<p>This thread is making me think. My understanding is that if we have one kid in school, our EFC is 30K.</p>
<p>If our second goes to college, for each of them, the EFC drops to 0.6 of the total, so together it is 1.2 * 30K = 36K for the year they are both in school, that is, total.</p>
<p>But how does the 36K get split up? Does it mean that each of them assume I can afford 18K? Or if one school is 100% need met, they see if the other school meets any need and then gives the rest?</p>
<p>It is really confusing. Also, does it really help if the way to get from 60K EFC to 36K EFC is 24K of loans?</p>
<p>That’s the problem: it depends on the schools. Some schools will not give you a dime more. I am surprised about USC being in that category, but most schools do not guarantee to meet full need, and what you get freshman year is the most you get. It’s reduced each year, even as the cost goes up; typical of many school fom aid formulas even those that guarantee to meet full need. You gotta remember that the school defines the need.</p>
<p>When you have kids that will be going to college concurrently in the future, you have to ask the school what their policies are for such a situation in addition ot assessing the aid package for now. Not something that would occur to most families. </p>
<p>@rhandco, as @3younguns stated on another thread:
That may only be good for you if both schools meet full need. If your second child goes to a public U you may get offered federal aid and that’s it.</p>
<p>I would agree with what you wrote, but this person has been on CC for nearly 4 years. There are daily multiple posts about CSS Profile and how its calculations differ from FAFSA, how FASFA is a form for fed aid (which isn’t much), about most schools not meeting need, and about how other factors influence “family contribution.”</p>
<p>The OP was determined to let his kids go wherever they wanted. When parents want finances not be a factor in school-selection, then they need to be prepared to pay. </p>
<p>It is totally understandable that a newbie would easily make such assumptions. </p>
<p>If our second goes to college, for each of them, the EFC drops to 0.6 of the total, so together it is 1.2 * 30K = 36K for the year they are both in school, that is, total.</p>
<p>But how does the 36K get split up? Does it mean that each of them assume I can afford 18K? Or if one school is 100% need met, they see if the other school meets any need and then gives the rest?</p>
<p>It is really confusing. Also, does it really help if the way to get from 60K EFC to 36K EFC is 24K of loans?
<<<<</p>
<p>First of all, both would have to be attending full need schools with similar CSS calculations. Who knows if that will happen. As in the OP’s case, he has one child at an OOS public…a school that could really care less if EFC splits…the school doesn’t meet need. The same problem would happen at numerous instate publics and many privates, since most schools do not meet need. </p>
<p>And, even of the ones that claim to meet need, some don’t use the same calculations. Schools like HYPS give super-aid and therefore their calculations would be super-generous. If a Child 1 went to H and the family contribution was $20k, and then Child 2 went to USC, then one couldn’t use the H amount to guesstimate how much you’ll pay at each school.</p>
<p>So how do they actually do it? I know they ask if another child is in college up front on the application.</p>
<p>And I read that 0.6 is the factor. So if my family’s EFC is 30K, and 0.6 of that is 18K, does that mean that my one child’s EFC is 18K at that school, and my other child’s EFC is 18K at the other school <em>if</em> they use the exact same EFC?</p>
<p>I can understand if one school has a 40K EFC, obviously 0.6 of that is 24K not 18K. And I can understand that if I let my children pick schools that make no promises about need met, an 18K or 24K EFC might result in the same aid as when the EFC was 30K.</p>
<p>Aren’t there any POSITIVE stories about this? Like someone who had or has two kids at Ivies, known for giving great aid? Is this just another form of “state schools aren’t always a bargain”?</p>
<p>The simplest example is both of my kids going to my alma mater. 100% of need met, grants only. When both are in school, they would get grants such that my total responsibility would be 36K, as opposed to 30K the previous year with only one in college. </p>
<p>But if there are other schools, it matters if they are 100% of need met or not, but the OP makes it sound like there are specific policies about NOT changing aid even if another child is in college!</p>
<p>As for the CSS Profile being different, my kids all have the same money from grandma, approximately. I don’t know what else would change the EFC significantly, for the same school.</p>
<p>Absolutely not. the full pay school is not going to give you more just because another school gives less/lousy aid. If a school were to do that then they would be essentially giving you money to pay some other school.</p>
<p>We’ve seen this happen here many times. Child 1 gets into a full need school. Super, parents think. Then Child 2 (sometimes with lesser stats) ends up at a school that gives lousy aid. The parents thought that they’d be paying out just a bit more (total) when 2 are in school. Wrong. They find out that the cost at Child 1’s school drops by about 40%, but Child #2’s sschool may give little/no aid. </p>
<p>Well, at least my younger ones haven’t screwed up their HS grades yet…</p>
<p>Thank you for explaining it, I think I get it.</p>
<p>I do think that if my younger ones do fall off academically, I would either encourage them to go to a CC or the local state school. One may end up in a trade good grades or not.</p>
<p>I have a somewhat positive story, although it is not about a second kid going to college. My small business had a terrible year during D2’s freshman year of college. I also happened to have to re-file my taxes for the previous year for reasons unrelated to my business, and notified the FA office I had done so. They asked for a copy, and then REDUCED D2’s aid by $1,000. I wasn’t happy, and told them my business was having a bad year, and that was sort of piling on. They asked for an income statement and balance sheet for the year to date for my company, and then INCREASED her aid by $6,000 for freshman year – mid-year.</p>
<p>When she applied for aid sophomore year, they provided higher aid than freshman year. </p>
<p>Great thread. I am rethinking the decision for my son to apply to USC. I did run several NPC’s, and SC and BC were the most expensive. At least they were up front about it. </p>
<p>The real problem here is how the schools falsely advertise and lure the kids in with glossy brochures and powerpoints in hotel ballrooms. Then they implore you to “come visit and experience for yourself to see if U of Wherever is right for you!” As if all these parents have $10 grand to spend on college visits when they need to be saving for U of W’s steadily increasing tuition! Then, they tell you “just apply, we give MILLIONS in financial aid”.</p>
<p>As parents, we need to be the calm, logical ones and just say NO. Tell your kids who have sweated out all those A’s in AP classes that they might have to go to their third choice, but it will be fine. It’s no fun at all, because you want to give your kids everything to make them happy, and, they have earned it. But you can’t work until you’re 80 to pay off parent plus loans.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I agree that schools are not obligated to pay for your kids. The BMW analogy is dead on. However, there is a lot of bait and switch, and you get so far down the road that it’s hard to say no to that fat envelope.</p>
<p>I don’t know what to say to the OP, I don’t understand how he got this far without better information. Especially in agreeing to the second school with little aid. And I’m disheartened to hear that SC isn’t helping at all when they promise 100% need. We all know loans don’t really count. But all schools that give aid use PROFILE. The federal EFC is meaningless and only gets you into trouble. They are not trying to “screw you over”, that sounds like entitlement mentality. You should never assume a school will give you money unless your kid’s stats earned a merit scholarship.</p>
<p>The real problem here is how the schools falsely advertise and lure the kids in with glossy brochures and powerpoints in hotel ballrooms. Then they implore you to “come visit and experience for yourself to see if U of Wherever is right for you!” As if all these parents have $10 grand to spend on college visits when they need to be saving for U of W’s steadily increasing tuition! Then, they tell you “just apply, we give MILLIONS in financial aid”.</p>
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<p>Yes, the “smoke and mirrors” messaging can be misleading.</p>
<p>A couple of years ago, a high school senior posted who was VERY UPSET when he found out that USC wouldn’t give him any aid. His dad earned $350k per year. The student was upset because at the College Info sessions, USC (and other) reps bragged how nearly everyone attends their school on financial aid. </p>
<p>The messaging needs to be more clear with handouts with “real people” examples of aid scenarios. </p>
<p>I admit, I am completely befuddled, confused and mystified, how people are savvy to marketing ploys for everything under the sun starting when they become cognizant of a world outside their own fingers and toes, but once they have children of their own and those children are considering higher education- then all of a sudden all those full color glossy advertisements are taken as direct edicts from a higher power and to question them is sacrilege.</p>
<p>It’s kind of like the sub-prime mortgage debacle. What? You didn’t know you couldn’t afford a $4000 mortgage on $75,000 a year? Just because the bank gave you the money doesn’t mean you can’t think for yourself. And, the brilliant bankers were even worse on the other side of the table. People make poor decisions all the time based on marketing come-on’s.</p>
<p>People make poor decisions all the time based on marketing come-on’s.</p>
<p>I agree, but they should take responsibility for their actions and not whine that they were all but pushed into it against their better judgement.
It’s pretty far fetched, especially when coming from college educated professional types.</p>