True, this family may well be able to afford Columbia without jeopardizing retirement. I’m just pointing out that just because an EFC may be 130k doesn’t mean a doughnut hole doesn’t exist.
At some point the term “doughnut hole” becomes meaningless. On CC we used to use it to refer to families living in high cost of living areas where the value of their primary residence, plus cash salaries, made them look like they could comfortably afford what various colleges expected them to pay.
An EFC of 130K (no college costs that much) suggests that this is not this particular family’s conundrum. This family’s issue is much more likely that they don’t WANT to pay full freight (who could blame them?) since it would involve liquidating assets that they have earmarked for other purposes. Columbia’s formula likely does not involve liquidating their IRA or 401K (or similar since one parent is a public employee), likely does not involve selling their primary residence. It just assumes that their investable assets are available to pay for college. Which is not a far-fetched assumption.
4 Likes
Columbia is generous with aid…to those who need it.
3 Likes
I will be interested in seeing the answers to the questions I posed upstream. The OP has not responded to those…and the answer to “why” no aid could easily be because of the answer to one of those questions.
I’ll add an additional one…what is the parent income total?
2 Likes
Hey, a CC success story. Asked and answered- Why did I get no financial aid at Columbia? Answer- because your family’s financial situation didn’t warrant aid.
7 Likes
This can also happen in high tech, when someone with very limited retirement savings has stock options that end up being worth something. I have seen a few people retire with nearly all of their “retirement” savings in non-tax-advantaged accounts.
In high tech I have seen people who were really at the top of their field work well into their 60’s with their primary job being to teach others. However, I have also seen people leave the field somewhere in their 40’s. I have even had rides to the airport where the cab driver was a retired software engineer who appeared to still be in their 40’s (and I was able to guess why they retired from software engineering in their 40’s).
If a family has $1,000,000 in savings and a fairly modest income from one person still working this can eliminate the possibility of need based aid. However, $1,000,000 in savings is only going to generate about $40,000 in annual income. This plus social security can be a reasonable retirement, but not much more than a reasonable retirement, particularly if you need to retire before your reach medicare age (eg, medical insurance can be quite expensive before you qualify for medicare).
In some situations you just do not attend Columbia. This of course brings up the question that @parentologist asks: Do you have less expensive options?
2 Likes
@egganog I remember chancing and I also remember that you stated back in the summer that you are full pay, are not eligible for financial aid, and that paying was not a problem.
What happened in the meantime? If your parents suddenly lost a lot of money very recently, and that loss wasn’t included in your CSS, you should contact Columbia’s financial aid office with this information.
3 Likes
A 130,000 EFC either indicated income north of 300k with significant assets, or a huge mistake somewhere on the FAFSA or CSS.
Elementary school teachers rarely have high salaries, so what did your dad retire from and do you own something like a Brooklyn brownstone?
Di you know your family 's income? Is it above 180k or 200k a year?
OP has stated on several other threads that money is not an issue. e.g.:
So it seems like it is an issue of the family does not want to pay full sticker price, not that they can’t.
If financial circumstances have changed, then OP’s parents need to have a conversation with the FA office. And if that’s the case, they needed to have had that conversation 10 weeks ago, which is when OP was accepted ED. And really, if finances were going to be an ussue, she should not have applied ED, since they NPC would have shown cost of attendance.
3 Likes
I believe this student was accepted ED to Columbia. They would have needed to make a matriculation decision by now.
@egganog am I correct?
So…isn’t it getting to be a little late to ask about aid?
Are your parents willing to pay the full cost to attend Columbia? If not, let Columbia know you can’t accept their offer of admission…and move on.
1 Like
Worth checking (mistakes happen). But indeed I didn’t check other threads by this OP.
If the 130K EFC is correct, then hopefully OP’s family will pay if s/he gets in, or OP has a merit scholarship somewhere.
@egganog: if you were admitted ED, you are supposed to attend Columbia. Can you explain?
Most tech companies whose options end up “being worth something” offer tax and retirement planning to their employees. Or there is something called Google, where you can quickly access a wealth of information about how to manage your options, your lump sum payments, move at least a portion of your assets into more tax-advantaged accounts. And there isn’t a tech company on the planet that does not give its employees ample warning before options vest. No company wants its employees caught unawares about their potential tax liabilities amidst the windfall.
So are there folks who retire with a big old lump of cash and no idea what to do with it? If you say so, I don’t know any. But Google is a keyboard away, and the advice isn’t that esoteric.
1 Like
@egganog wrote on another thread…
“ Got accepted to Columbia ED. I was so suprised when I saw they weren’t offering me any aid…My dads retired and my mom is a elementary school teacher. I considered trying to get more aid but wasn’t sure if I could. I mean, I assume our lack of aid is because of assets, but I don’t know the value of assets we have”
So…he or she was accepted ED. I’m not sure why this financial aid question is being addressed now.
1 Like
She (she has identified as female), and she has posted elsewhere a while back that she doesn’t qualify for financial aid. That is why I was wondering whether something had happened since then.
@egganog In all honesty, if this is not an error, and something didn’t happen, but simply your parents did not understand how much Columbia actually costs, you may have to accept the fact that you cannot afford Columbia, and start waiting for results from your other applications.
On the up side, if you got into Columbia, you are likely to be accepted to most of the other colleges that you applied to. Hopefully there will be one (or more) which your parents can afford and which you will be happy to attend.
3 Likes
@egganog I hope that all will work out and that you will be able to attend Columbia as you wish.
Presumably someone accepted at Columbia has many options with merit funding.
However if this student accepted the ED admit weeks ago, then she was supposed to have withdrawn all other applications.
4 Likes
You’re right. That can be a serious problem.
1 Like
@egganog: can you explain the situation?
Were there changes in your financial circumstances? Or have your parents only now realized how much Columbia cost?
Do you have other affordable choices or will you need a new list of possibilities?
1 Like
sure. I was aware of how much Columbia costs, and I was surprised that I didn’t recieve aid. There haven’t been major changes in financial circumstances. I just feel bad that my parents are spending this much on an education and sometimes think I could probably get an equally good education at a school that costs significantly less. On the other hand it is my dream school so.
I was more curious if this was a common thing and if there might’ve been a mistake made when I did the FAFSA.