Coming to Terms with Full Pay

[Anonymous]

I'm a foreigner who came to this country 20 years ago, got married and had kids. Even I knew to do my research, land in a state that has a decent flagship and OK-ish other colleges at a "reasonable price" (what passes for reasonable), and emphasize academics so my kids could be competitive for merit aid elsewhere.

I apologize for my nasty tone, but I'm angry on your wallet's behalf. Why would you continue to live in the district and do this to your own finances? It's self-sabotage, and I don't get the middle class families who do this. The working poor can't afford to move out of DC. The middle class cannot afford NOT to move out of DC. Because of college costs. DCPS is such a lower performing system compared to MCPS or FCPS anyway, so apart from a very short commute, you weren't doing your family any favors...

But OK, it's no use crying over spilt milk. Is it too late to move for kid#2?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much. Thank you for saving! Without your discipline and frugality many free ride kids wouldn’t get the chance to attend the school.

this isn't how it works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a foreigner who came to this country 20 years ago, got married and had kids. Even I knew to do my research, land in a state that has a decent flagship and OK-ish other colleges at a "reasonable price" (what passes for reasonable), and emphasize academics so my kids could be competitive for merit aid elsewhere.

I apologize for my nasty tone, but I'm angry on your wallet's behalf. Why would you continue to live in the district and do this to your own finances? It's self-sabotage, and I don't get the middle class families who do this. The working poor can't afford to move out of DC. The middle class cannot afford NOT to move out of DC. Because of college costs. DCPS is such a lower performing system compared to MCPS or FCPS anyway, so apart from a very short commute, you weren't doing your family any favors...

But OK, it's no use crying over spilt milk. Is it too late to move for kid#2?

I don’t think OP is too concerned about say paying for UMD OOS which is only like a $10k difference after TAG. Also, we know plenty of kids who received in state tuition or near in state at a number of flagships, so again…DC isn’t really an issue (and we would have to live in CA or MI to really care about in state to top schools).

Pretty sure she is talking about private full pay.

Also, kids at Walls and JR do just fine with college admissions…and anecdotally seem to get a DCPS bump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much. Thank you for saving! Without your discipline and frugality many free ride kids wouldn’t get the chance to attend the school.

this isn't how it works.

I fully support need-based aid (though I also think sticker prices need to come way down), but this is kind of the way it works. And I say this as someone who spent over a decade in elite higher ed financial aid. Full pays do subsidize those on financial aid (it’s just the way budgets and fungible money work). And there is a savings penalty. It’s not a huge one, and work has been done to create appropriate asset tests, retirement allowances, etc. But for people with borderline eligible incomes, savings and investments will absolutely make the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I started checking the net price calculators. We are both feds and have been for 20-plus years, with plenty of promotions. Own our little rowhouse. Almost paid off. 20 years of TSP. 2 kids, strictly DCPS. Old car, limited spending, lots of savings. No medical bills.

We’re gonna be at max for ability to pay even though we aren’t living in champagne and caviar. Right?

I just need to count my blessings right? We’ve had stability and ability to pay even if we aren’t living high on the hog. People with more precarious lives deserve the lower price. Right?

I guess merit aid is possible - first kid did great on PSAT. But we’re still likely to just pay full freight even then because if he applies to a reach school EA or ED we’ll say yes, right?

If my kid applied to a reach EA or ED that was beyond what I felt was reasonable I’d say no.

There seems to be a lot of the tail wagging the dog in this forum.

[Anonymous]

We ended up agreeing to pay more than we’re
comfortable with because our kids have been great kids. They’ve worked hard in school, never asked for expensive clothes or gadgets. and really did everything we asked of them. Also, we could have saved a bit by making our second kid go to a large state school like
our first kid, but after seeing the crappy education our first kid is getting we decided it’s worth it to spend more for a first tier private for our second kid.

[Anonymous]

2 feds likely make over 300k HHI. You will qualify for a small amount of aid (10-15k off net price) at top schools(top 4-5 ivies plus MIT offer the best aid). If you make 350 to 400kHHI then you can certainly afford to full pay for one kid since you did public schools! You could have put away 15-20k a year over the years. Many of us make less than 380k and are somehow full pay for 92k a year at an ivy and not complaining, PLUS paid for private k-12, plus have a mortgage over 3500 per month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to the 2 fed, full pay club, OP!

You know that $300 HHI is well beyond the average for American households.

[Anonymous]

As a full-time working mother... I've never found it easy to get over the fact that my neighbors get financial aid b/c they are sahm and therefore single income. Ugh... I did it all wrong. Feel penalized since I schlepp to an office everyday. Enjoy your mid-morning, weekday Costco trip while I have to fight the crowds on Saturday afternoon AND pay full tuition...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a full-time working mother... I've never found it easy to get over the fact that my neighbors get financial aid b/c they are sahm and therefore single income. Ugh... I did it all wrong. Feel penalized since I schlepp to an office everyday. Enjoy your mid-morning, weekday Costco trip while I have to fight the crowds on Saturday afternoon AND pay full tuition...

Oh shut up you don’t know their situation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much. Thank you for saving! Without your discipline and frugality many free ride kids wouldn’t get the chance to attend the school.

this isn't how it works.

I fully support need-based aid (though I also think sticker prices need to come way down), but this is kind of the way it works. And I say this as someone who spent over a decade in elite higher ed financial aid. Full pays do subsidize those on financial aid (it’s just the way budgets and fungible money work). And there is a savings penalty. It’s not a huge one, and work has been done to create appropriate asset tests, retirement allowances, etc. But for people with borderline eligible incomes, savings and investments will absolutely make the difference.

You spent time in financial aid, but clearly not the budget office, because one does not subsidize the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's your HHI?

What is your HhI?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pretty much. Thank you for saving! Without your discipline and frugality many free ride kids wouldn’t get the chance to attend the school.

this isn't how it works.

I fully support need-based aid (though I also think sticker prices need to come way down), but this is kind of the way it works. And I say this as someone who spent over a decade in elite higher ed financial aid. Full pays do subsidize those on financial aid (it’s just the way budgets and fungible money work). And there is a savings penalty. It’s not a huge one, and work has been done to create appropriate asset tests, retirement allowances, etc. But for people with borderline eligible incomes, savings and investments will absolutely make the difference.

You spent time in financial aid, but clearly not the budget office, because one does not subsidize the other.

Full-pay students subsidize aided students, or reduce the need for additional funding sources. Even need-blind schools must seek to “balance”’ the number of full-pay and aided students in order to make the budget work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to the 2 fed, full pay club, OP!

+100

But there is a huge amount of variety based on GS-level and step…

2 50-year old GS-14/step 10 would have a combined income of $440k, if that maxed out production each year.

I am a $220k/year Fed myself- even on my own my kid wouldn’t qualify.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I started checking the net price calculators. We are both feds and have been for 20-plus years, with plenty of promotions. Own our little rowhouse. Almost paid off. 20 years of TSP. 2 kids, strictly DCPS. Old car, limited spending, lots of savings. No medical bills.

We’re gonna be at max for ability to pay even though we aren’t living in champagne and caviar. Right?

I just need to count my blessings right? We’ve had stability and ability to pay even if we aren’t living high on the hog. People with more precarious lives deserve the lower price. Right?

I guess merit aid is possible - first kid did great on PSAT. But we’re still likely to just pay full freight even then because if he applies to a reach school EA or ED we’ll say yes, right?

If my kid applied to a reach EA or ED that was beyond what I felt was reasonable I’d say no.

There seems to be a lot of the tail wagging the dog in this forum.

+1

Seems to be a lot of threads that are coded dog whistles the past week.