<p>If your parents are willing to come up with $20K a year with you, that’s your starting point as to what is affordable. You should get some numbers from your parents and see what kind of EFC results from the estimators. That is the minimum you will likely be expected to pay before you get ANY money. With 2 in college (mom doesn’t count) the EFC will be about half for each of you and 1/3 when there are three in college the next year.</p>
<p>But here is the big catch: not a single school guarantees to meet need as defined by EFC. Not one. Those that guarantee to meet full need, make you fill out another form and then come up with their own need number which is usually not as low as the FAFSA EFC. So just because you have need, doesn’t mean it’s going to get met. The SUNY schools do tend to meet full need as defined by EFC when it comes to tuition and fees, but not for room, board, travel, books and any discretionary expenses. </p>