Reply to Middle class families - Are you willing to take on a ton of debt for a top college?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]People make the best decisions they can, so I would never begrudge a family that decided they couldn't afford the difference.

But, Columbia has very generous financial aid and it is less expensive than public colleges, including UVA, for almost everyone who is not in the top 20% of incomes. Columbia also has a no loan policy in their financial aid packages. Nor does it include retirement plan assets in calculating expected financial contributions.

So many of these posts are deeply misunderstand how much financial aid is available at Columbia and similar institutions. It would be a shame if others did not consider Columbia because of misinformation.

A "DCUM lower middle class family" earning $150,000/year with $150,000 in home equity and $20,000 in cash/marketable securities would have to contribute about $34,000 at Columbia. That's a relatively small difference from UVA's $30,500 cost of attendance.  
[/quote]

Is that $34K per year? That's still insane to any non-rich person from outside of the northeast bubble. This is the only place on earth where people think it's normal for non-millionaires to spend six figures on each child's college education.

This is misleading. If you are admitted to Columbia, a more selective school than UVA, you will almost certainly qualify for serious merit aid from UVA. And you have to factor in the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition. And some states have MUCH more affordable schools. I know they are not in the same league as Columbia, or even UVA, but those are flagship state schools whose full freight tuition is 1/10th the cost of most privates.[/quote]

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