High income but 3 kids in college at once- financial aid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - out of curiosity, I just entered our info into the Princeton net price calculator because I have heard that Princeton has amazing financial aid. We have an income of 365,000. If we had 3 kids in college at the same time (and I accounted for $150K in 529 plan) it found that as parents our would expected family contribution would be $36,300 (it also found the expected contribution for the fictional student at $3500) and that we would be qualified for 36K in financial aid.

I am not saying that your children will go to Princeton, but some of the elite colleges with large endowments have amazing financial aid.

We are at 400K with 3 who will be in college. Ours is $40K/year each at most ivies/selective schools (like Duke). Stanford gives us the most of the schools I’ve checked. Getting in another matter...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - out of curiosity, I just entered our info into the Princeton net price calculator because I have heard that Princeton has amazing financial aid. We have an income of 365,000. If we had 3 kids in college at the same time (and I accounted for $150K in 529 plan) it found that as parents our would expected family contribution would be $36,300 (it also found the expected contribution for the fictional student at $3500) and that we would be qualified for 36K in financial aid.

I am not saying that your children will go to Princeton, but some of the elite colleges with large endowments have amazing financial aid.

That's actually pretty absurd to get financial aid on that income because you choose to have three kids, pick an expensive college and not have saved for it.

[Anonymous]

We have to elect Bernie!! Families should not have to pay for college.

[Anonymous]

How far apart are the twins from the singleton?

Even if they are one year apart, you would have 3 in college for 3 years, 2 in college for 1 year, and 1 in college for 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why you forego vacations and restaurants and Starbucks and salon coloring and manicures etc as needed once they are born to start saving for college. You had 18 years’ notice.

Haha 18 years of no Starbucks doesn’t make nearly enough for three college tuitions. This is the dumbest advice ever.

Starbucks, hair, nails but it depends on what you spend. Vacations, new cars, yes. It absolutely helps, especially if you have three kids and want to send them all to private.

I know people who make that much money and still don't have enough for private college. I haven't seen them doing any of the things first PP mentions.

You people just looking to judge.

How is that possible? High mortgage? Then downsize, move to cheaper area. Fancy cars? What are they spending on??

Did you read it was a recent income spike? We are in a similar scenario from medical school loans. We’ve been “spending” to aggressively pay them off before our kids start college. My husband wasn’t on staff and making much until 32 years of age. We have a lot of catching up to do, and unfortunately it wasn’t on vacations. It’s very different from people who’ve been making it for several years. I agree - people are just looking to judge.

In your situation you did have the income but had high student loans. That is why you don't send your kids to private colleges if you cannot pay cash. On OP income they can comfortable send 3 kids to public colleges, no issue especially if they claim not to have had the money and have not changed their standard of living.

Yeah, no. We had kids while in med school so our income was not high for very long. Please don’t tell other people what they can afford.
If we get financial or merit aid, I will gladly take it. No issue with not being able to pay cash. Very few people do pay full tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have to elect Bernie!! Families should not have to pay for college.

If he were elected, and Congress passed his plan (2 big ifs) it would affect state colleges. If OP wants to send her 3 kids to an expensive private, she'd still be on the hook.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - out of curiosity, I just entered our info into the Princeton net price calculator because I have heard that Princeton has amazing financial aid. We have an income of 365,000. If we had 3 kids in college at the same time (and I accounted for $150K in 529 plan) it found that as parents our would expected family contribution would be $36,300 (it also found the expected contribution for the fictional student at $3500) and that we would be qualified for 36K in financial aid.

I am not saying that your children will go to Princeton, but some of the elite colleges with large endowments have amazing financial aid.

That's actually pretty absurd to get financial aid on that income because you choose to have three kids, pick an expensive college and not have saved for it.

Colleges can spend their endowments any way they want to. Isn’t giving it for education (where costs are already out of control) better than corporate subsidies? I mean of all the financial waste in the world, there is much more stuff that irks me.

[Anonymous]

Live like you only make $250k a year and you will have plenty to send them to school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - out of curiosity, I just entered our info into the Princeton net price calculator because I have heard that Princeton has amazing financial aid. We have an income of 365,000. If we had 3 kids in college at the same time (and I accounted for $150K in 529 plan) it found that as parents our would expected family contribution would be $36,300 (it also found the expected contribution for the fictional student at $3500) and that we would be qualified for 36K in financial aid.

I am not saying that your children will go to Princeton, but some of the elite colleges with large endowments have amazing financial aid.

That's what the calculator tells you. Which doesn't mean it's what will actually happen even if the kid gets into Princeton. I'm always a little skeptical about these claims of generous financial aid even for high earning families (and 300k is high earning enough) because in real life I'm more likely to read about kids taking out loans to go to Ivies. Just off my head I remember this article in the Baltimore Sun featuring a Columbia student and she had sizable loans and her family were certainly not wealthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So much judgment on this thread! OP even disqualified it with “don’t jump down my throat” and people just can’t help but call them out for sitting on their imaginary luxury Caribbean vacation to the Starbucks line. It’s an honest question.
OP you may already know this but it’s based on prior prior years income (so two years before child enters college). Not sure if your income is consistent or when it went up.

Yep. People are dicks, generally. And they love to engage in the "who is the biggest martyr?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi We will have three kids in college at once (a twin plus singleton situation). We are pretty high income $475k/yr. Please don't jump down my throat -it's a honest question- is there any way we will qualify for any aid
if all three are in school at once, or are we way out of the ball park - We just started making this income and do not have enough saved to pay 80k a year x3 for 4 years (if they go to private universities).

$475 minus $80 three times is still more than my husband and I earn in one year. I really can't believe this question. Get a smaller house and don't go on vacation like us. I promise you will have enough to eat and bed to sleep on. There are also cheaper schools if you must take vacations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why you forego vacations and restaurants and Starbucks and salon coloring and manicures etc as needed once they are born to start saving for college. You had 18 years’ notice.

Haha 18 years of no Starbucks doesn’t make nearly enough for three college tuitions. This is the dumbest advice ever.

Starbucks, hair, nails but it depends on what you spend. Vacations, new cars, yes. It absolutely helps, especially if you have three kids and want to send them all to private.

I know people who make that much money and still don't have enough for private college. I haven't seen them doing any of the things first PP mentions.

You people just looking to judge.

Exactly. Your own student loans. Mortgage. Cars. Saving for your own retirement. Medical costs over the whole family. Insurance costs. TAXES (mine have gone up since 2016). Child care costs. Regular items (food, clothing, etc.) Phones/IT (don't give me any BS about those being extra - they are not in this day and age). All the extra fees for things at school. Maintenance costs that are just part of life: car maintenance, house maintenance (roofs age, septic tanks give out, appliances stop working, sometimes all at once). Sometimes people are supporting parents, siblings, etc.

There are ANY NUMBER of very good reasons that do not include living extravagantly as to why simply paying out of pocket is not an option at that income level. Half a million dollars, while a lot of money, is not the same as being a Bloomberg, Buffett, etc. So just stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why you forego vacations and restaurants and Starbucks and salon coloring and manicures etc as needed once they are born to start saving for college. You had 18 years’ notice.

Haha 18 years of no Starbucks doesn’t make nearly enough for three college tuitions. This is the dumbest advice ever.

Starbucks, hair, nails but it depends on what you spend. Vacations, new cars, yes. It absolutely helps, especially if you have three kids and want to send them all to private.

I know people who make that much money and still don't have enough for private college. I haven't seen them doing any of the things first PP mentions.

You people just looking to judge.

How is that possible? High mortgage? Then downsize, move to cheaper area. Fancy cars? What are they spending on??

Did you read it was a recent income spike? We are in a similar scenario from medical school loans. We’ve been “spending” to aggressively pay them off before our kids start college. My husband wasn’t on staff and making much until 32 years of age. We have a lot of catching up to do, and unfortunately it wasn’t on vacations. It’s very different from people who’ve been making it for several years. I agree - people are just looking to judge.

In your situation you did have the income but had high student loans. That is why you don't send your kids to private colleges if you cannot pay cash. On OP income they can comfortable send 3 kids to public colleges, no issue especially if they claim not to have had the money and have not changed their standard of living.

Yeah, no. We had kids while in med school so our income was not high for very long. Please don’t tell other people what they can afford.
If we get financial or merit aid, I will gladly take it. No issue with not being able to pay cash. Very few people do pay full tuition.

If you had kids in Med school, it would still be 14+ years before they would enter college after you graduated.

[Anonymous]

Maybe realize that you make about 400,000 more dollars than many American families and that you are EXACTLY the people who should be paying full freight.

FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE DOLLARS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is why you forego vacations and restaurants and Starbucks and salon coloring and manicures etc as needed once they are born to start saving for college. You had 18 years’ notice.

Haha 18 years of no Starbucks doesn’t make nearly enough for three college tuitions. This is the dumbest advice ever.

Starbucks, hair, nails but it depends on what you spend. Vacations, new cars, yes. It absolutely helps, especially if you have three kids and want to send them all to private.

I know people who make that much money and still don't have enough for private college. I haven't seen them doing any of the things first PP mentions.

You people just looking to judge.

How is that possible? High mortgage? Then downsize, move to cheaper area. Fancy cars? What are they spending on??

Did you read it was a recent income spike? We are in a similar scenario from medical school loans. We’ve been “spending” to aggressively pay them off before our kids start college. My husband wasn’t on staff and making much until 32 years of age. We have a lot of catching up to do, and unfortunately it wasn’t on vacations. It’s very different from people who’ve been making it for several years. I agree - people are just looking to judge.

In your situation you did have the income but had high student loans. That is why you don't send your kids to private colleges if you cannot pay cash. On OP income they can comfortable send 3 kids to public colleges, no issue especially if they claim not to have had the money and have not changed their standard of living.

Yeah, no. We had kids while in med school so our income was not high for very long. Please don’t tell other people what they can afford.
If we get financial or merit aid, I will gladly take it. No issue with not being able to pay cash. Very few people do pay full tuition.

If you had kids in Med school, it would still be 14+ years before they would enter college after you graduated.

Please stop if you don’t know. That would be true if there wasn’t residency and fellowship.