My family just did the net price calculator for both schools and according to it, we have to pay twice as much at Columbia than at Yale. How accurate is the financial aid calculator for both schools? Is the discrepancy really that large for the two ivy leagues?
Other than “twice as much,” you don’t describe the discrepancy. If Yale says $2,000 and Columbia says $4,000, that’s not that big a deal in the grand scheme of things. If, on the other hand, Yale says $20,000 and Columbia says $40,000…
Yes, belmnappoint, Yale said 20k and Columbia said 40k…
Wow, lucky guess on my part.
If you haven’t done it already, I would go back and double check all the NPC entries.
The Ivy League is an athletic conference. The member schools set their own financial aid practices. Columbia is not nearly as wealthy a school as HYP, and can’t afford to be as generous as those 3.
Your results are likely accurate for both schools. HYP give super aid. The others just give good aid.
S gets super aid from Columbia, and when D got accepted at Yale, she got super aid there as well (ultimately, she is at Stanford, which also gives super aid). The NPC’s were very accurate.
As I recall, both determine FA based on how they calculate need. I think part of the difference may be where your family income falls - or how they count some of your family assets, etc. How do these estimates compare to the FAFSA EFC calculation?
If you are lucky enough to get into more than one of these, both of them are willing to reconsider your need based on how much aid a competitor is giving - Columbia doesn’t necessarily match a Yale offer, but they definitely will re-examine an application for aid if you request it.
Yup, it’s probably pretty accurate. Y, on a per capita basis for undergraduates, is near the top, if not the top endowment in the nation. At under 80k under family income, you would pay nothing at all for tuition, room and board- it even includes RT airfare and a laptop.
Yes, it won’t be that wide a difference for all income and asset levels, but it can be for some.
Columbia has a no loan policy for families with incomes under $100,000.
Yale’s policy is for incomes under $200,000!