What does "we meet 100% of demonstrated need" really look like in numbers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools are getting away with some very fuzzy wording, in may mind. Their idea of "demonstrated need" involves loans, definitely. Then they come away feeling good about themselves, but meanwhile they have saddled my child with loans she will have for year to come! I will say that the FAFSA calculator is pretty darn eye opening as to what they think we as parents are supposed to be able to contribute. I don't know how they think it's gonna happen, but for us with a combined income of just over 200K and another child in college, they expect us to contribute $30K per year for our rising college student. And they offered her $1K in work study and $5K in student loans. Total BS.

30k EFC for 200k income seems generous, PP with HHI 180k has 80k EFC!

Am I missing something? You can comfortably pay $30K on a $200K income especially if you have saved. I don't get it. We have less income and saved since birth. You saddled your child with loans, not them. They don't need to go to an $80K school and can go to a state school or one you can afford. You are making bad financial choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some schools that meet full need with no loans.

Our friends, a family of 4, have an HHI of 95K. They were offered loans and about 5K off of tuition. That's it. That was the "need aid" they got

Need-based aid varies widely by school. Not all meet full need. Most public colleges do not give any need-based aid to out of state families. The most selective privates tend to be the most generous.

This is why there are Net Price Calculators. While not always accurate, they are the closest indicator of price for an individual family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $180k, our expected family contribution was $80k. My child was NMSF, top grades, etc. he got merit aid at some great schools, but zero merit at any top 50. He did not get any financial aid anywhere other than the standard $5500 loan for completing FAFSA

OP, this is a pretty succinct description of the situation of families in your situation - student with this level of HHI does not qualify for aid and merit generally only forthcoming for strong students at schools outside the top 50 (there are a handful of schools with a tiny number of full rides, but the competition is fierce, even for an NMSF).

It has been this way for awhile and most likely not changing any time soon. FWIW, seems an improvement over the prior scenario where most first gen kids were loaded with debt rather than a more balanced package.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools are getting away with some very fuzzy wording, in may mind. Their idea of "demonstrated need" involves loans, definitely. Then they come away feeling good about themselves, but meanwhile they have saddled my child with loans she will have for year to come! I will say that the FAFSA calculator is pretty darn eye opening as to what they think we as parents are supposed to be able to contribute. I don't know how they think it's gonna happen, but for us with a combined income of just over 200K and another child in college, they expect us to contribute $30K per year for our rising college student. And they offered her $1K in work study and $5K in student loans. Total BS.

What is your objection to the work study?

FWIW, the definition of demonstrated need varies across schools. If you do not want your DC taking out loans, then the option is for your DC to apply to schools that meet demonstrated need and do not include loans when doing so.

I can imagine this is frustrating, but you are in a more economically stable situation than so many in this country. I think I would have taken the trade off of attending a state school v the anxiety of growing up in a resource-starved household as I had to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some schools that meet full need with no loans.

Our friends, a family of 4, have an HHI of 95K. They were offered loans and about 5K off of tuition. That's it. That was the "need aid" they got

Interesting. DYK if they have assets of which you may not be aware?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some schools that meet full need with no loans.

Our friends, a family of 4, have an HHI of 95K. They were offered loans and about 5K off of tuition. That's it. That was the "need aid" they got

Interesting. DYK if they have assets of which you may not be aware?

They have to have assets, they’re on a low COL area, or they aren’t being truthful with you (or you’re just making this up). It’s unusual that you know a friend’s HHI in the first place, so I doubt you know their entire financial situation.

There are also people who can look less wealthy on paper when they own a business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing is for sure, the schools definition of “need”’ is likely far from your family’s definition of need. My HHI is about $300k and our EFC is almost $80k so…. There ya go.

At $300K, you can afford to pay for college. If you choose to spend it on a more expensive house, cars, travel, dining out, etc. then why should someone else subsidize you when some of us make 1/3 what you are making and manage to save?

NP. BS. These top 50 schools are sticking families with $80k tabs because they CAN. They do not need to charge this much to break even. There's no "subsidizing".

[Anonymous]

250k income dual income household. 2 kids in college- $145k tuition. Full- pay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:250k income dual income household. 2 kids in college- $145k tuition. Full- pay.

Sound about right, HHI 300k, NPC shows 210k !!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools are getting away with some very fuzzy wording, in may mind. Their idea of "demonstrated need" involves loans, definitely. Then they come away feeling good about themselves, but meanwhile they have saddled my child with loans she will have for year to come! I will say that the FAFSA calculator is pretty darn eye opening as to what they think we as parents are supposed to be able to contribute. I don't know how they think it's gonna happen, but for us with a combined income of just over 200K and another child in college, they expect us to contribute $30K per year for our rising college student. And they offered her $1K in work study and $5K in student loans. Total BS.

Right, but then won't your older kid's drop too? Sounds like your efc is 60k, now halved for each kid when #2 enters because #1 is still in school, right?

This is actually a great deal, but it may not last. The new college finance bill the passed congress a few years ago will go into effect next year, and Lamar Alexander added a clause that eliminates this siblings at the same time benefit. For many schools, you may see that 30k double.

My #2 will be applying next year, and I hope some css schools will keep that provision even if FAFSA calculations drop it.

But at 200k annual, 60k efc is not bad and 30k is excellent. You should have some money saved, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our HHI is $180k, our expected family contribution was $80k. My child was NMSF, top grades, etc. he got merit aid at some great schools, but zero merit at any top 50. He did not get any financial aid anywhere other than the standard $5500 loan for completing FAFSA

Yep, I think a lot fall into this scenario, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your HHI is $200k and you have $500k+ home equity you should be full pay.

What should home equity have to do with it? Are you expected to borrow against your home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your HHI is $200k and you have $500k+ home equity you should be full pay.

What should home equity have to do with it? Are you expected to borrow against your home?

I would assume the answer is yes, unfortunately. Most schools that use CSS consider home equity. I told my child that he couldn't apply to any school that considers home equity AND isn't known for generous merit aid. Many schools dropped off the list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One thing is for sure, the schools definition of “need”’ is likely far from your family’s definition of need. My HHI is about $300k and our EFC is almost $80k so…. There ya go.

At $300K, you can afford to pay for college. If you choose to spend it on a more expensive house, cars, travel, dining out, etc. then why should someone else subsidize you when some of us make 1/3 what you are making and manage to save?

NP. BS. These top 50 schools are sticking families with $80k tabs because they CAN. They do not need to charge this much to break even. There's no "subsidizing".

They are using the money to subsidize other families but they are charging that much as you say because the can. So, those of us who cannot afford it, send our kids to state schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your HHI is $200k and you have $500k+ home equity you should be full pay.

What should home equity have to do with it? Are you expected to borrow against your home?

Because you choose a higher priced house over college savings. We bought a tiny sh@t shack so we could save for college. Why should we have the same income, you choose not to save, scream poverty and live in a much nicer house, take vacations, etc. Yes, you can borrow against your equity or save.