<p>There is no way.. lol. My parents make about 250k, we're a family of 5, I'm the first kid to go to college. We don't have that much in savings. Does this sound even close to accurate?</p>
<p>Why do you even need financial aid? Your parents can pretty much pay for your college tuition and everything.</p>
<p>They might or they might not. I don't actually know, but I think they're worried. They live in China, so they end up supporting two houses, and my grandparents...</p>
<p>Just based on an income of $250,000 and family of 5 with one in college your EFC would be around $70,000. So anything over that will be because of parent assets (5.6%), student assets (20%), student income (50%). So it does not sound unreasonable based on your income and assuming there are some assets. Does not mean you will be paying $96,000 for college. Just means you don't qualify for financial aid.</p>
<p>haha I know what you mean, I hate FAFSA
My EFC was ridiculous also.
We have about a 100k salary, but an EFC of 55,000
And obviously we can't afford $50,000 per year for the schools I want especially since I plan on going to med school. ($400,000 total?!)</p>
<p>That's why my parents are sending me to state school.
UT Austin. wooo ::sarcasm::</p>
<p>My parents make about the same as you and we are also a family of 5. We got 0 aid from Penn and Chicago. 250,000 is NOT enough to pay college tuition in full. I'm going to have about 50K in loans upon graduation (best case). Look for merit aid. 10-15k from a college + what your parents should be able to pay + money you earn + loans = decent plan for college.</p>
<p>If you're in the first of three kids to go to college, then it makes sense. Your FAFSA EFC will only change "dramatically" when your two other siblings start to attend college; essentially, they will divide the total EFC (so 90,000) by the # of kids in college (3), making it more "realistic" = 30,000. Of course, this situation will only occur if all three of you will attend college at once. Depending the spacing/age difference of you and your siblings, your situation may be different. Take heed to swimcat's break down of the % they take from your family's financial situation. Those % can really explain where the $ is coming from. If it still seems outrageous to you, I recommend using the collegeconfidential EFC calculator, which is a lot shorter than the FAFSA (20 questions or so) and predicts pretty accurately your EFC. There was only a 500 difference when I did the two.</p>
<p>"250,000 is NOT enough to pay college tuition in full."</p>
<p>You're living in an affluent bubble.</p>
<p>^ I agree. With $250K income they should have all or most of your college expenses saved. Maybe they do - maybe that partly explains the EFC.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>My parents make about 250k, we're a family of 5, I'm the first kid to go to college. >></p> </blockquote>
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<p>Your EFC sounds accurate to me. Keep in mind...you won't be paying that much (yet) to go to college. College costs at the most expensive schools (story in newspapers this week) are "only" $45,000 per year...or so. To be honest, with an income of $250,000 per year, your family is well within the top percentage of wage earners in the country. Paying full freight for a college education would likely be expected. Our annual income is 1/2 of yours and our EFC is $42,000 (per year)....just about the cost of the education of ONE of our kids. So yes...that EFC seems accurate to me.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>250,000 is NOT enough to pay college tuition in full.>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>Why not?? We have half of that income and this year we are paying TWO college tuitions. No we did not have a lot of savings, and NO scholarships are not paying most of the bill. We are. If we had that income, we would have over $100,000 of income "left over" (ok...not quite that much due to taxes) with which to do things like maybe get a new car or go on vacation. We haven't had a vacation since our kids started college, and we positioned ourselves to have lower mortgage payments by that time, and cars that would last for the duration of their college stays. We have tightened our belts significantly. I'm sorry to say...I believe that a family with a $250,000 per year income should have enough money out of even current income, to pay the college bills. While it is commendable that some families are supporting other family members (and yes, even a cultural obligation in some cases), this is viewed as a choice by the finaid folks. They would expect the family FIRST to pay the college bills.</p>
<p>$250,000 is a lot of money unless you live in a high tax state like NY where that would be a down payment on a house in a good area of NYC. Plus the public high schools in NYC are so chaotic you are forced to send your kids to private high school and grammar school to the tune of 5- 8 thousand per year per child for 12 years. You are better off living in a State where you can buy a house for 250,000 while you are making 75,000.
Civil Servants in downstate New York are making 6 figures which sounds like a lot but it isn't in the Northeast.</p>
<p>Where you live is a choice. Sending kids to private schools is a choice. Driving near new luxury cars with high lease payments is a choice. Going on pricey vacations is a choice.</p>
<p>So, yeah, it's expensive to live expensively. With the average family income a bit under 50K, though, you won't get much sympathy. Nor should you get taxpayer support for college education.</p>
<p>Is it possible to loan 200k?</p>
<p>I'm with you sblake7. My heart bleeds (not) for people who are forced to live places where home prices are high and have risen sharply, such that they have hundreds of thousands of dollars in home equity. It's so sad (not) that because they live in those areas, they feel peer pressure to buy or lease new cars every few years.</p>
<p>Guess what, your kids could choose go to to SUNY or CUNY schools, many of which have strong honors programs, and you won't have to think about how to come up with $200K for private college tuition.</p>
<p>As I tell my kids, life is about choices. There's always more than one option and they have the freedom to think it through and make the choice.</p>
<p>I think everyone needs a reality check on what colleges consider "low income" for needs purposes, and more importantly what the pay scales are in this country, even high income places. $250K puts you into the affluent category, regardless of where you live in this country.</p>
<p>On the other hand, it is entirely possible that a family who moves to a high housing cost area after a stint of unemployment makes it pretty much a forced choice, and having a tough time of it from past bills from the bad luck years and the cost of moving and living in a new area. Yes, the schools are a "choice", but few people can advocate a family from afar move into an area with safety issues and problematic school districts. Throw in a few other misfortunes, and even a high salary can go pretty fast towards things that I would say are much more important than paying for an expensive college. But still, that $250K pay mitagates things a heck of alot more than if the number were lower, much lower. Low income folks have these troubles as well. Not fair they happen to anyone, but some events are outside of the circle of consideration for college financial aid, which is, after all, just one small facet of life.</p>
<p>Blake, you said,</p>
<p>"So, yeah, it's expensive to live expensively"</p>
<p>that just cracked me up! I need to use that on my kids!!</p>
<p>When FAFSA gives you an EFC of $96,000 it's not saying that's what you have in savings, or that's what your family can afford to spend out of cash reserves. It's just saying that that's what your family's financial responsibility is under federal guidelines. It's up to your family whether they choose to use their assets to come up with that money or not.</p>
<p>I do not make $250,000 nor do I own a new car. I am just stating a fact that it is more expensive to live in certain areas of the country and very few colleges take that into account. $100,000 in NYC is equivalent to $41,000 in Springfield,Missouri or $48,000 in Charleston,West Virginia.
The $100,000 will knock you out of any grant money but at the 40,000-50000
range you will most likely get something. Meanwhile you are both in the same boat.</p>
<p>$250,000/year puts you at the top 2% of households in the US. I can only imagine where it would put you in China...</p>