Very moderate income, but decent assets: impact?

I have found the Collegeboard EFC calculator pretty accurate, at least for federal methodology.

The collegeboard Calculator will likely be more accurate for the federal methodology than the institutional.

Each college has its OWN formula for,determining institutional need based aid. That is why it is essential,that you run the net price calculator for YOUR colleges.

This might be a little misleading.

Many OOS publics do not offer FA beyond loans. However, some do–but often, the offer may not come close to meeting need.

OOS private schools are often a very good source of FA (although many do not meet need, they will likely come closer than an OOS public).

A note about NPCs: With one in college, most showed little or no FA for our situation. But for second kid (2 years behind), some NPCs indicated significant need-based aid for the two years that the siblings overlap. I hadn’t thought about this with Kid #1, and we might have considered some additional options if I’d realized that her costs would be lower in Years 3 and 4–at some schools. So if your kids will overlap in college, you might run the NPCs with both one and two students to get a fuller picture of 4-year costs.

Traditional IRA limits are still 5500/yr unless you’re above 50, at which point it’s 6500/yr. Maybe a TSA is 20k/yr, I wouldn’t know.

@LuckyCharms913 , what OOS publics offer FA other than loans? (i’m not talking about merit). I guess there are 2 or 3 that meet need (like UNC, UVA and maybe Mich), but are there really any others? That would certainly be news to me.

@lz57c4 Yes, UNC, UVA, UMich all offer excellent OOS need-based aid. Also, there are many OOS publics that offer in-state tuition to students from certain states. For example, MInnesota students get in-state tuition for Wisconsin; NJ students get in-state tuition for Maine.

Couldn’t remember which are the “big three” publics for meeting aid.

@lz57c4 Just from personal experience re non-loan FA for OOS kids at public colleges:

My son (current HS senior) received a small FA award from Ohio U. Added on top of his merit award, it nearly meets our FAFSA EFC. Of course I have no way to know if the FA would have been higher if he didn’t receive the merit money.

William & Mary offers up to 25% of COA in solely need-based grant aid to OOS students.

Pitt offers Panther Pride grants to some OOS students.

Ohio State offers the Scarlet and Gray grant, which (I believe) is not limited to in-state students.

U Delaware offers grants that are based on financial need, with academic performance also a consideration. These are separate from their strictly merit-based academic scholarships and OOS are eligible.

There are probably many more–but again, the amount of the award may be a drop in the bucket in terms of overall cost.

So much great info! Thanks everyone!

I will definitely utilize all of your advice!

They actually get NJ tuition, which might be more or less than Maine instate tuition. Same deal for residents of other New England states too.

http://time.com/money/4147557/university-of-maine-in-state-tuition-deal/

This is the news release when Maine started this program. Only applies to certain states.

@twoinanddone Ah, thanks for clarifying.