What money is fair game for financial aid?

[Anonymous]

There are some crazy people here gaslighting people, insisting We are entitled when not able to spend 1/3+ Of net worth on kids college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are some crazy people here gaslighting people, insisting We are entitled when not able to spend 1/3+ Of net worth on kids college

Your kids go to community college or a state school. You live in lower cost housing. You watch expenses and save. We did a prepaid at birth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are some crazy people here gaslighting people, insisting We are entitled when not able to spend 1/3+ Of net worth on kids college

Again, you do not understand what the term "gaslighting" means. You are using it incorrectly.

[Anonymous]

All of it! Sadly, discovered this when aid person told me we had “too much” in retirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are some crazy people here gaslighting people, insisting We are entitled when not able to spend 1/3+ Of net worth on kids college

The school figures in about 1/3 of your current income--only assesses your net worth at 5.xx%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2.5million in assets and close to retirement, you can say we have the money but it would be financially irresponsible to spend 40k for each of our 3 kids. However, the tops schools think we can afford to pay without aids based on our assets

You can "afford it" but you choose to have three kids and spend your money in other ways vs. saving. You should have considered this when you bought your house, vacations and all that stuff. So, your kids got to state school for take out loans. Or, other options. I don't get the three kid excuse. You should have stopped at two.

Why are you assuming people have big house and fancy vacations? We bought a 380k house, never spend more than $5000/year on vacation, driving 14 and 16 year old cars, rarely dined out and saved 2.5 million which includes retirements!

Ok, so then were is all your money going? We have a house about that price and we have plenty saved for a state school, room and board and a year or two of graduate school. Why should you just save for retirement and not college?

Because their financial advisor told them “Save for retirement, you can’t borrow for that. Your kids can get financial aid or borrow for college.”

Now the reality is here and their kid is upset, they’re trying to blame “the system.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2.5million in assets and close to retirement, you can say we have the money but it would be financially irresponsible to spend 40k for each of our 3 kids. However, the tops schools think we can afford to pay without aids based on our assets

You can "afford it" but you choose to have three kids and spend your money in other ways vs. saving. You should have considered this when you bought your house, vacations and all that stuff. So, your kids got to state school for take out loans. Or, other options. I don't get the three kid excuse. You should have stopped at two.

Why are you assuming people have big house and fancy vacations? We bought a 380k house, never spend more than $5000/year on vacation, driving 14 and 16 year old cars, rarely dined out and saved 2.5 million which includes retirements!

Ok, so then were is all your money going? We have a house about that price and we have plenty saved for a state school, room and board and a year or two of graduate school. Why should you just save for retirement and not college?

Because their financial advisor told them “Save for retirement, you can’t borrow for that. Your kids can get financial aid or borrow for college.”

Now the reality is here and their kid is upset, they’re trying to blame “the system.”

They should be saving for both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
CSS schools can consider home equity and retirement accounts, the logic being that if you paid into both aggressively while not saving for school, that is a choice you made and you shouldn't be rewarded.

i agree that paying for college sucks, but financial aid is not for people with expensive houses and big retirement accounts. save for college or choose a less expensive way to get a college degree, i.e. dual credit, CC and then transfer to a local or nearby public U.

Sorry, but no. Whose high stats kid wants to go to CC??

This is an inhumane suggestion, like putting a gifted kid into a special needs classroom. Who would do that?

This is so offensive — to both community colleges and special needs kids. I was a National Merit Scholar, and I took courses at a Community College because they were so much cheaper. It was fine. I use the information I learned in those classes (computer programming, accounting, etc.) on a day to day basis more than anything I learned at the four year college I attended. Certainly not “inhuman.” If your kid is that much of a genius, they’re going to do well no matter where they go. College is not *that* much of a transformative experience. For undergrad, the credential is the point. Nobody cares where you spent the first two years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
CSS schools can consider home equity and retirement accounts, the logic being that if you paid into both aggressively while not saving for school, that is a choice you made and you shouldn't be rewarded.

i agree that paying for college sucks, but financial aid is not for people with expensive houses and big retirement accounts. save for college or choose a less expensive way to get a college degree, i.e. dual credit, CC and then transfer to a local or nearby public U.

Sorry, but no. Whose high stats kid wants to go to CC??

This is an inhumane suggestion, like putting a gifted kid into a special needs classroom. Who would do that?

This is so offensive — to both community colleges and special needs kids. I was a National Merit Scholar, and I took courses at a Community College because they were so much cheaper. It was fine. I use the information I learned in those classes (computer programming, accounting, etc.) on a day to day basis more than anything I learned at the four year college I attended. Certainly not “inhuman.” If your kid is that much of a genius, they’re going to do well no matter where they go. College is not *that* much of a transformative experience. For undergrad, the credential is the point. Nobody cares where you spent the first two years.

*inhumane*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
CSS schools can consider home equity and retirement accounts, the logic being that if you paid into both aggressively while not saving for school, that is a choice you made and you shouldn't be rewarded.

i agree that paying for college sucks, but financial aid is not for people with expensive houses and big retirement accounts. save for college or choose a less expensive way to get a college degree, i.e. dual credit, CC and then transfer to a local or nearby public U.

Sorry, but no. Whose high stats kid wants to go to CC??

This is an inhumane suggestion, like putting a gifted kid into a special needs classroom. Who would do that?

This is so offensive — to both community colleges and special needs kids. I was a National Merit Scholar, and I took courses at a Community College because they were so much cheaper. It was fine. I use the information I learned in those classes (computer programming, accounting, etc.) on a day to day basis more than anything I learned at the four year college I attended. Certainly not “inhuman.” If your kid is that much of a genius, they’re going to do well no matter where they go. College is not *that* much of a transformative experience. For undergrad, the credential is the point. Nobody cares where you spent the first two years.

Same. I’ve taken numerous community college classes as an adult and often find beginning foreign language options to be better than the classes I took in college.