Which private colleges have the best financial aid for donut hole families?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:or-I think it is great that people save for college via 529s, or family money, or however. But it's a cold hard fact that many families can not save a lot. Private colleges want to fill their classes too. And they do that by making the cost similar or slightly higher than the state schools (for the people who are not wealthy), so the wealthy will pay "ticket" but most will not. My advice is to apply your kid to state schools AND private, I think you will be pleasantly surprised to see that privates are a lot closer in cost to state schools than you ever thought. Many state schools are not a bargain anymore btw.

For all you savers out there, be happy that you figured out a way to save, please don't crap on the non-savers and deem them and their kid's destiny as "state schools bc you didn't save" it is not the case. Non savers have great outcomes too, non-savers make calculated decisions based on the set of issues they have at the time and many of them have incredible outcomes. Cast a wide net, private/public, and make your decisions after the acceptances but DO NOT be discouraged from applying to "financial reaches."

If you are making $200K there is no excuse not to save. People are acting like an income of $200K is like $50K, which its not. Life is about choices so if someone is living in an $800K house on a $200K income while the rest of us live in a house under $500K, then, I don't have much empathy as that extra money could have been saved for college. Its one thing if you cannot due to income or other reasons (SN child, family support, etc) but if you can and choose not to, you are selfish. Yes, you should apply to both but we are clear that our kids will not take out loans and we will pay fully for a state school and if we can do more, great but we'd rather use that money to graduate school or help with a house. Plenty of people have great outcomes NOT saving but its not a chance I want to take. My parents paid for college and it made life easier. My spouse didn't and had to do military and didn't get his degree till much later and life was much harder. We want to set up ours well in life and give them the best start we possibly can. Part of parenting is teaching kids about money and money choices.

Again, live and let live. Your parents paid for your education. Congrats. You make your choices and I'll make mine. No one is looking for your empathy. If I decide to not save, take vacations, decide to quit my job and SAHM, decide to take my kids on Euro vacations to teach them history or just eat creme brûlée...it's really not your business. Just don't be bitter if I make 200k, have no savings and COMPLAIN that my kid gets into a selective college for 25K all in. It's not your kid and not your money. Or as I like to say, "not your monkey, not your circus" You live your life and save like your parents did and send your kid to the best school he gets into. I'll be fine.

I don't care what choices you make but I don't want to hear how you cannot afford the college you want for your kids or they want as you were too stingy to save. And, you can save with a SAHP or even if you choose to travel. You'll be fine as you can choose not to pay and leave your kids with huge amounts of loans to pay back.

Just curious about the amount you think a family earning $200k for the last 10 years should have saved for college.

How much was saved prior to that?

Let’s say $40k for the first 8 years while their income level was more modest and they also saved for a home and paid off student loans. Last 10 years HHI of $200k. Would they be easily able to save enough to afford a $75k per year college?

If they have $40k ten years before college, they would have had to save ~$1200 a month for the ten remaining years before college to have enough for 4 years of college at $75k a year (assuming 7% annual rate of return).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People’s perspectives, particularly on the DMV, are pretty skewed because on the whole, this is a wealthy pet of the country. .

Colleges recruit nationally. A HHI of $180,000 is in the top 10% nationally. https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/

There are also a lot of students in this area with high stats who would naturally be more interested in a top
100 school.

And since only about the top 25-30 offer no merit aid at all, most families make it work somehow. However, if you are fixated on only the top 30 schools, full pay or not, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Absolutely true. The Ivies and top schools don't offer merit aid because they don't need to. Of the 8 top schools that DC applied to, none offered anything in merit aid. The only offers came unsolicited from struggling LACs you've never heard of because they purchase the SAT and ACT top scoring lists. If you are willing to drop down a tier or two you may find some merit aid but don't count on it for the elite schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Somewhere on the college website they have “average cost of attendance “ most people pay $35k year for private college.

I have not found any private colleges that cost so little. Most of the families on this forum are primarily interested in top 100 colleges and those typically cost closer to twice that amount which is why it can be hard for a family earning as much as $200k to afford without financial aid

Average cost of attendance.

Tuition and room and bird at hypothetical elite college — $75K

1 full pay student + 1 first generation student who is paying $10,000 a year = average COA of $45K

Exactly. "Average" does not mean your average person. What money a school has goes to low-income, Pell grant, first generation, URM, Athletes or other particular students the school wants. The rest of us suckers pay $70-80K. Our children received no merit offers and no financial aid via FAFSA except the minimum (then) $5500 loan. Do not let your child look at schools that you cannot afford. Every good college guidance counselor should tell you this up front.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People’s perspectives, particularly on the DMV, are pretty skewed because on the whole, this is a wealthy pet of the country. .

Colleges recruit nationally. A HHI of $180,000 is in the top 10% nationally. https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/

There are also a lot of students in this area with high stats who would naturally be more interested in a top
100 school.

And since only about the top 25-30 offer no merit aid at all, most families make it work somehow. However, if you are fixated on only the top 30 schools, full pay or not, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Absolutely true. The Ivies and top schools don't offer merit aid because they don't need to. Of the 8 top schools that DC applied to, none offered anything in merit aid. The only offers came unsolicited from struggling LACs you've never heard of because they purchase the SAT and ACT top scoring lists. If you are willing to drop down a tier or two you may find some merit aid but don't count on it for the elite schools.

For “elite” schools without merit aid, their FA is often better than non-elite schools. They even adjust FA based on GPA and test scores. Their merit aid is just rolled into FA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People’s perspectives, particularly on the DMV, are pretty skewed because on the whole, this is a wealthy pet of the country. .

Colleges recruit nationally. A HHI of $180,000 is in the top 10% nationally. https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/

There are also a lot of students in this area with high stats who would naturally be more interested in a top
100 school.

And since only about the top 25-30 offer no merit aid at all, most families make it work somehow. However, if you are fixated on only the top 30 schools, full pay or not, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Absolutely true. The Ivies and top schools don't offer merit aid because they don't need to. Of the 8 top schools that DC applied to, none offered anything in merit aid. The only offers came unsolicited from struggling LACs you've never heard of because they purchase the SAT and ACT top scoring lists. If you are willing to drop down a tier or two you may find some merit aid but don't count on it for the elite schools.

For “elite” schools without merit aid, their FA is often better than non-elite schools. They even adjust FA based on GPA and test scores. Their merit aid is just rolled into FA.

While it's true that need-based financial aid at elite schools is often better than at non-elite schools, full-pay students aren't getting hidden merit "financial aid" due to GPA/test scores. Full pay is full sticker price, period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Somewhere on the college website they have “average cost of attendance “ most people pay $35k year for private college.

I have not found any private colleges that cost so little. Most of the families on this forum are primarily interested in top 100 colleges and those typically cost closer to twice that amount which is why it can be hard for a family earning as much as $200k to afford without financial aid

Average cost of attendance.

Tuition and room and bird at hypothetical elite college — $75K

1 full pay student + 1 first generation student who is paying $10,000 a year = average COA of $45K

Exactly. "Average" does not mean your average person. What money a school has goes to low-income, Pell grant, first generation, URM, Athletes or other particular students the school wants. The rest of us suckers pay $70-80K. Our children received no merit offers and no financial aid via FAFSA except the minimum (then) $5500 loan. Do not let your child look at schools that you cannot afford. Every good college guidance counselor should tell you this up front.

Paying that price is a personal choice. We were clear with our kids, this is what we saved, this is what we can afford, we will pay for it all but you will not be taking loans and you can apply anywhere you want but you are not going if its over budget. The choice is yours. We have saved since a few months after birth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People’s perspectives, particularly on the DMV, are pretty skewed because on the whole, this is a wealthy pet of the country. .

Colleges recruit nationally. A HHI of $180,000 is in the top 10% nationally. https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/

There are also a lot of students in this area with high stats who would naturally be more interested in a top
100 school.

And since only about the top 25-30 offer no merit aid at all, most families make it work somehow. However, if you are fixated on only the top 30 schools, full pay or not, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Absolutely true. The Ivies and top schools don't offer merit aid because they don't need to. Of the 8 top schools that DC applied to, none offered anything in merit aid. The only offers came unsolicited from struggling LACs you've never heard of because they purchase the SAT and ACT top scoring lists. If you are willing to drop down a tier or two you may find some merit aid but don't count on it for the elite schools.

For “elite” schools without merit aid, their FA is often better than non-elite schools. They even adjust FA based on GPA and test scores. Their merit aid is just rolled into FA.

While it's true that need-based financial aid at elite schools is often better than at non-elite schools, full-pay students aren't getting hidden merit "financial aid" due to GPA/test scores. Full pay is full sticker price, period.

Only 12% of students pay full tuition, meaning 88% are subsidized. You can call that FA, merit, scholarship, fellowship, tuition reduction, or whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard. Very hard to get into but dd did, our HHI was 200K and her total cost of attendance is 23K. That includes books, room, board and transportation. I have one other in college.

That's absurd you got that much aid for an income of $200K when you easily could have saved 8-10K a year at least while kids were out of day care if you used day care.

I’m guessing PP didn’t make $200k 18 years ago.

we made half that 18 years ago and still managed to save for college.

And that’s great for your kids that they have good options and don’t need to shop around for the best aid package. We were full pay too, and my kids turned down merit aid to attend their first choice schools. But I understand that not everyone is in that position and that’s what the OP is asking about.

I could argue that my dd going to Harvard was a result of her training in a particular area that cost the amount per year that would have been saved for college. We don't live beyond our means and we live in a 1500 SF house in a high COL area, our kids went to public schools. And, no, of course we didn't make 200K 20 years ago. Regardless, there are a lot of issues surrounding money and some people are great at saving and some people are not, and it's not for me to judge others bc it's not cut and dry. And I would also like to add that the NPC was spot on, so use those as your guide, they vary greatly for each college. Last year our other kid (who is at Columbia) did get great offers financially from Vassar and UPitt (honors college), I think the total COA was high 20s. They gave presidential scholarships etc, and Pitt offered guaranteed admissions to the grad school.

Saying you live in a 1500 square foot house means nothing. That is bigger than ours and you easily could have paid a lot for it. It is cut and dry. You make choices with your money. It’s not fair some save and sacrifice and others live in expensive houses, designer clothing and travel. And yet those with no savings can get more.

or-what do you mean "it's not fair"? That is a ridiculous statement. How it works at Harvard is, they don't look at your financial situation AT ALL during the admissions process. But they don't want any family spending more than 10% of their HHI on tuition, and since they have such a large endowment, they can afford this, good for them and good for us. You should really worry about yourself and how you save money if that is what you want. Commenting on other people's decisions is kind of like MYOB. My kid is not taking anything from your kid or any other kid. But high performing kids do get better packages and that is bc the colleges want them, without the cost being a barrier.

NP - It means that two kids with incomes of $200,000 can be walking around campus, living in the same dorms, taking the same classes and one pays substantially more for the experience because their parents were frugal. It IS backwards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:or-I think it is great that people save for college via 529s, or family money, or however. But it's a cold hard fact that many families can not save a lot. Private colleges want to fill their classes too. And they do that by making the cost similar or slightly higher than the state schools (for the people who are not wealthy), so the wealthy will pay "ticket" but most will not. My advice is to apply your kid to state schools AND private, I think you will be pleasantly surprised to see that privates are a lot closer in cost to state schools than you ever thought. Many state schools are not a bargain anymore btw.

For all you savers out there, be happy that you figured out a way to save, please don't crap on the non-savers and deem them and their kid's destiny as "state schools bc you didn't save" it is not the case. Non savers have great outcomes too, non-savers make calculated decisions based on the set of issues they have at the time and many of them have incredible outcomes. Cast a wide net, private/public, and make your decisions after the acceptances but DO NOT be discouraged from applying to "financial reaches."

If you are making $200K there is no excuse not to save. People are acting like an income of $200K is like $50K, which its not. Life is about choices so if someone is living in an $800K house on a $200K income while the rest of us live in a house under $500K, then, I don't have much empathy as that extra money could have been saved for college. Its one thing if you cannot due to income or other reasons (SN child, family support, etc) but if you can and choose not to, you are selfish. Yes, you should apply to both but we are clear that our kids will not take out loans and we will pay fully for a state school and if we can do more, great but we'd rather use that money to graduate school or help with a house. Plenty of people have great outcomes NOT saving but its not a chance I want to take. My parents paid for college and it made life easier. My spouse didn't and had to do military and didn't get his degree till much later and life was much harder. We want to set up ours well in life and give them the best start we possibly can. Part of parenting is teaching kids about money and money choices.

Again, live and let live. Your parents paid for your education. Congrats. You make your choices and I'll make mine. No one is looking for your empathy. If I decide to not save, take vacations, decide to quit my job and SAHM, decide to take my kids on Euro vacations to teach them history or just eat creme brûlée...it's really not your business. Just don't be bitter if I make 200k, have no savings and COMPLAIN that my kid gets into a selective college for 25K all in. It's not your kid and not your money. Or as I like to say, "not your monkey, not your circus" You live your life and save like your parents did and send your kid to the best school he gets into. I'll be fine.

I don't care what choices you make but I don't want to hear how you cannot afford the college you want for your kids or they want as you were too stingy to save. And, you can save with a SAHP or even if you choose to travel. You'll be fine as you can choose not to pay and leave your kids with huge amounts of loans to pay back.

Just curious about the amount you think a family earning $200k for the last 10 years should have saved for college.

How much was saved prior to that?

Let’s say $40k for the first 8 years while their income level was more modest and they also saved for a home and paid off student loans. Last 10 years HHI of $200k. Would they be easily able to save enough to afford a $75k per year college?

If they have $40k ten years before college, they would have had to save ~$1200 a month for the ten remaining years before college to have enough for 4 years of college at $75k a year (assuming 7% annual rate of return).

That is very doable on 200k a year! I mean give me a break. I cannot imagine whining about this. Either save the best you can or see what you can get for free through merit or need. But jeesh, nothing is owed to you. You knew you had to pay for college. Saving for college is not a new thing.

[Anonymous]

donut hole families don't really get Fin Aid. That's the point of calling it a donut hole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:donut hole families don't really get Fin Aid. That's the point of calling it a donut hole.

Rice offers half-tuition aid for families earning up to $200,000.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People’s perspectives, particularly on the DMV, are pretty skewed because on the whole, this is a wealthy pet of the country. .

Colleges recruit nationally. A HHI of $180,000 is in the top 10% nationally. https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/

There are also a lot of students in this area with high stats who would naturally be more interested in a top
100 school.

And since only about the top 25-30 offer no merit aid at all, most families make it work somehow. However, if you are fixated on only the top 30 schools, full pay or not, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Absolutely true. The Ivies and top schools don't offer merit aid because they don't need to. Of the 8 top schools that DC applied to, none offered anything in merit aid. The only offers came unsolicited from struggling LACs you've never heard of because they purchase the SAT and ACT top scoring lists. If you are willing to drop down a tier or two you may find some merit aid but don't count on it for the elite schools.

For “elite” schools without merit aid, their FA is often better than non-elite schools. They even adjust FA based on GPA and test scores. Their merit aid is just rolled into FA.

While it's true that need-based financial aid at elite schools is often better than at non-elite schools, full-pay students aren't getting hidden merit "financial aid" due to GPA/test scores. Full pay is full sticker price, period.

Only 12% of students pay full tuition, meaning 88% are subsidized. You can call that FA, merit, scholarship, fellowship, tuition reduction, or whatever.

. Mostly they call it ‘loans’

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

NP - It means that two kids with incomes of $200,000 can be walking around campus, living in the same dorms, taking the same classes and one pays substantially more for the experience because their parents were frugal. It IS backwards.

Please describe the alternative, and why it is an improvement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People’s perspectives, particularly on the DMV, are pretty skewed because on the whole, this is a wealthy pet of the country. .

Colleges recruit nationally. A HHI of $180,000 is in the top 10% nationally. https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/

There are also a lot of students in this area with high stats who would naturally be more interested in a top
100 school.

And since only about the top 25-30 offer no merit aid at all, most families make it work somehow. However, if you are fixated on only the top 30 schools, full pay or not, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Absolutely true. The Ivies and top schools don't offer merit aid because they don't need to. Of the 8 top schools that DC applied to, none offered anything in merit aid. The only offers came unsolicited from struggling LACs you've never heard of because they purchase the SAT and ACT top scoring lists. If you are willing to drop down a tier or two you may find some merit aid but don't count on it for the elite schools.

For “elite” schools without merit aid, their FA is often better than non-elite schools. They even adjust FA based on GPA and test scores. Their merit aid is just rolled into FA.

While it's true that need-based financial aid at elite schools is often better than at non-elite schools, full-pay students aren't getting hidden merit "financial aid" due to GPA/test scores. Full pay is full sticker price, period.

Only 12% of students pay full tuition, meaning 88% are subsidized. You can call that FA, merit, scholarship, fellowship, tuition reduction, or whatever.

. Mostly they call it ‘loans’

At rice, half tuition F/A, scholarship, up to $200,000 in income. No loans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People’s perspectives, particularly on the DMV, are pretty skewed because on the whole, this is a wealthy pet of the country. .

Colleges recruit nationally. A HHI of $180,000 is in the top 10% nationally. https://dqydj.com/household-income-percentile-calculator/

There are also a lot of students in this area with high stats who would naturally be more interested in a top
100 school.

And since only about the top 25-30 offer no merit aid at all, most families make it work somehow. However, if you are fixated on only the top 30 schools, full pay or not, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Absolutely true. The Ivies and top schools don't offer merit aid because they don't need to. Of the 8 top schools that DC applied to, none offered anything in merit aid. The only offers came unsolicited from struggling LACs you've never heard of because they purchase the SAT and ACT top scoring lists. If you are willing to drop down a tier or two you may find some merit aid but don't count on it for the elite schools.

For “elite” schools without merit aid, their FA is often better than non-elite schools. They even adjust FA based on GPA and test scores. Their merit aid is just rolled into FA.

While it's true that need-based financial aid at elite schools is often better than at non-elite schools, full-pay students aren't getting hidden merit "financial aid" due to GPA/test scores. Full pay is full sticker price, period.

Only 12% of students pay full tuition, meaning 88% are subsidized. You can call that FA, merit, scholarship, fellowship, tuition reduction, or whatever.

. Mostly they call it ‘loans’

At rice, half tuition F/A, scholarship, up to $200,000 in income. No loans.

No loans if the family can pay R&B and the other half of tuition. Not mocking their generosity but to pretend that makes Rice affordable is laughable.

Sure, most families with $200k probably had some opportunities to save, but for many, coming up with the rest will still be hard and potentially a bigger lift than the state flagship.