Do families with $250K in income get financial aid? If not, how do they afford college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we make about 275k and receive 40k in aid annually from princeton

People need to understand it’s about liquid assets. $$ in savings, 529s, CDs, brokerage accounts (other than 401k) will disqualify you from financial aid even from generous schools like Princeton no matter how low your HHI.

sounds like they punish excessive savers.

Yep. It’s effed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we make about 275k and receive 40k in aid annually from princeton

How many children do you have and how many are in college?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 1 kid that will go 4 yrs in state. The other is doing HS DE and will finish his last 2 yrs in state. I think where they go for grad school is more important than where they go for undergrad.

Grad school is not that big a commodity anymore, work experience ia valuable.

Depends on the grad school. Good luck getting any work experience in many white collar jobs without a grad degree— doctor and many allied health fields, lawyer, CPA, etc. sure, you can get a BS in CS and be self taught from there. But it’s not like you can be a self taught surgeon.

Obviously not talking about higher degree required fields like MD, Lawyer, etc.

However, sure it depends on the grad school. MS in history? Doesn't add much value.

MS in CS specializing in Cyber security, AI, Machine Learning, etc. Big added value.

DUH

DP it wasn't obvious to me that you were talking only about masters degrees in humanities.

--a humanities person who does look for degrees higher than BA's when I hire others who also have humanities degrees.

What do you look for? I had a BA in poli sci, worked for 10 years, then got an MPA. Definitely think it helped in hiring.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are at around that income bracket with a highly achieving kid. We figured that we can cash flow the state flagship (UMD-CP is relatively cheap / subsidized), so we never opened a 529 or anything else that would ever impact our financial aid should the kid get into a top college. We also restructured our assets and savings to maximize financial aid.

We have been paying 30k-50k per year for an Ivy.

Can you give some examples of this? I know taking savings and paying off your mortgage is one strategy. Any others?

We bought Maryland pre-paid plan for another child after asking the grandmom to open the account. She put 100 dollars into it and we put in 50K. Did not have to report those 50K on the CSS profile for the older kid. We expect we will be in a different income bracket in 10 years for the little one, and will benefit from having a 529 plan of some kind for a modest sum. Plus, that's our last child.

We prepaid all of our expenses a full year ahead before filing FAFSA/CSS. I was leasing an office; we paid rent a full year ahead etc. You need to move cash into invisible assets.

We cash flowed as much of college as possible. All money went to expenses, retirement savings, or kid's college payments. We barely maintained a balance in our checking account, but also only took 30K in loans over 4 years. Balance on a checking account = less favorable CSS profile outcome. Stupidest thing to do is maintain 50K on the checking account just in case, run up a credit card balance, and borrow to pay for college, unless there is a tangible chance of loan forgiveness. The goal is to pay less for college.

We paid off a leased car and held onto it for a couple of months. Filed FAFSA/CSS. It was not a fancy car and did not tip off any luxury scales. It was basically a vehicle, so to speak, to contain about 30K. Once financials were awarded, we sold it at a profit since cars appreciated, and used the profit to avoid taking out a loan that semester.

Once kid was accepted to CSS profile meets needs school, I started my own business finally. My first two years of trials and errors were effectively sponsored by my kid's university. During that time, in between financial cycles, we sold an old rental property and purchased an office for my business.

None of this will help people with 1/2 million in savings, but it helped us as a normal middle class family. The fact that the universities can use 5% per year of the 529 account ear-marked for another child is ASININE, so we had to avoid that. Pay off EVERYTHING, avoid any live money on checking and savings accounts. Remember retirement savings cannot be used as a part of CSS profile, so maximize those accounts to keep live money off of your checking account. That's it

CSS now asks if there are any accounts for which student is the beneficiary. So, they are onto the 529 in other family member's name racket.

Believe my ILs did this for my SiL's kids. I was a near total FAFSA kid. Find it so grating how they gamed the system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make less, we save starting at birth, make savings a priority, no vacations, etc. and state school.

+1
It is a bit early in the thread to be so rude. OP ask a very question.

So is the takeaway that elite colleges like Ivies, NESCA, are open to the rich and the poor, but not those in the middle?

No. Read the whole thread. Lots of middle class get sid at these schools. Many of us posted about our experiences.

$250 is NOT middle class. It is a very comfortable income so it comes down to lifestyle choices. I don't get greedy people who refuse to make sacrifices and demand financial aid when some of us sacrifice and save and are responsible parents.

buying a house in a good school district where you don't need to spend 3 hours commuting is also being a responsible parent. do you even live in DC?

Good school district is white and rich. We live in Montgomery county and own a home. One parent spend 2 hours commuting as that is where the job is in VA. If you chose to live in a million dollar house close to work and not save your kids can go to community college or th state school. Your greed and entitlement are astounding.

[Anonymous]

This has probably been answered but your question is kind of clueless. Regular income below $250 here. Pricey private college for son. We saved $100 a month in a 529. That equaled 90k (granted he went to college in 2014). got a large merit scholarship. No loans. Done. Don’t say it would have been easy if we had more than one kid. Also, this is why people choose state schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make less, we save starting at birth, make savings a priority, no vacations, etc. and state school.

+1
It is a bit early in the thread to be so rude. OP ask a very question.

So is the takeaway that elite colleges like Ivies, NESCA, are open to the rich and the poor, but not those in the middle?

No. Read the whole thread. Lots of middle class get sid at these schools. Many of us posted about our experiences.

$250 is NOT middle class. It is a very comfortable income so it comes down to lifestyle choices. I don't get greedy people who refuse to make sacrifices and demand financial aid when some of us sacrifice and save and are responsible parents.

buying a house in a good school district where you don't need to spend 3 hours commuting is also being a responsible parent. do you even live in DC?

Good school district is white and rich. We live in Montgomery county and own a home. One parent spend 2 hours commuting as that is where the job is in VA. If you chose to live in a million dollar house close to work and not save your kids can go to community college or th state school. Your greed and entitlement are astounding.

so? we are white and, making all of 250k, rich as well (according to you: "250k is not middle class"). so we live right where we belong. just because you are a sucker doesn't mean i have to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we make about 275k and receive 40k in aid annually from princeton

Out of curiosity, how much do you have in retirement savings, and how much equity do you have in your house?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we make about 275k and receive 40k in aid annually from princeton

People need to understand it’s about liquid assets. $$ in savings, 529s, CDs, brokerage accounts (other than 401k) will disqualify you from financial aid even from generous schools like Princeton no matter how low your HHI.

sounds like they punish excessive savers.

Yep. It’s effed up.

Yup. And they reward overspenders and people with expensive personal drama. Bankruptcies? Check. Divorces and multiple remarriages? Check.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we make about 275k and receive 40k in aid annually from princeton

People need to understand it’s about liquid assets. $$ in savings, 529s, CDs, brokerage accounts (other than 401k) will disqualify you from financial aid even from generous schools like Princeton no matter how low your HHI.

sounds like they punish excessive savers.

Yep. It’s effed up.

Not at all. Those able to save that much don't need the aid. They don't punish reasonable savers. We had 200k saved and still got great aid. Income weighs far more heavily than savings. You'd have to have a lot of assets (vacay home)/savings to lose out on FA, and then there'd be no need for FA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make less, we save starting at birth, make savings a priority, no vacations, etc. and state school.

+1
It is a bit early in the thread to be so rude. OP ask a very question.

So is the takeaway that elite colleges like Ivies, NESCA, are open to the rich and the poor, but not those in the middle?

No. Read the whole thread. Lots of middle class get sid at these schools. Many of us posted about our experiences.

$250 is NOT middle class. It is a very comfortable income so it comes down to lifestyle choices. I don't get greedy people who refuse to make sacrifices and demand financial aid when some of us sacrifice and save and are responsible parents.

I sort of agree. I am PP and make 100k+less than that so actually am middle class. But in the DC area, 250k is UMC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we make about 275k and receive 40k in aid annually from princeton

People need to understand it’s about liquid assets. $$ in savings, 529s, CDs, brokerage accounts (other than 401k) will disqualify you from financial aid even from generous schools like Princeton no matter how low your HHI.

sounds like they punish excessive savers.

Yep. It’s effed up.

Not at all. Those able to save that much don't need the aid. They don't punish reasonable savers. We had 200k saved and still got great aid. Income weighs far more heavily than savings. You'd have to have a lot of assets (vacay home)/savings to lose out on FA, and then there'd be no need for FA!

200k is too low of a savings threshold at a 250k income to eliminate FA. I’m not tapping my retirement accounts to pay for college but as a taxpayer I don’t appreciate my tax dollars subsidizing people who spend more than they should.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we make about 275k and receive 40k in aid annually from princeton

People need to understand it’s about liquid assets. $$ in savings, 529s, CDs, brokerage accounts (other than 401k) will disqualify you from financial aid even from generous schools like Princeton no matter how low your HHI.

sounds like they punish excessive savers.

Yep. It’s effed up.

Yup. And they reward overspenders and people with expensive personal drama. Bankruptcies? Check. Divorces and multiple remarriages? Check.

+10000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we make about 275k and receive 40k in aid annually from princeton

How many children do you have and how many are in college?

1 child, rising sophomore. another child will be applying to college this fall as a hs senior. waiting for FA to come out in July so can keep updated if people are curious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we make about 275k and receive 40k in aid annually from princeton

Out of curiosity, how much do you have in retirement savings, and how much equity do you have in your house?

princeton does not consider primary home equity or retirement savings, which is why we can get so much in aid.

600k in home, about 1.6 million in combined retirement accounts for the two of us.