ok, don't crucify me.. question about financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Please settle a conversation between my husband and I.
We are new to this. We are not coming at this thinking we are owed a dollar.
Just the facts pls.

HHI $350K
Would we get any reduction in tuition for high school twins at a school like Sidwell or GDS or the Cathedral schools?
Tuition for 2 is $84K a year.
What if our 3rd attended? Tuition bill then $126K.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Hard to say without additional information on other assets you may have, as well as other liabilities. But probably not with 2 in school, maybe a little aid with 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please settle a conversation between my husband and I.
We are new to this. We are not coming at this thinking we are owed a dollar.
Just the facts pls.

HHI $350K
Would we get any reduction in tuition for high school twins at a school like Sidwell or GDS or the Cathedral schools?
Tuition for 2 is $84K a year.
What if our 3rd attended? Tuition bill then $126K.

Thank you.

Depends on your debt, and whether it is reasonable debt (i.e., student loans, medical debt, tax debt) or luxury debt (yacht, country club expenses, beach home, etc.). I always tell people your HHI is less a determining factor...your debt is what controls the day. That being said, I think you might qualify for some. No harm in applying. The only thing that beats a failure is a try.

[Anonymous]

Depends on your assets. How much equity do you have in your home? What kinds of cars do you drive? And, do both parents work full-time?

[Anonymous]

I am also interested in this. Is there a formula to it? I would love to see it. We might go private at some point if Arlington can't figure stuff out.

Our HHI is 220K, we work full time, modest home with 2nd mortgage, 2 kids that we need school, no debt outside home.

[Anonymous]

First, if you want to get your kids into Sidwell, NCS or STA, you should know its is grammatically proper to say, "...between my husband and me." Not trying to be mean just trying to be helpful. I know that is a tough one sometimes.

Second, it is possible you could get a little aid with your numbers but not super likely. I agree it would be a strain to afford that tuition for two, much less three, on your HHI, especially if you have a typical mortgage payment for a nice house in the area. My kids attend one of the schools you mention, as well as another top DC school that costs just a smidgen less ,and it is a great deal of money. Our HHI fluctuates annually and when it is down around $350,000 things are a bit tight. Still, it can be done but you would have to forgo some other nice/luxury things.

[Anonymous]

Maybe a little. Depends on whether they need you. You are in the donut hole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am also interested in this. Is there a formula to it? I would love to see it. We might go private at some point if Arlington can't figure stuff out.

Our HHI is 220K, we work full time, modest home with 2nd mortgage, 2 kids that we need school, no debt outside home.

There's really no formula that is publicly accessible. The different financial aid companies (SSS and TADS are two big ones around here) have you input all of your financial info (debts, assets, income, etc) and they provide the school with a readout of your data along with an "expected family contribution" - basically a calculation of how much disposable income you have (it is a little more complicated than that, but this is a broad brush answer). The school then applies its own financial aid policy (what is the budget for financial aid, how long will they have to carry you, what other financial aid requests are there for a given year, etc etc). The school will then make an offer of aid (or not).

As someone else suggested in this thread, it isn't a pure function of your HHI. What other assets do you have, including equity in your home, retirement, and savings accounts?

[Anonymous]

First, the odds that one of those schools would accept all 3 of your children is low. If they go to different schools, each would rather let the others provide the aid. It is incredibly hard for a school with competitive admissions that is using financial aid to diversify its student body (economically and ethnically) to justify aid to a family earning so much. Schools that use discounts/financial aid to fill seats will be more flexible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am also interested in this. Is there a formula to it? I would love to see it. We might go private at some point if Arlington can't figure stuff out.

Our HHI is 220K, we work full time, modest home with 2nd mortgage, 2 kids that we need school, no debt outside home.

There's really no formula that is publicly accessible. The different financial aid companies (SSS and TADS are two big ones around here) have you input all of your financial info (debts, assets, income, etc) and they provide the school with a readout of your data along with an "expected family contribution" - basically a calculation of how much disposable income you have (it is a little more complicated than that, but this is a broad brush answer). The school then applies its own financial aid policy (what is the budget for financial aid, how long will they have to carry you, what other financial aid requests are there for a given year, etc etc). The school will then make an offer of aid (or not).

As someone else suggested in this thread, it isn't a pure function of your HHI. What other assets do you have, including equity in your home, retirement, and savings accounts?

Good to know!

We are about to finish the addition, so not much in saving at the moment b/c we are paying off the 2nd mortgage for a while. Like 200K in retirement? About the same in equity in our home, more than 20% equity, since it went up. We have a VW and a Mazda. Federal employees.

[Anonymous]

https://ncs.cathedral.org/page/admission/tuition

I find that infographic useful. 80% of financial aide awards went to familys with HHI under 200k. So thats a huge jump between 200k and 350k HHI regardless of your number of kids and circumstances... my guess is that remaining 20% is mostly people with HHI pretty close to 200-250k

[Anonymous]

Ah yes, 350K and need of financial aid. DCUM problems.

[Anonymous]

I think it lasts about a week

[Anonymous]

OP here.
$350K is 2 full time incomes. One fed, one not.
No debt outside of mortgage.
$700K equity (we scrimped and saved for a very large ~$400k downpayment out of grad school--I'm talking we saved $100K a year while making $160K.... for 4 years we lived in an efficiency, never ate out and never traveled while making $170K while saving every spare dime. The rest of our equity is appreciation.
One car--a 2011 Honda van.
$350k income is only past 2 years.

I'm guessing the equity will kill us. Which sucks because we have it because we saved it with blood, sweat and tears. And who in their right mind would pull equity out of their house to pay for tuition? (baring some situation with a special needs kid or similar who REALLY needs private school in which case I would probably re-mortgage my house or do whatever it took) But I totally get that's it's not fair to ask others to pay for our kids if we have the equity...
We're definitely in the "donut hole". $126K post-tax income is an insane expense for school on $350K. Our local public high school is going down the tubes (we use the elementary and middle schools). This is not some "we only want our children to have the very best and we deserve private school" situation--rather, I'm just trying to get my kids a decent high school education. I also realize that there are cheaper options (like Catholic schools).
Again, just wondering what the facts are for the big DC privates.
Thx.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you are overspending.