What is the annual Salary needed for Financial aid ? Does it vary by school? Do most private universities offer need based aid and or scholarships?
For need-based aid, it depends on the school.
Yes.
Yes, but the type of aid (need-based, merit, or a hybrid of the two) and amount varies widely.
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Most private T-20s don’t offer merit (non-need) based scholarships
And also depends on a lot of other factors based on your own family and financial situation (so annual salary isn’t the only factor).
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Agreeing with the above posters. Need based aid awards are crafted by each college. Income isn’t the only factor. Assets matter. Number of people in the family matters. Right now, number of siblings in undergrad at the same time matters.
Some schools use the FAFSA only. Some use the CSS Profile which delves more deeply into your finances. Some colleges have their own financial aid application form.
And….some colleges meet full financial need….while others simply do not. And that can be for the same student! IOW, you might get need based aid from one school but not another. Or the amounts will vary.
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Also, some colleges require the financial information of both parents even if they are divorced, while others require the financial information of only the custodial parent if they are divorced.
Unanswerable. Financial aid eligibility is based on family income (not just salary), assets, and sometimes special circumstances. Some colleges offer excellent need-based aid to eligible (by their definition) families; some offer little or none. If you want to know what you will pay for a college based on your circumstances, run the net price calculator for each school. As an example, here’s the NPC for a school that has excellent aid, Williams College:
And here’e one for a college known for giving spotty aid, NYU:
@brantly im guessing things will look a little better for NYU need based aid as the school will be meeting full need for all…which they didn’t do in the last. Of course this need will be calculated by NYU.
To the OP…
Add to the factor list…if your parents are self employed, some colleges add back some business deductions allowed by the IRS as income for financial aid purposes.
Yes, “meet full need” promises need to be considered in the context that the college determines what “need” is. Sort of like taking a test and setting the threshold for an A grade to be exactly how well you did on the test.
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