<p>Hi, I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of what a "high-end" income would be (in the eyes of small LACs such as Wake, Richmong, ect)Our adjusted gross income is about 128000. We have 3 children (including Jr. son, who is oldest) This may seem high to some, bot believe me, here in N.J. it does not go that far! Any help would be appreciated!</p>
<p>$128k is in the top 10% of US Income nationally. Suggest hyou go to the collegeboard website and run their efc calculator...</p>
<p>Thanks- I went to Collegeboard and filled it out- it said my total Im contribution would be $40000. Is this over 4 years? Thanks!</p>
<p>It is probably over 1 year. !</p>
<p>Yes, asdad is right, that's your family's per year contribution. I read someone else's post that anything over about 90K was considered too high for aid.</p>
<p>That is not necessarily true. I know people in the low 100's who are getting aid (not a lot, but every little bit helps). Bluebayou, where did you find those numbers?</p>
<p>census bureau....the top 5% nationally make ~$150k</p>
<p>An MIT financial aid counselor told me they "protect" $30,000 per year. Above that, they figure you can pay a percentage. At $80,000 a year, he said we would be estimated to be able to pay $30,000 per year. I'm sure this varies with numbers of kids, home ownership, etc., but it gives you an idea. Colleges advertize that the will make their schools "affordable" but they don't seem to take real life (varying costs of living by state, pending retirement, other kids needing to go to college, etc.) into account.</p>
<p>Our accountant indicated that unless you have special circumstances, once you get close to 100K in income its not even worth applying for aid. As someone pointed out, they don't base the EFC on paying over 4 years but over 14 yrs. If you are high income but are offered a little aid its likely to be a loan or possibly work-study. With parents having children at an older age they are often at the peak of their earning power at about this time.</p>
<p>You know what else is difficult? We had a very low EFC when our first son started college, as I was homeschooling our boys and bringing in almost no income, while my husband is a blue collar worker. We found it hard to meet even that EFC, so dh started working even more overtime, and I started working part-time. That, of course, made our EFC rise, so that every year we have to work more to meet our contribution, which then also gets larger the following year. Seems like you just can't win!</p>
<p>I'm not really complaining, however. We do what we need to do, and I'm just happy that we CAN send our boys to college.</p>
<p>The one high (over 100K) income family I know who got a boatload of financial aid had 4 kids in college and 3 more at home. </p>
<p>I agree that $100K+ isn't a fortune in a high cost state like CA or NY or NJ. That is why a lot of the bright college bound kids in our neighborhood (So Cal) go to state schools.</p>
<p>According to an EFC calculator, our EFC is about $20,000 and our family makes over $100,000 a year. There are five kids, but none are in college yet.</p>
<p>that sounds low- or else ours is just high- but I expect the difference is the 5 kids.
Most people can't afford to have five kids- we just have two :)</p>
<p>Great thread because so many CC parents have a weird view of 'middle' income. Here's a pie chart:
<a href="http://www.censusscope.org/us/s48/chart_income.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.censusscope.org/us/s48/chart_income.html</a></p>
<p>I think the problem is where these folks live. 200K in the SF area or Manhattan probably makes you lower middle class, whereas you could probably own the whole state of Mississippi.</p>
<p>
[quote]
An MIT financial aid counselor told me they "protect" $30,000 per year. Above that, they figure you can pay a percentage. At $80,000 a year, he said we would be estimated to be able to pay $30,000 per year.
[/quote]
I don't understand that! Fill out the FAFSA online and you will get a good estimate of EFC - also try the Princeton Review calculator. We have 2 kids and a gross income of about $90,000. Our EFC is $17000 - and some of that is DD's contribution. It'll be a little more this year because she earned more - and they take 35% of kid's assets and earnings. Maybe you have a lot saved in your kid's name? Or a big college savings account? I hate to see people not even apply for FA because they have been told they won't get any. APPLY! APPLY! APPLY!</p>
<p>My dh and I made approx. 107,000 last year and our EFC was $23,590 with two kids (one going into college..the other age 12). D got scholarships to two of the four colleges she was accepted to and no need based aid. However, she got a $24,000 grant from one of the other schools (tuition $43,000) and $11,000 grant from the other (tuition $36,000). We were happy with that. The difference was that if she received any outside scholarships they came off the grants where they would NOT come off the scholarships.. she still chose (of course) the school that gave her the grant money.. so you see, it depends on the school but don't think because EFC is high you will not receive grant money. We did. But is is still going to be very hard to pay this high EFC as we live in an area that has such ridiculous taxes. But I guess that is our fault. I have no problem taking out the large loans (I have taken out loans for things not nearly as important!).</p>
<p>OP:</p>
<p>instead of FAFSA, use the collegeboard efc calculator because it will show both methodologies, the federal (fafsa-based), and the methodology that many private colleges use (includes home equity and other assets).</p>
<p>Reading this thread might be discouraging for some people who should be applying for aid. As a single parent, I have income of about 75K and no assets other than a house. The EFC is based on both income and assets, and so it doesn't make sense to discuss the family's EFC based solely upon their income. Someone making 100K might have 200K in the bank or nothing in the bank. A person's home doesn't count towards the EFC. Assets in the parents' names do not count nearly as much as assets in the student's name. The number of children currently in college is considered, but only if they are in college. Credit card debt is not considered. My son got a 19K grant at Boston U and a 25K grant at Emory. His stats are good, but not outstanding with a 1370 SAT.</p>
<p>Irregardless, I believe that most parents checking FA for the first time is somewhat stunned by EFC.</p>