SSS - Report of Family Contribution - Family Report

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you sure they mean $55K per year? Or maybe they mean $55K over the whole course of education - pre-K through high school? This just doesn't seem right, especially given your income.

Schools take into consideration equity in your home, savings, how many children you currently have in tuition-paying schools, debt, etc when calculating financial aid. So I'm guessing that SSS is looking at the $300K equity in your home and lack of other debt in determining what you can afford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you sure they mean $55K per year? Or maybe they mean $55K over the whole course of education - pre-K through high school? This just doesn't seem right, especially given your income.

Schools take into consideration equity in your home, savings, how many children you currently have in tuition-paying schools, debt, etc when calculating financial aid. So I'm guessing that SSS is looking at the $300K equity in your home and lack of other debt in determining what you can afford.

I hear of cases where couples making in the $100s get financial aid. How can some families get it but not others? Do those who get financial aid just have more debt/less savings than those that don't? Or does it depend on the school?

[Anonymous]

Some reassurance here. We have done the SSS every year for a few years and it spits out similar results. I do not think the schools pay it much mind at all, they probably have a specific use for it or it is a required form for their process, so I would not fret. We were able to get aid with a $100K-plus HHI.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, they do consider the amount of equity that you have in your home as money you can contribute to education. It is truly ludicrous and unfair. I remember the same thing happening to my parents when my brother and I applied for college financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately, they do consider the amount of equity that you have in your home as money you can contribute to education. It is truly ludicrous and unfair. I remember the same thing happening to my parents when my brother and I applied for college financial aid.

How is that ludicrous and unfair? So all investments tied up in your property shouldn't be considered assets that could contribute to a financial education?

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, they do consider the amount of equity that you have in your home as money you can contribute to education. It is truly ludicrous and unfair

I respectfully disagree that this is ludicrous. A 'big bummer', maybe, for the homeowner who was hoping to use that equity elsewhere by way of home equity line of credit (ie, for college, for renovations, for vacation, for an unforeseen break in employment). Or who was hoping to use the equity instead when the home sells to 1. buy a bigger house 2. retire 3. take sky diving lessons. 4. whatever.

But I disagree that it's unfair or stupid to force an applicant to make tough choices about whether s/he'd prefer to use that money now, for elementary school, or later, for college, or later still, for retirement. As PPs have pointed out more eloquently than I can, nobody is forcing OP to send the kids to this school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$30k per year for pre-K is ridiculous unless you are making $250k+ per year and have money to burn. We're sending DS to a private catholic full-day pre-K in Montgomery County next year and the tuition is $6,100.

Catholic schools are financially subsidized by the church (thus the cheaper tuition), and many are not on par with the schools that most are considering (i.e., Sidwell, GDS, Beauvoir, Maret) -- not to mention that some don't want the religious influence of catholicism.

Not on par? We're talking about pre-K. Pre-K. I went to catholic school K-12 and graduated phi beta kappa and from law school w/ honors. I knew two people who graduated from Maret for high school (both attended other private elems -- one catholic, the other nonreligious): one turned out to be a pothead who went on to teach in MCPS, and the other (the one who went to St. Catherine Laboure in Wheaton) is a doctor. I remember partying w/ the Sidwell kids in high school in the early 1990s -- the rich kids from the nonreligious schools hosted the best keg parties in their parents' fancy homes

Yes, definitely not on par.

I'm from NYC and they are definitely on par. If not sometimes better.

[Anonymous]

"My spouse and I make over $400 K, and after taxes, we would be spending a ton of our take home if we had two in private school."

Thanks for sharing that relevant information. Maybe you'd learn some humility at a religious school.

[Anonymous]

If you are spending 30k on preschool, you should not get financial aid. What school cost 30k for PRESCHOOL? Maybe you need financial counseling?

[Anonymous]

If you are spending 30k on preschool, you should not get financial aid. What school cost 30k for PRESCHOOL? Maybe you need financial counseling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$30k per year for pre-K is ridiculous unless you are making $250k+ per year and have money to burn. We're sending DS to a private catholic full-day pre-K in Montgomery County next year and the tuition is $6,100.

Catholic schools are financially subsidized by the church (thus the cheaper tuition), and many are not on par with the schools that most are considering (i.e., Sidwell, GDS, Beauvoir, Maret) -- not to mention that some don't want the religious influence of catholicism.

Completely rude and useless post.