College is more expensive than when I attended in the 80’s. I remember paying less than $35.00 per credit hour. Not anymore.
Therefore, I am wondering, what is your Out of Pocket Limit for Tuition, Room, and Board. I am not talking about travel, books, etc. Mine is around $15,000, and that may be high. Unfortunately, this will eliminate my D from attending some of the bigger programs should she be accepted.
What is your limit? Why is it set so high or so low?
That was my limit as well. Fortunately with scholarships and grants my daughter is able to attend a school with a hefty price tag. In fact, it’s cheaper than our state schools. So don’t rule out the pricey programs until you get the final numbers 
I’ve wondered about this, too.
I’d like my limit to be $20,000 but I would go up to $25,000 for certain schools that would have no additional health insurance to buy, no significant travel expenses, and a good predicted ROI.
Some on D’s list might get down to $15,000 and that would be great because D could avoid loans that way. That would make me jump for joy.
The reason for my limit is due to the fact that our income is low but our assets limit the financial aid we are eligible for.
Our college expenses will mostly be paid from savings and that savings has to cover college for three kids and our retirement. Because our income is low, it is unlikely we can completely make up what we use for college, even if I start working again in a few years.
We are fortunate that a relative started a 529 many years ago that grew more than I realized, giving us some leeway.
I’m thinking a bit more generously lately about D18’s college costs. My next one will most likely not be eligible for much merit so it only makes more sense for her to go to CC and transfer to an instate public. That will keep her costs down.
Coming back to my original post, the $15,000 I had posted was per academic year. As I reread it I realized it may be confusing.
That’s pretty low. Our best offer was around $25K net. (four years ago, EFC of around 9K)
I had a real slap upside the head moment when I started doing the net price calculators, combined with a visit to our high school college counselor’s office. I learned that the stats of the “top 25%” I had used to position kiddo for maybe some merit money didn’t mean much because the stats of the kids at our high school is what matters. Then I did a retirement calculation, and Kid #2 is 1 year behind Kid #1.The retirement part took me out of denial - I’m not a spring chicken anymore. We had kids late. We have absolutely shifted our search to affordability. I’m now hanging out in the finance section. We are seriously considering a BA route now, which may be more affordable. Even thinking about CC and then transferring to stretch a buck. Also, since I am self employed and pay privately for health insurance for myself and the kids, I’ve got to factor increases over the next couple of years. My current limit is so low, I’m embarrassed to post it, but here it is -$8000 per year, which is why we are considering BA, and transferring from CC. However, I do want others in a similar boat to know they are not alone! I might also add that we live in commuting distance to schools, and can save on R&B. Not ideal, but better than nothing.
@Jkellynh17 This is the total out of pocket expenses we would have to pay after all scholarships (merit, other academic, talent). As an example. If a school Tuition, Room and Board was $45,000 with a merit scholarship of $15,000 and a talent of $10,000, the Out of Pocket to me (the parent) would be $20,000. Is that what you were saying in your comments?
@DoinResearch I hear what you are saying. We are looking at affordability also. My daughter fully understands and has found at least one very strong safety and also a BFA program that she may be able to get into. There are others but I am turning over rocks to find them.
@DoinResearch - I’m with ya. It is doable.
@StewNChelle Check out Drew University in Madison NJ. They give great merit monies. Also my daughter got into University of Rhode Island’s BFA (non auditioned program) and they also gave her great money that made it super affordable. I am a single mom (teacher) and no savings for college. Don’t be embarrassed by your cap on cost. We all get it. Also, my daughter did one year as an RA (room and board then became free). She could have done the RA thing for 3 years which would have saved me a ton, but decided one year was enough. I know that many people say that you can’t be an RA and do a BFA but with the right kind of scheduling I honestly believe it can be done. My daughter is in a BA program but is beyond busy. She had to jungle things and stay on top of her schedule but it was doable.
$15,000 per academic year may be on the low side for purposes of this major. I know people have done it - they have gotten terrific merit and, in some cases, talent scholarships (maybe some loans) and have made it work. Unfortunately, the strong Acting/MT schools may not be the flagship in your state. I have followed @bisouu D’s story and have encouraged both of my college kids to look at RA opportunities. My S didn’t think he had the disposition (I tend to agree :-)); my D says she is going to apply when she gets back to school for her Junior year. Her counselor at Purchase pointed out to her it is very tough with a BFA schedule but, as I understand it, doable with some effort!
Yes, I was netting scholarship out of tuition room and board.
We are building a list based on affordability, too. D is interested in theatre tech, and is leaning strongly towards a BA program instead of BFA. We have some strong in-state options, as well as some possibly-more-affordable out-of-state schools. We’d love for it to be around $25K per year but can probably expand that some. We are also later-in-life parents, with a rising 8th grader still to start the college hunt.
Our original goal last year was <25K. D received many academic acceptances, and a few artistic + academic nods that bested that by quite a bit. BUT she didn’t fall in love with any of her artistically-accepted yeses-so we are back at it, and praying that she will receive ample $$ this second time around. 15K IS doable-with good grades and test scores. I would say start in-state, and in neighboring states; and learn about the programs that offer in-state tuition to all Drama/Theatre/Acting BFAs.
I set the budget at $15k/yr because that’s what I could afford and I thought that was about what a state school would cost. They could go anywhere they wanted on that budget. One daughter found a way to make a much more expensive school with a combination of grants and scholarships and financial aid. The other, the theater major, was able to come close to that. She picked a very inexpensive school (Wyoming), got a little merit, a little talent, and lives on a tight budget.
The $15k was a little low for a budget and would have been for an instate school too, but a little high for what I can afford so there have been some adjustments. More work hours, have to take the loans, tighten the belt a little more.
Also remember that when you are setting these budgets, they are in high school. The costs will go up before they even set foot on campus, and go up pretty steadily. My daughter at the private school’s tuition has gone up about $2000 per year, so is about $10k more for this final (yes!) year than it was when I was first looking at it and trying to figure out how I would pay. Only one of her scholarships has increased, by about $1000. The meal plans and housing have gone up too. The other (ex theater student) at a public school has also increased, but not by that much. Direct student loan amounts haven’t increased, Perkins loans are going away. Figuring out the finances is tough.
My budget is the cost of a SUNY, however, Techson17 has $4500 in merit money this year, so my actual cost will be about $18K or so. We don’t qualify for Excelsior and to add insult to injury, for anyone who doesn’t qualify, tuition is actually going up $100 per semester!
He is planning to apply to be an RA. He has the disposition, but who knows if he will be chosen.
We considered CC but when we ran the transfer equivalencies we learned that most of the courses would not transfer and that the BFA programs want you to do all 4 years there. This was even within SUNY’s and with the so-called “seamless transfer.”