amount of loans.</p>
<p>Assuming that you live in Twin Cities, it is not going to cost $20K to attend UofM. I assume you expected to live on campus. You don’t have to live on Campus. Many local students do not. The U is on many bus routes, so you don’t even have to have a car to commute to UofM. </p>
<p>UofM has many facilities to do your homework. You can work and study between and after classes and it is going to be very efficient and convenient.</p>