Vandy Financial Aid Questions

Paying for College
1

<p>I am just starting to look into the college application process for my daughter. She is a rising 10th grader, so we have a year or two to make some decisions. One of the concerns, of course, is financial aid. We have high hopes for merit based aid, but I remember from 25 years ago that Vanderbilt (one of the possible choices) is VERY limited on merit based aid. </p>

<p>Their "Net Price Calculator" (from College Board) shows about $15k/year projected net college expenses. Several other colleges return numbers in the $14k-17$k/year range. I called Vandy and was told that this calculator is "very accurate" if the correct numbers are input. However, using the same numbers in the calculator on this site, yields an EFC in the $35-$40k range. </p>

<p>Why such a range? What am I not being told? My income is in the $140k range. I can see $15k / year for my daughter -- I don't know that I can see $40k/year. </p>

<p>Taxes take 30% -- if Vandy takes another 30%?</p>

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<p>Colleges expect families to pay their part of expenses from savings, current income and loans.</p>

<p>The CB calculators are generalized. This is OK for Federal FA calculated using FAFSA, but calculations for Institutional funds use the Profile AND each school uses this financial information according to their own FA policies. As a result, there can be a wide range in FA offered from various Profile schools.</p>

<p>The new NPC calculators on college websites are going to be the closest estimate as they use the calculations of that particular college, but even they are still estimates and not a final offer.</p>

<p>In my experience, with income in the 140k range, the Vandy EFC of 35-40k looks more likely to me, an EFC in the teens sound very low. Between 100-200k income, FA starts to fade to zero, even at the most generous schools. Of course there are factors like high medical bills, other children in college, etc. that will affect this.</p>

<p>And while income is the main factor in FA calculations, your assets are also part of the calculation.</p>

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<p>*Why such a range? What am I not being told? My income is in the $140k range. I can see $15k / year for my daughter – I don’t know that I can see $40k/year. </p>

<p>Taxes take 30% – if Vandy takes another 30%?*</p>

<p>Yes, with that income, you would be expected to pay about $40k per year. there’s an expectation that with that income, you have saved for college, can pay some out of current income, and can borrow the rest.</p>

<p>The only way you’d have to pay about $15k is if…</p>

<p>1) you can more than one in college.</p>

<p>2) Your child gets into one of the super aid schools …HYPS</p>

<p>3) you have your child attend a school that will give her a full tuition scholarship, so your remaining costs are about $15k.</p>

<p>Vandy is more “need based aid” and fewer merit scholarships. Stats would have to be very, very high and the student might need to offer some regional or ethnic diversity to get much merit out of Vandy. A student from my kids’ high school was “certain” that Vandy would give her merit for her ACT 35 and Sal status. She got nothing.</p>

<p>I strongly suggest that you be upfront with your D now about how much you can pay each year. Then have her apply where her stats will get HUGE merit scholarships as safety schools. And, if by some miracle, Vandy works out, then great!</p>

<p>Does she have any test scores yet?</p>

<p>Vandy’s NPC is likely very accurate and likely similar to other full need schools. I don’t know what you did on the CB website to get an EFC of $15k. That is waaaaaay toooooo low for that income with only one in college.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that at the “top schools”, all their students have high stats…so giving merit doesn’t often work out well…who should get it? So, they might give some to some targeted students for ethnic or regional diversity…but the regular high stats student isn’t going to get anything…maybe a few thou for being NMF.</p>

<p>Also!!! Keep in mind that merit scholarships get applied to NEED. They don’t reduce your EFC unless the merit is soooooo huge that it covers all of need and then cuts into EFC.</p>

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<p>“The only way you’d have to pay about $15k is if…
…
2) Your child gets into one of the super aid schools …HYPS”</p>

<p>Hmmm…not so, at least not in our experience. Even those schools expect someone at that income level to cough up more money. It’s entirely reasonable.</p>

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<p>^^^</p>

<p>Well, I was going by the the 10% guideline for incomes with normal assets for HYP ( I think it’s for incomes up to about $160k). What do you think the contribution would be from Harvard with an income of $140k and normal assets?</p>

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<p>Before you eliminate Vanderbilt from consideration at this early stage, consider that according to CC’s college search tool information, 27% of freshmen receive merit aid, averaging over $11,000; and the situation is even rosier for transfer students (!), with 30% getting merit aid averaging over $15,000.</p>

<p>[Financial</a> Aid Options at Vanderbilt University](<a href=“http://www.collegeview.com/schools/vanderbilt-university/financialaid?siteId=68]Financial”>http://www.collegeview.com/schools/vanderbilt-university/financialaid?siteId=68)</p>

<p>Anecdotally, one of D’s classmates, a top student, received a full-tuition offer at Vandy; I don’t know the family’s financial circumstance, but based on where they live, I suspect that it was all or mostly merit. He used the offer to negotiate a better package at another school, where he decided to enroll.</p>

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<p>“Also!!! Keep in mind that merit scholarships get applied to NEED. They don’t reduce your EFC unless the merit is soooooo huge that it covers all of need and then cuts into EFC.”</p>

<p>Maybe I don’t understand the terminology. What is the difference between NPC and EFC – I thought that a “Net Price” would be the same thing as a “Expected Contribution.” If the EFC is basically “you need to pay 100%” and a NPC is “pay only 1/3 of 100%,” where is the disconnect?
thanks for the help so far!</p>

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<p>EFC, with its misleading name, is simply a federal index that is computed using a formula specified in the FAFSA legislation. Except at the tiny handful of colleges that meet full financial need, calculated EFC will be less, often far less, than what you will need to come up with to pay for college (discounting the award of merit aid).</p>

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<p>*“Also!!! Keep in mind that merit scholarships get applied to NEED. They don’t reduce your EFC unless the merit is soooooo huge that it covers all of need and then cuts into EFC.”</p>

<hr>

<p>Maybe I don’t understand the terminology. What is the difference between NPC and EFC – I thought that a “Net Price” would be the same thing as a “Expected Contribution.” If the EFC is basically “you need to pay 100%” and a NPC is “pay only 1/3 of 100%,” where is the disconnect?
thanks for the help so far!
*</p>

<p>Annasdad is correct. FAFSA EFC is a misnomer.</p>

<p>However, if you’re talking about running a NPC calculator on Vandy’s website and it tells you that your “net price” is $40k, that means that it will give you about $12k of aid (Vandy is a rare no-loan school). </p>

<p>That would mean that Vandy has determined that you have $20k of “need”.</p>

<p>HOWEVER, if your child gets a $10k merit scholarship, then you STILL pay the $40k. Your aid is now $10k of merit and $10k of need, which meets your need of $20k.</p>

<p>It’s good that you’re looking at this now, so you can determine what you can afford. If you determine that Vandy isn’t likely to be affordable, then look for schools where merit will be about Full Tuition, so that your $15k budget will pay for room, board, fees, books, etc.</p>

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<p>The age-old CC advice holds here: shoot for the moon, because you might reach it; but have a financial safety in the application set.</p>

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<p>Finaid.org
Do not guess or assume. Educate yourself as best you can. Though we’re focused on Vandy, any school that requires the CSS has a wildcard component- some look at the value of your cars as assets, some cap the way they assume you can tap into home equity. And more. </p>

<p>Harvard no longer has the 160k bar- it’s 150, I think. H and Y, when they describe the policy about income and finaid, also talk about “typical assets” a formula based on income. Again, no assumptions. </p>

<p>I believe no one has said it yet: need based aid is based on how the colleges view your need. And, when a school says, eg, average grant 38k, understand the math: if x % gets 40-50k, a number multiple times that could be getting much smaller grants, throwing off this notion of “average.”</p>

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<p>Thanks for the help. Lots to think about…</p>

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<p>*However, if you’re talking about running a NPC calculator on Vandy’s website and it tells you that your “net price” is $40k, that means that it will give you about $12k of aid (Vandy is a rare no-loan school). *</p>

<p>Typo…I meant to write that Vandy would give you about $20k of aid, if they determine that your family contribution should be $40k per year.</p>

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<p>Adding to what mom2ck said… You actually will probably get less than $20K aid if Vandy calculates you can pay $40K and the school costs $60K because even at no-loan schools, students are usually expected to work to contribute and that is part of the ‘financial aid.’ I don’t know about Vandy in particular so someone can correct me if I’m wrong but every school we have dealt with has required a student contribution.</p>

<p>For most schools, the on-campus job is usually in the $1K-$2K range and they often estimate a summer job which will be more in the $2K-$3K range although we found no-loan schools had higher work requirements than schools where loans are packaged in. At a no-loan school, students can work, take this out as a loan or mom/dad have to come up with the additional money.</p>

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<p>Since this family has a high income and feels that it can pay about $15k per year, they need to be really upfront with their D about that. NO point in getting her hopes up about schools like Vandy (which sounds like might be a parent’s alma mater), but likely won’t be affordable. </p>

<p>My neighbor is a Vandy grad and he just assumed his kid would go there…until he found out that they didn’t qualify for any aid at that school or any other school. Ugh. He thought they’d get at least half the cost in aid. It’s been a scramble because everyone had their hearts set on that school. (We had warned them not to expect aid or merit, but they insisted their kid would get money.) The kid has one safety, but not one that she really wants (a local school). Sad, because if she had included a few financial safeties for merit, she would have had a choice. </p>

<p>Kids who have Vandy-stats, have the stats to get good merit scholarships elsewhere.</p>

<p>Since the family contribution is likely to be 3 times what the family can afford, the student needs at least 3 financial safeties that she likes. Those need to be schools that have assured merit scholarships…not competitive.</p>

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<p>Slightly off topic, but how does the student work portion work? When I do the Vandy NPC for our income of just under 90,000, I get about 13000 with 2200 for student work (so 10,800 out of parent pockets). My assumption is if we didn’t want her to work, we’d just have to pick up the 2200.<br>
Is that how it works? </p>

<p>Second thing I’m wondering, is how many hours per week do they expect students to work?</p>

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<p>* I get about 13000 with 2200 for student work *</p>

<p>I believe that is $2200 for “summer work” …not work study during the school year (which could be about $2000 towards “aid”).</p>

<p>Are you saying that you don’t want your D working over the summer and you don’t want her working during the school year? If so, you may have to cover the “student work” and the work-study. </p>

<p>Absolutely…you can cover your child’s summer work contribution AND/OR her work study contribution. You can pay for as much as you’d like. No one’s going to stop you.</p>

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<p>I thought the 2200 was for a campus job during the school year, but maybe I’m mistaken. My D is a HS junior so I’m still coming up to speed on this stuff. </p>

<p>My concern isn’t about summer work, but about working during the school year as a freshman. It’s a big transition and I’d prefer she focus on school.</p>

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<p>If the 2200 was part of the “family contribution” then that wasn’t “school year work study”. That was contribution from a summer job. </p>

<p>Work study isn’t part of “family contribution”. Work study goes towards “need,” and students work during the school year for that. That is for pocket money during the school year.</p>

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<p>Work study jobs are usally easy and can be scheduled around classes or other academic work. I think it usually runs around 8-10 hours/week-? A student might work a couple of hours at a stretch. It’s not at all like a regular job with long shifts and little flexibility. IMO, the best jobs for freshmen and sophs bring them into contact with lots of other students. None of the kids I know complain. But, the downside is some schools set a high w/s contribution and don’t have a range of jobs available.</p>