People with $1.2M+ homes and getting significant financial aid

[Anonymous]

These private schools should consider offering flat tuition rates based on HHI only that are published and publicly available rather than this obtuse financial aid application process that so many use. Other private schools have used this method and it has been successful. It clears us so much of the social discord that these secretive processes sow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a school administrator, I occasionally hear OP's comments from a parent about another family. I cannot ever comment on any family's situation. But what the school knows is a lot more than what you think you know about any given family. I know about the lost job, the medical debt, the company paying the rent on a house the family doesn't actually own, the car that was a gift from a grandparent, etc.

This depends entirely on the school. At Landon, the FA is done totally by computer and there is a separate person in charge of FA - meaning someone who meets with people who are forthcoming about applying and receiving it, not someone who supervises or verifies or even whose involvement deters anyone from being dishonest. The process is completely online. At smaller schools, the admissions person usually also deals with FA so if you know about specific family situations etc I’m assuming that’s where you are coming from. Speaking only for Landon, the two hands don’t speak to eachother and everything is done by computer so that and the separation is a real asset to anyone looking to game the system. And they do!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing is most families at your private are fine with giving FA to UMC people. They want to be able to brag about all the FA their school gives out but they don’t want it going to actual poor people because they would have to deal with actual poor people.

This. If the school wanted to give full rides to very needy students, it could. It does not. Aid that amounts to 20% off tuition will not help a truly needy student attend. So all this drama about who "should" get aid is pointless because the school is not giving aid to those people.

That is absolutely not true. I would love for the FA at my school to go to children whose home lives and backgrounds are different from that of my kids. That would benefit everyone. I don’t need my neighbors grifting to get financial aid at my kids’ school. That benefits only the grifters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The funny thing about all of the fake morally superior and deeply offended people here is that they will end up doing absolutely nothing about it.

Actually, I am doing something about it. I'm restricting my annual giving to the school. Wouldn't be surprised if the "morally superior and deeply offended" people on this thread do the same.

And I’m sure the schools will be really upset that half a dozen DCUM Karens withhold their small donations that they think give them leverage over the school.

Not sure why you think this is about leverage. Just making a personal choice to give in other ways that align with my values - ie: restricting the use of my giving. You can assume my annual giving is small if that makes you feel better. You can call me and others a Karen too if that also gives you satisfaction. I'm not here to fund people who don't really need FA. That's all.

+10000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These private schools should consider offering flat tuition rates based on HHI only that are published and publicly available rather than this obtuse financial aid application process that so many use. Other private schools have used this method and it has been successful. It clears us so much of the social discord that these secretive processes sow.

Or, just charge a more reasonable tuition and ask for more donations. And, manage their money better. No school should cost $60K when they aready own the land.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These private schools should consider offering flat tuition rates based on HHI only that are published and publicly available rather than this obtuse financial aid application process that so many use. Other private schools have used this method and it has been successful. It clears us so much of the social discord that these secretive processes sow.

I like this idea in theory but I wonder how sustainable it is long-term.
What other schools do this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a school administrator, I occasionally hear OP's comments from a parent about another family. I cannot ever comment on any family's situation. But what the school knows is a lot more than what you think you know about any given family. I know about the lost job, the medical debt, the company paying the rent on a house the family doesn't actually own, the car that was a gift from a grandparent, etc.

This depends entirely on the school. At Landon, the FA is done totally by computer and there is a separate person in charge of FA - meaning someone who meets with people who are forthcoming about applying and receiving it, not someone who supervises or verifies or even whose involvement deters anyone from being dishonest. The process is completely online. At smaller schools, the admissions person usually also deals with FA so if you know about specific family situations etc I’m assuming that’s where you are coming from. Speaking only for Landon, the two hands don’t speak to eachother and everything is done by computer so that and the separation is a real asset to anyone looking to game the system. And who knows if they do!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing is most families at your private are fine with giving FA to UMC people. They want to be able to brag about all the FA their school gives out but they don’t want it going to actual poor people because they would have to deal with actual poor people.

This. If the school wanted to give full rides to very needy students, it could. It does not. Aid that amounts to 20% off tuition will not help a truly needy student attend. So all this drama about who "should" get aid is pointless because the school is not giving aid to those people.

That is absolutely not true. I would love for the FA at my school to go to children whose home lives and backgrounds are different from that of my kids. That would benefit everyone. I don’t need my neighbors grifting to get financial aid at my kids’ school. That benefits only the grifters.

You are not the school. The school could give full ride scholarships and does not. 16 pages of posts and nobody has an answer to that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thing is most families at your private are fine with giving FA to UMC people. They want to be able to brag about all the FA their school gives out but they don’t want it going to actual poor people because they would have to deal with actual poor people.

This. If the school wanted to give full rides to very needy students, it could. It does not. Aid that amounts to 20% off tuition will not help a truly needy student attend. So all this drama about who "should" get aid is pointless because the school is not giving aid to those people.

That is absolutely not true. I would love for the FA at my school to go to children whose home lives and backgrounds are different from that of my kids. That would benefit everyone. I don’t need my neighbors grifting to get financial aid at my kids’ school. That benefits only the grifters.

You are not the school. The school could give full ride scholarships and does not. 16 pages of posts and nobody has an answer to that.

They don’t want to have an answer. They just want to virtue signal about an unfounded problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are definitely happier being in the dark because when you see someone who has on paper the same exact life as you except for you pay twice as much as them for the same schools tuition it’s frustrating.

“On paper”. You don’t know what their expenses are, if they are supporting elderly parents or have medical costs or are paying off college loans - all things the Clarity app asks about, just as a few examples.

People are judging without actually knowing. Again, if it ticks you off - ask for aid, stop donating, earmark your donations, or switch schools, but mind your own business.

College loans are a choice. So is supporting family. You should not be asking for aid if you have a high income and assists and you choose high expenses or debt.

Wow. So because somebody supports their elderly mom, or has a very sick family member, or took out a loan at 25 so they could go to CC and state school while working (that's my DH), their kid shouldn't attend private school even though FA is available. Because they live in a house nicer than yours.

Basically, you think only two kinds of people should be at private school: people with your exact background, and people who "seem poor enough" that everyone will know they're different from you and only there because you donated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These private schools should consider offering flat tuition rates based on HHI only that are published and publicly available rather than this obtuse financial aid application process that so many use. Other private schools have used this method and it has been successful. It clears us so much of the social discord that these secretive processes sow.

I like this idea in theory but I wonder how sustainable it is long-term.
What other schools do this?

Many schools that are members of NAIS do this in various metros across the country. It has been most successful in metros with above the national median household income by zip code.

[Anonymous]

We get aid for 2 kids in HS and our house is worth $1.5M. I'll tell you why.

Just having our house worth this much goes not mean we're loaded as we brought our house for less than $1M. Also, are we supposed to sell our house and move where? Our mortgage is low but property tax high. We could move far far away and pay the same mortgage with current rates and it would not mean anything as our current house is prob less in mortgage. The fact our house is worth a certain amount does not mean it's liquid assets. We still need a home!

Thankfully, FA takes into consideration logical and practical reality. It's not like we own 2 homes, drive new cars or go on fancy vacations. We can't help that our home tripled in value since owning it but it's our big savings and investment. And FA does not mean a free ride to school, it means that we pay what we can per our income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are definitely happier being in the dark because when you see someone who has on paper the same exact life as you except for you pay twice as much as them for the same schools tuition it’s frustrating.

“On paper”. You don’t know what their expenses are, if they are supporting elderly parents or have medical costs or are paying off college loans - all things the Clarity app asks about, just as a few examples.

People are judging without actually knowing. Again, if it ticks you off - ask for aid, stop donating, earmark your donations, or switch schools, but mind your own business.

College loans are a choice. So is supporting family. You should not be asking for aid if you have a high income and assists and you choose high expenses or debt.

Wow. So because somebody supports their elderly mom, or has a very sick family member, or took out a loan at 25 so they could go to CC and state school while working (that's my DH), their kid shouldn't attend private school even though FA is available. Because they live in a house nicer than yours.

Basically, you think only two kinds of people should be at private school: people with your exact background, and people who "seem poor enough" that everyone will know they're different from you and only there because you donated.

You realize many of you face tuff situations. We had to support and take care of an elderly parent for 10 years. I literally had to care for her and quit my job as we could not afford help, all along with a special needs child and another serious issue going on plus my own health issues. And, yet, we pay our own way. We live in a small shack that you'd never even enter. We drive cars till they die (we share a car now), grocery shop at Walmart, and I cannot remember when we took a vacation last - maybe 8 years ago and the last one was a business trip that we used free credit card points for flights so flights, hotel and meal for one was free. Still have serious health issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We get aid for 2 kids in HS and our house is worth $1.5M. I'll tell you why.

Just having our house worth this much goes not mean we're loaded as we brought our house for less than $1M. Also, are we supposed to sell our house and move where? Our mortgage is low but property tax high. We could move far far away and pay the same mortgage with current rates and it would not mean anything as our current house is prob less in mortgage. The fact our house is worth a certain amount does not mean it's liquid assets. We still need a home!

Thankfully, FA takes into consideration logical and practical reality. It's not like we own 2 homes, drive new cars or go on fancy vacations. We can't help that our home tripled in value since owning it but it's our big savings and investment. And FA does not mean a free ride to school, it means that we pay what we can per our income.

You are so tone-death. You can buy a cheaper house, just not where you want to live like the rest of us. Our house is worth $600K, 900 square feet, and in an area you'd consider bad. We paid $350K. You can easily look it up online. Being house-poor doesn't give you a free pass. You need a home, but which home you choose should factor into aid. You select an expensive house. We choose not to be house poor to pay for things. And, you can borrow against the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a population of people at any of these schools with wealthy grandparents but parents who are highly educated but in relatively low-paying jobs that attract the children of the wealthy (especially in the arts, nonprofits, certain types of journalism and publishing). Usually grandparents help them (or just outright buy them) a home. Sometimes, the grandparents will choose to pay for the tuition and the family won't apply for aid, but in other cases, the family will apply for aid and get it (because grandparents' assets are not counted).

And sometimes they apply for aid and the grandparents end up paying that reduced tuition.