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[quote=Anonymous]Well, our HHI is 110k--which is just at median for our area (NOVA), just above median for the DMV region, below much of what is reported on DCUM etc, but too high to get aid at our state schools.

2 Kids, went to public K-12. Eldest got into the top in-state publics W&M (40k total cost of attendance) and UVA (33k/yr and then up to 38-40k for 3rd/4th year depending on major).   We don't qualify for aid at either school except loans and work/study.  For 2nd we will be more aggressive looking for private schools that will offer more merit aid.

We've been saving/investing diligently in 529s since they were born while living in this high cost of living area (we rented until we could buy a place, chose a neighborhood with great public schools but relatively low housing prices for the DMV, paid cash for used cars and drive them into the ground, kids did cheap activities not expensive travel sports, taking camping vacations in state parks or visit family on road trips not flights). At this point we have 90k for both kids which would gets us 2-3 years for our eldest kid at our two strongest in-state schools.   We're not going to be able to save much more for child 2 while paying for child 1.   If they went to our very cheapest in-state, we could fund 1 kid fully and probably could cash flow and take out student loans and cover both easier. But we've got high-achieving kids and I had the basic middle class perception that your kid should be able to go to the best in-state public school they can get admitted to if they want and you should be able to afford it on a median income with diligent savings.  I'd rather my kids not graduate with 30K+ debt, but it may be the case.

We're about as median as you can get for this area if you look at the numbers, and I think our situation parallels more people than you realize. It's not all magical thinking, international vacations and oops I didn't save for college!   I still feel very fortunate, am not complaining about my lot, don't resent financial aid for lower income families who face far more barriers than us.  I'm just looking for solutions/strategies to pay for my kids' college and think there are some structural problems to address in the ways states support their universities.  [/quote]

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