FAFSA - is middle-class waste time applying?

[Anonymous]

My wife and I are both gs14 fed employee with combined income around $300k pretax. This is quite common for middle class in dc area. We’re told not to bother filling up FAFSA or any financial aid since we won’t be qualified for anything so we won’t apply. Is it true for anyone in our situation?

Now, if kid gets into a private college with annual expenses 70k+, how middle class manages to pay for it without any aids or scholarships?

[Anonymous]

I am not fluent enough with the revamp to say yes or no - but I think it is worth for you to fill it out especially since it is supposed to be simplified.

If you go onto any school website, they should have a tool to forecast your net price. DO this to get a sense of what to expect from all schools your child is applying to

[Anonymous]

Don’t attend a private school unless your kid has something a college ‘wants.’ Read who gets in and why and net price calculators are your friend.

Congrats on making Seniors. Yes this is the ‘tax’ for that success - ie not choosing private sector work.

[Anonymous]

Definitely no point applying. You won't get anything aid wise.

[Anonymous]

Some non-need-based awards and scholarships required FAFSA on file.

[Anonymous]

You're not middle class.

[Anonymous]

If my income was $300k I would have zero problems being able to pay for my kid to go to an expensive, private college. You need a dose of reality

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My wife and I are both gs14 fed employee with combined income around $300k pretax. This is quite common for middle class in dc area. We’re told not to bother filling up FAFSA or any financial aid since we won’t be qualified for anything so we won’t apply. Is it true for anyone in our situation?

Now, if kid gets into a private college with annual expenses 70k+, how middle class manages to pay for it without any aids or scholarships?

You may consider yourself middle class but you are not

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some non-need-based awards and scholarships required FAFSA on file.

Don’t miss this point. Many merit based scholarships require FAFSA on file.

[Anonymous]

There are a few colleges my child applied to that give an extra discount just for filing the darn form, so we’re going to fill it out.

You are unlikely to get any aid, but most colleges expect you to file the form

[Anonymous]

merit based scholarships do require FAFSA however they are hard to come by, you almost have to go down two notches school ranking wise to score some.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my income was $300k I would have zero problems being able to pay for my kid to go to an expensive, private college. You need a dose of reality

What is your income? Because you’d have even less difficulty paying for your kid to go to an expensive private college if your income was half that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my income was $300k I would have zero problems being able to pay for my kid to go to an expensive, private college. You need a dose of reality

No necessarily true! 300k sounds a lot. But after tax, medical and retirement deduction, it is lucky if could take home half of it. With other kids to support, who can afford to use 50% of take home money paying for one kid’s college expenses?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:merit based scholarships do require FAFSA however they are hard to come by, you almost have to go down two notches school ranking wise to score some.

And that's exactly where a lot of middle class kids are going to end up going to school.

[Anonymous]

At that income, you might qualify, depending on the school. We make more and using the net price calculators, we would qualify (for a small amount) at Princeton but not Yale. So the school matters a lot. (We have two kids in school, so that makes a difference.)

The net price calculators are a bit of a pain. But I would fill them out for at least a few schools to see if you would qualify. If applying to Ivies, try Princeton's-- I think it is most generous of that group.

(btw, it's not just FAFSA-- you certainly won't qualify for Pell grants or at lower cost in-state schools; CSS will be required at most expensive schools).