2025 & 2026 donut hole families

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

This doesn’t get you anywhere close to affording private colleges at full cost for one kid, let alone two or more.

And of course you’ll say, “just go in-state public!!” Which, sure, but that’s kind of the point of the donut hole. It’s not that you can’t afford *any* college, just that you are priced out of some of them while others above and below are not.

Actually it does. We could "afford it" now as we paid off our house and we live way under our means as we haven't changed our lifestyle as our income goes up. Would it be smart, no. Does my child want to go to a school thats $90K, no, but some are $60K. If you made lifestyle choices that are different, then don't complain of what you cannot afford when you choose a differnet path. While you vacationed, we saved. While you go out to $100-300 meals, we go to $60-80 meals.

No, it doesn’t. A kid starting school at good private colleges next year is looking at a total COA of close to $400k over the next four years. Five years of saving $25-30k does not get you there at all. You would need at least 10 years at that amount and with a real return of 7%. And that would just cover one kid.

Yes, it does. We started saving since birth. Those vacations you took, well we didn't and that money got put away. When you bought your expensive house in the "good" school district, we stayed in our small little house and paid it off... We saved about half that but stopped as we can pull from retirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there's a case for no FA at all.

These schools are a lifestyle product themselves. You can take a loan out to buy your fancy car .. I mean college. Or not. The rest involves some level of moral hazard.

Nobody on this board truly believes college is an “optional lifestyle choice”, get outta here with that bs.

Elite private universities are. They are a privilege, not a right.

+1 privilege for the rich and poor with fa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

This doesn’t get you anywhere close to affording private colleges at full cost for one kid, let alone two or more.

And of course you’ll say, “just go in-state public!!” Which, sure, but that’s kind of the point of the donut hole. It’s not that you can’t afford *any* college, just that you are priced out of some of them while others above and below are not.

Actually it does. We could "afford it" now as we paid off our house and we live way under our means as we haven't changed our lifestyle as our income goes up. Would it be smart, no. Does my child want to go to a school thats $90K, no, but some are $60K. If you made lifestyle choices that are different, then don't complain of what you cannot afford when you choose a differnet path. While you vacationed, we saved. While you go out to $100-300 meals, we go to $60-80 meals.

No, it doesn’t. A kid starting school at good private colleges next year is looking at a total COA of close to $400k over the next four years. Five years of saving $25-30k does not get you there at all. You would need at least 10 years at that amount and with a real return of 7%. And that would just cover one kid.

Yes, it does. We started saving since birth. Those vacations you took, well we didn't and that money got put away. When you bought your expensive house in the "good" school district, we stayed in our small little house and paid it off... We saved about half that but stopped as we can pull from retirement.

Someone being fiscally responsible and showing restraint. Amen. I wish there were more people like you.

[Anonymous]

We know feds getting no financial aid. State schools for their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

This doesn’t get you anywhere close to affording private colleges at full cost for one kid, let alone two or more.

And of course you’ll say, “just go in-state public!!” Which, sure, but that’s kind of the point of the donut hole. It’s not that you can’t afford *any* college, just that you are priced out of some of them while others above and below are not.

Actually it does. We could "afford it" now as we paid off our house and we live way under our means as we haven't changed our lifestyle as our income goes up. Would it be smart, no. Does my child want to go to a school thats $90K, no, but some are $60K. If you made lifestyle choices that are different, then don't complain of what you cannot afford when you choose a differnet path. While you vacationed, we saved. While you go out to $100-300 meals, we go to $60-80 meals.

No, it doesn’t. A kid starting school at good private colleges next year is looking at a total COA of close to $400k over the next four years. Five years of saving $25-30k does not get you there at all. You would need at least 10 years at that amount and with a real return of 7%. And that would just cover one kid.

Yes, it does. We started saving since birth. Those vacations you took, well we didn't and that money got put away. When you bought your expensive house in the "good" school district, we stayed in our small little house and paid it off... We saved about half that but stopped as we can pull from retirement.

Someone being fiscally responsible and showing restraint. Amen. I wish there were more people like you.

Spending 400k on an undergraduate degree after living super frugal ist not fiscally responsible. Going to a good state school is or lower ranked private with merit aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I need to quit my job. It’s painful to see people paying $40-50k less for the same school with not a big difference in income.

it's because of assets, not income.

I am genuinely asking. Is college actually will check your assets on the admission process? How do they access that information?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

This doesn’t get you anywhere close to affording private colleges at full cost for one kid, let alone two or more.

And of course you’ll say, “just go in-state public!!” Which, sure, but that’s kind of the point of the donut hole. It’s not that you can’t afford *any* college, just that you are priced out of some of them while others above and below are not.

Actually it does. We could "afford it" now as we paid off our house and we live way under our means as we haven't changed our lifestyle as our income goes up. Would it be smart, no. Does my child want to go to a school thats $90K, no, but some are $60K. If you made lifestyle choices that are different, then don't complain of what you cannot afford when you choose a differnet path. While you vacationed, we saved. While you go out to $100-300 meals, we go to $60-80 meals.

No, it doesn’t. A kid starting school at good private colleges next year is looking at a total COA of close to $400k over the next four years. Five years of saving $25-30k does not get you there at all. You would need at least 10 years at that amount and with a real return of 7%. And that would just cover one kid.

Yes, it does. We started saving since birth. Those vacations you took, well we didn't and that money got put away. When you bought your expensive house in the "good" school district, we stayed in our small little house and paid it off... We saved about half that but stopped as we can pull from retirement.

No, it literally doesn’t. Saving $25-30k a year for the last five years before college does not get you to $400k in real terms even with the average market return.

You’re trying to lecture people about financial responsibility and you don’t even understand basic compound interest or math.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

This doesn’t get you anywhere close to affording private colleges at full cost for one kid, let alone two or more.

And of course you’ll say, “just go in-state public!!” Which, sure, but that’s kind of the point of the donut hole. It’s not that you can’t afford *any* college, just that you are priced out of some of them while others above and below are not.

Actually it does. We could "afford it" now as we paid off our house and we live way under our means as we haven't changed our lifestyle as our income goes up. Would it be smart, no. Does my child want to go to a school thats $90K, no, but some are $60K. If you made lifestyle choices that are different, then don't complain of what you cannot afford when you choose a differnet path. While you vacationed, we saved. While you go out to $100-300 meals, we go to $60-80 meals.

No, it doesn’t. A kid starting school at good private colleges next year is looking at a total COA of close to $400k over the next four years. Five years of saving $25-30k does not get you there at all. You would need at least 10 years at that amount and with a real return of 7%. And that would just cover one kid.

Yes, it does. We started saving since birth. Those vacations you took, well we didn't and that money got put away. When you bought your expensive house in the "good" school district, we stayed in our small little house and paid it off... We saved about half that but stopped as we can pull from retirement.

No, it literally doesn’t. Saving $25-30k a year for the last five years before college does not get you to $400k in real terms even with the average market return.

You’re trying to lecture people about financial responsibility and you don’t even understand basic compound interest or math.

Of course I do. You don't start saving the last five years. You start saving at birth. We started at birth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

This doesn’t get you anywhere close to affording private colleges at full cost for one kid, let alone two or more.

And of course you’ll say, “just go in-state public!!” Which, sure, but that’s kind of the point of the donut hole. It’s not that you can’t afford *any* college, just that you are priced out of some of them while others above and below are not.

Actually it does. We could "afford it" now as we paid off our house and we live way under our means as we haven't changed our lifestyle as our income goes up. Would it be smart, no. Does my child want to go to a school thats $90K, no, but some are $60K. If you made lifestyle choices that are different, then don't complain of what you cannot afford when you choose a differnet path. While you vacationed, we saved. While you go out to $100-300 meals, we go to $60-80 meals.

No, it doesn’t. A kid starting school at good private colleges next year is looking at a total COA of close to $400k over the next four years. Five years of saving $25-30k does not get you there at all. You would need at least 10 years at that amount and with a real return of 7%. And that would just cover one kid.

Yes, it does. We started saving since birth. Those vacations you took, well we didn't and that money got put away. When you bought your expensive house in the "good" school district, we stayed in our small little house and paid it off... We saved about half that but stopped as we can pull from retirement.

Someone being fiscally responsible and showing restraint. Amen. I wish there were more people like you.

Spending 400k on an undergraduate degree after living super frugal ist not fiscally responsible. Going to a good state school is or lower ranked private with merit aid.

I was mainly contrasting it with those who live the high life then expect to get aid from privates.

I personally want my child to go wherever they want to go and graduate without debt. So I have made sacrifices. Not huge ones - I agree that eating ramen noodles and living in a dumb for 18 years to accomplish this is stupid. But minor ones to help accomplish this goal. There is a continuum - I'm not letting them go somewhere really expensive just for the sake of going there. But I don't want them to be hesitant to apply to a dream school because of money. And I consider myself very fortunate to be in this position - I know that in the general population, it is the exception to the rule. And I do not regret any of these sacrifices - I have lived a wonderful life and my kids have wanted for nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there's a case for no FA at all.

These schools are a lifestyle product themselves. You can take a loan out to buy your fancy car .. I mean college. Or not. The rest involves some level of moral hazard.

Nobody on this board truly believes college is an “optional lifestyle choice”, get outta here with that bs.

Elite private universities are. They are a privilege, not a right.

And they’ve decided to extend that privilege to people who could not otherwise afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

This doesn’t get you anywhere close to affording private colleges at full cost for one kid, let alone two or more.

And of course you’ll say, “just go in-state public!!” Which, sure, but that’s kind of the point of the donut hole. It’s not that you can’t afford *any* college, just that you are priced out of some of them while others above and below are not.

Since when are you "entitled" to attend any college you want? Just like anything in life, you only purchase what you can afford. There are literally 95% of colleges that will be "affordable to you" So yes, do in-state or privates that give merit. Don't expect others to pay for your education just because.

So you are "priced out of some". I am a fan of BMWs, but until I can afford to buy one and be financially sound, I'm not spending $75K+ on a vehicle when I can buy a Honda that is more reliable and does the same job for $35-40K. Just because I want it doesn't mean I'm entitled to get it unless I find a way to afford it. It's not your job or anyone else's job to get me a luxury car.



And most likely if someone went from $250K-700K, they could afford to save a lot more than $30K/year. They could probably have been saving $30K/kid/year. And yes, if you make even $250K, you should plan to save to pay for your kid's college because you are in the top 7-8%. Or if you don't want to pay, then you search merit. You can still do that, and get college down to $20-25K or less very easily (if your kid would be able to get into most of the $90K schools that actually meet financial needs, your kid will get amazing merit at most schools in the 40-100+ range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

This doesn’t get you anywhere close to affording private colleges at full cost for one kid, let alone two or more.

And of course you’ll say, “just go in-state public!!” Which, sure, but that’s kind of the point of the donut hole. It’s not that you can’t afford *any* college, just that you are priced out of some of them while others above and below are not.

Actually it does. We could "afford it" now as we paid off our house and we live way under our means as we haven't changed our lifestyle as our income goes up. Would it be smart, no. Does my child want to go to a school thats $90K, no, but some are $60K. If you made lifestyle choices that are different, then don't complain of what you cannot afford when you choose a differnet path. While you vacationed, we saved. While you go out to $100-300 meals, we go to $60-80 meals.

This 100%

Someone making $250-300K has either A) been at that level for awhile, so they've had the time to make choices and save for years and live within a budget that includes adequately saving for college, or B) was only making $100/150K and then has increased in say the last 5 years. Well during those last 5 years you could have chosen to put all increases towards college savings. Not saying that is a smart plan, but it's a viable choice if attending a T40 school that costs $90K/year is "important to you". If it's not, then you (smartly I'd say) choose to send your kid where you can afford.
But in reality you are arguing about being financially shut out of schools that are already highly rejective and have single digit admission rates. Your kid is smart, and will do very well wherever they go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

This doesn’t get you anywhere close to affording private colleges at full cost for one kid, let alone two or more.

And of course you’ll say, “just go in-state public!!” Which, sure, but that’s kind of the point of the donut hole. It’s not that you can’t afford *any* college, just that you are priced out of some of them while others above and below are not.

Actually it does. We could "afford it" now as we paid off our house and we live way under our means as we haven't changed our lifestyle as our income goes up. Would it be smart, no. Does my child want to go to a school thats $90K, no, but some are $60K. If you made lifestyle choices that are different, then don't complain of what you cannot afford when you choose a differnet path. While you vacationed, we saved. While you go out to $100-300 meals, we go to $60-80 meals.

No, it doesn’t. A kid starting school at good private colleges next year is looking at a total COA of close to $400k over the next four years. Five years of saving $25-30k does not get you there at all. You would need at least 10 years at that amount and with a real return of 7%. And that would just cover one kid.

Yes, it does. We started saving since birth. Those vacations you took, well we didn't and that money got put away. When you bought your expensive house in the "good" school district, we stayed in our small little house and paid it off... We saved about half that but stopped as we can pull from retirement.

No, it literally doesn’t. Saving $25-30k a year for the last five years before college does not get you to $400k in real terms even with the average market return.

You’re trying to lecture people about financial responsibility and you don’t even understand basic compound interest or math.

Of course I do. You don't start saving the last five years. You start saving at birth. We started at birth.

My original response to all of this was to a poster saying that you could manage this by saving $25-30k for the last five years. Which, you can’t.

Even $25k a year for a full 18 years would barely cover two kids starting college now/soon. It definitely wouldn’t cover them if they are going to college 18 years from now. That’s how insane the cost has gotten at the top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is definition of donut hole income for DMV? Just curious - I am guessing HHI $200k-$500k?

I have $700k HHI and 3 kids in private; i do. Ot consider myself donut hole - it sucks to have to pay $90k/yr for college but i feel lucky to be able to afford it. It is confusing when i hear peers talk about donut hole, because we are so so lucky to have what we have and i can’t complain.

150-225 is donut hole. maybe 250. not 700 lol

+1 at someone with $500k+ whining about paying for college. Especially when they are already comfortably paying for private school. That's probably costing you something like $50-$60k, right? So paying $90k/yr for college is the same hit to your pre-college budget as the public school family paying for their in state public college. And I should hope at the income level you have a lot more slack in your budget to pay for it. If not, you must be really bad with money.

I cannot imagine paying $40K+ for private K-12 (or even HS alone) and not having enough saved for college for the kids.

Exactly. It's about lifestyle choices. There are good reasons to send a kid to private with SN or learning disabilities but for most kids, tutors are just fine.

Yes, unless your kid has a learning disability or your schools are really "unsafe" or at the level where "only 30% of kids are considering college and only 65% graduate HS on time", you are best to use the $$ for college savings and simply spending $10K/year on tutoring rather than $40K on private schools.

But if you choose to spend $40K for MS-HS+, then please be saving so your kid can at least go in-state without debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is a donut hole family? High income nut no savings?

Too rich to get aid. But not rich enough to easily pay $90k a year, especially with multiple kids. Usually live in high cost of living areas.

And also made the choice not to save but instead increase their lifestyle as their income increased. Because even in a "hCOLA" if you have been making $250K for the last 5 years, you could have chosen to save $20-30K/year, and likely for more than 5 years

This doesn’t get you anywhere close to affording private colleges at full cost for one kid, let alone two or more.

And of course you’ll say, “just go in-state public!!” Which, sure, but that’s kind of the point of the donut hole. It’s not that you can’t afford *any* college, just that you are priced out of some of them while others above and below are not.

Since when are you "entitled" to attend any college you want? Just like anything in life, you only purchase what you can afford. There are literally 95% of colleges that will be "affordable to you" So yes, do in-state or privates that give merit. Don't expect others to pay for your education just because.

So you are "priced out of some". I am a fan of BMWs, but until I can afford to buy one and be financially sound, I'm not spending $75K+ on a vehicle when I can buy a Honda that is more reliable and does the same job for $35-40K. Just because I want it doesn't mean I'm entitled to get it unless I find a way to afford it. It's not your job or anyone else's job to get me a luxury car.



And most likely if someone went from $250K-700K, they could afford to save a lot more than $30K/year. They could probably have been saving $30K/kid/year. And yes, if you make even $250K, you should plan to save to pay for your kid's college because you are in the top 7-8%. Or if you don't want to pay, then you search merit. You can still do that, and get college down to $20-25K or less very easily (if your kid would be able to get into most of the $90K schools that actually meet financial needs, your kid will get amazing merit at most schools in the 40-100+ range.

Where did I say anyone was entitled to attend? The donut hole is just a definition (that many of you don’t seem to grasp), not a morality statement.

Some of you are funny. You read things in comments that aren’t even there. It’s quite telling.