<p>D will grad HS in 2011, will be college class of 2015. I'm trying to narrow down a list of schools for her to consider based on affordability. But, in this current economy, it feels like cost and finaid is going to be a moving target, varying widely from year to year depending on how each school fares in the market. Is there a particular time of year by which most colleges publicize their latest rates and finaid policies? That is, what time of year is best to gather the most accurate up-to-date info, so that by sometime in D's junior year we have a list of schools that we know we can reasonably afford? I don't relish spending months of hours searching college finaid websites if I don't have to. Does this question make sense, or am I doomed to endless searching?</p>
<p>A school’s Finaid policies are usually published in advance of applications. But their tuition and fees are often not published until well after application time. My daughter’s school seems to announce actual tuition increases in the early summer (though I seem to recall the COA used for financial aid was estimated and included an increase). We currently don’t know what the 2009-2010 COA for her school will be. Certain aid rules such as Federal aid is not finalized early either. For instance the EFC cut offs for grants such as the Pell were not announced until mid Feb this year. I think they were a little earlier last year, but by weeks rather than months.</p>
<p>So the best you can hope for at application time is a ballpark figure.</p>
<p>It is a moving target. And your child is also changing year to year. The home sitution changes too. So it is good to eye the field and learn what you can without getting stuck on something. That is where I have seen the most problems and disappointments is when the child or parent gets stuck on something and it becomes a “must”.</p>