Donut hole reality

[Anonymous]

People who claim donut hole and are angry that they only have 130k in an account —are you also stomping your feet that you can’t afford the 2M mansions in the other town? Do you ping away at what you cannot have? Or are you happy that you have a good home in a solid town. Because you are indeed able to afford a good education via state universities. I swear college admissions is the only area where this nonsense comes into play. For everything else in life you buy what you can afford in your budget and move one. Why do you think you are entitled to a high priced private college. You have 100s even 1000s of colleges available to you via public universities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who claim donut hole and are angry that they only have 130k in an account —are you also stomping your feet that you can’t afford the 2M mansions in the other town? Do you ping away at what you cannot have? Or are you happy that you have a good home in a solid town. Because you are indeed able to afford a good education via state universities. I swear college admissions is the only area where this nonsense comes into play. For everything else in life you buy what you can afford in your budget and move one. Why do you think you are entitled to a high priced private college. You have 100s even 1000s of colleges available to you via public universities.

It depends.Are the sellers offering the same $2 million mansion to my underemployed screen writer neighbor for $250,000?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have three kids who will be in college at the same time. With the new FAFSA rules on siblings, we are now a donut hole family. When they were younger and we had three in daycare, we made much smaller salaries, but now we make enough that if they don't consider siblings we don't get any financial aid.

We have been saving at least something every month since they were born towards college....some months it was $20 a kid, some months it was $1,000 a kid. We'll have saved about $130K per kid for college. Which is a huge amount, but not enough for most non-state schools. Which is ridiculous.

You aren't donut hole. You have plenty of income and choose to have three kids. You counted on financial aid, which wasn't reasonable given your income. You are making excuses and can comfortably afford a state school. Your kids go where you can afford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have three kids who will be in college at the same time. With the new FAFSA rules on siblings, we are now a donut hole family. When they were younger and we had three in daycare, we made much smaller salaries, but now we make enough that if they don't consider siblings we don't get any financial aid.

We have been saving at least something every month since they were born towards college....some months it was $20 a kid, some months it was $1,000 a kid. We'll have saved about $130K per kid for college. Which is a huge amount, but not enough for most non-state schools. Which is ridiculous.

You saved close to $400K. You are extremely wealthy with a high income and three kids. The issue is how you spent your money and having three kids. Expecting aid on your income is really shocking and greedy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who claim donut hole and are angry that they only have 130k in an account —are you also stomping your feet that you can’t afford the 2M mansions in the other town? Do you ping away at what you cannot have? Or are you happy that you have a good home in a solid town. Because you are indeed able to afford a good education via state universities. I swear college admissions is the only area where this nonsense comes into play. For everything else in life you buy what you can afford in your budget and move one. Why do you think you are entitled to a high priced private college. You have 100s even 1000s of colleges available to you via public universities.

I think it's because the top state universities are becoming unreachable for the vast majority of Virginians and Marylanders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having been through this process, and saved quite a bit towards college, we still chose public school as do many people in our financial situation. The biggest problem with the belief that "donut reality" means being shut out, is letting rich people convince you that expensive is better. Despite what US news claims, in reality, a kid can have the fabulous life and a quality education and not deplete their parents of every cent they saved, plus take on debt and undue stress, for an undergrad degree.

And they should stop reading this forum and the private school forum immediately .

So many prestige strivers. We had kids get into top 10 schools, but with no aid and enough in 529 to fully cover in-state tuition. They chose the in-state option.

Frankly, the tables are turning. More and more high stat UMC families are no longer paying for private/ivies. The top in-state schools are getting stronger and stronger as a result. Add in the fact that many top employers have stated that they would rather have a top state college kid than many of the Ivies and you really are going to see a shift.

The high cost of tuition has reached a tipping point. It seems $85-90k is it. It will be six-figures a year for privates by the time a Freshmen makes it to Senior year.

Now you only have the poor and the uber rich at Ivies which is an awful dynamic, but mirrors the US.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who claim donut hole and are angry that they only have 130k in an account —are you also stomping your feet that you can’t afford the 2M mansions in the other town? Do you ping away at what you cannot have? Or are you happy that you have a good home in a solid town. Because you are indeed able to afford a good education via state universities. I swear college admissions is the only area where this nonsense comes into play. For everything else in life you buy what you can afford in your budget and move one. Why do you think you are entitled to a high priced private college. You have 100s even 1000s of colleges available to you via public universities.

It depends.Are the sellers offering the same $2 million mansion to my underemployed screen writer neighbor for $250,000?

Excellent point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who claim donut hole and are angry that they only have 130k in an account —are you also stomping your feet that you can’t afford the 2M mansions in the other town? Do you ping away at what you cannot have? Or are you happy that you have a good home in a solid town. Because you are indeed able to afford a good education via state universities. I swear college admissions is the only area where this nonsense comes into play. For everything else in life you buy what you can afford in your budget and move one. Why do you think you are entitled to a high priced private college. You have 100s even 1000s of colleges available to you via public universities.

But that is just it - they don’t stay in their budget with other things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having been through this process, and saved quite a bit towards college, we still chose public school as do many people in our financial situation. The biggest problem with the belief that "donut reality" means being shut out, is letting rich people convince you that expensive is better. Despite what US news claims, in reality, a kid can have the fabulous life and a quality education and not deplete their parents of every cent they saved, plus take on debt and undue stress, for an undergrad degree.

And they should stop reading this forum and the private school forum immediately .

So many prestige strivers. We had kids get into top 10 schools, but with no aid and enough in 529 to fully cover in-state tuition. They chose the in-state option.

Frankly, the tables are turning. More and more high stat UMC families are no longer paying for private/ivies. The top in-state schools are getting stronger and stronger as a result. Add in the fact that many top employers have stated that they would rather have a top state college kid than many of the Ivies and you really are going to see a shift.

The high cost of tuition has reached a tipping point. It seems $85-90k is it. It will be six-figures a year for privates by the time a Freshmen makes it to Senior year.

Now you only have the poor and the uber rich at Ivies which is an awful dynamic, but mirrors the US.

And it's crazy. We drive only Hondas. We have one that is a 2006, in addition to a 2020. We aren't wearing fancy clothes or traveling to Europe. Travel sports are the biggest expense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who claim donut hole and are angry that they only have 130k in an account —are you also stomping your feet that you can’t afford the 2M mansions in the other town? Do you ping away at what you cannot have? Or are you happy that you have a good home in a solid town. Because you are indeed able to afford a good education via state universities. I swear college admissions is the only area where this nonsense comes into play. For everything else in life you buy what you can afford in your budget and move one. Why do you think you are entitled to a high priced private college. You have 100s even 1000s of colleges available to you via public universities.

It’s because so many selective colleges have policies where incomes under $150k students can attend free. Or under $200k, students qualify for need-based aid, and so on.

“Donut hole” (terrible name) is this window of income that puts you above need-based aid, but not enough to save as much as you’d had hoped.

The people who use the term tend to be jerks so it’s understandable why they’re disliked so much, but so many regular people fall into this category. They are stretched with housing, retirement, elder care, college savings, inflation and on and on. And yes, our kids end up going to public colleges or community schools, and doing ok. But, as a policy matter, it does sting that someone earning just a bit less than you qualifies for aid. I know there’ll be someone who says “well then earn less!” 🙄 there’s always a rebuttal to everything, but that’s the honest answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having been through this process, and saved quite a bit towards college, we still chose public school as do many people in our financial situation. The biggest problem with the belief that "donut reality" means being shut out, is letting rich people convince you that expensive is better. Despite what US news claims, in reality, a kid can have the fabulous life and a quality education and not deplete their parents of every cent they saved, plus take on debt and undue stress, for an undergrad degree.

And they should stop reading this forum and the private school forum immediately .

So many prestige strivers. We had kids get into top 10 schools, but with no aid and enough in 529 to fully cover in-state tuition. They chose the in-state option.

Frankly, the tables are turning. More and more high stat UMC families are no longer paying for private/ivies. The top in-state schools are getting stronger and stronger as a result. Add in the fact that many top employers have stated that they would rather have a top state college kid than many of the Ivies and you really are going to see a shift.

The high cost of tuition has reached a tipping point. It seems $85-90k is it. It will be six-figures a year for privates by the time a Freshmen makes it to Senior year.

Now you only have the poor and the uber rich at Ivies which is an awful dynamic, but mirrors the US.

Plenty of people keep making this statement...please, list the "top" employers.

Even the alums of Ivy schools such as Bill Ackman (Harvard), Marc Rowan (Penn) et al that are upset with their alma maters, have not stopped hiring the grads (that are not part of any "extreme" student organizations).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People who claim donut hole and are angry that they only have 130k in an account —are you also stomping your feet that you can’t afford the 2M mansions in the other town? Do you ping away at what you cannot have? Or are you happy that you have a good home in a solid town. Because you are indeed able to afford a good education via state universities. I swear college admissions is the only area where this nonsense comes into play. For everything else in life you buy what you can afford in your budget and move one. Why do you think you are entitled to a high priced private college. You have 100s even 1000s of colleges available to you via public universities.

It’s because so many selective colleges have policies where incomes under $150k students can attend free. Or under $200k, students qualify for need-based aid, and so on.

“Donut hole” (terrible name) is this window of income that puts you above need-based aid, but not enough to save as much as you’d had hoped.

The people who use the term tend to be jerks so it’s understandable why they’re disliked so much, but so many regular people fall into this category. They are stretched with housing, retirement, elder care, college savings, inflation and on and on. And yes, our kids end up going to public colleges or community schools, and doing ok. But, as a policy matter, it does sting that someone earning just a bit less than you qualifies for aid. I know there’ll be someone who says “well then earn less!” 🙄 there’s always a rebuttal to everything, but that’s the honest answer.

The aid is graduated. I mean, it's not like if you earn $201k you get $0, but if you earn $199k you get $80,000. If you earn $199k, maybe you get $1k.

The problem folks have with Donut hole is that your next door neighbor maybe has the same income but due to lifestyle choices has $350k saved for their kids' college vs. your $100k. You can't factor every individual expense into aid calculations or people would definitely try to abuse the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My god— my niece paid $100k freshmen year to attend Boston College.

It’s not very different from Georgetown or any of the SLACs.

My child has been accepted to some very adjective universities (5-6%%) acceptance rate—but paying $70k more per year over the very good VA public university seems ludicrous.

This is the point we have come to in higher education. A $400k undergrad degree?

If a university is asking OPs family to pay $400k, it means the family has the wealth to afford it. Save the FA for the truly needly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People who claim donut hole and are angry that they only have 130k in an account —are you also stomping your feet that you can’t afford the 2M mansions in the other town? Do you ping away at what you cannot have? Or are you happy that you have a good home in a solid town. Because you are indeed able to afford a good education via state universities. I swear college admissions is the only area where this nonsense comes into play. For everything else in life you buy what you can afford in your budget and move one. Why do you think you are entitled to a high priced private college. You have 100s even 1000s of colleges available to you via public universities.

I think the difference is people still see Ivies and top schools as a sign of excellence and achievement, and it's about education and not being a showoff in a mansion. So yes, it makes sense someone would be upset because their A+ perfect scores SAT kid cannot attend due to being in that not rich/not poor spot whereas another child with the same equal qualifications can go because they have rich grandparents or are very poor. Before you attack, this isn't our kids/case (good student going to state school), but I absolutely can see why there would be a moment of "this sucks for me" for some people. I think as more and more people do state/cheaper schools, things are going to change in terms of perception of prestige. It might already be happening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the real issue is that COL isn't factored. A family living on 250K annually in Oklahoma will have substantially more disposable income than a family in San Fran/NY/LA/DC. I wish FAFSA factored the local cost-of-living into the equation.

The real issue is that lots of people do not understand how the system works. FAFSA and its rules have zero impact on “donut hole” families.