Reply to What does "we meet 100% of demonstrated need" really look like in numbers?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Schools are getting away with some very fuzzy wording, in may mind. Their idea of "demonstrated need" involves loans, definitely. Then they come away feeling good about themselves, but meanwhile they have saddled my child with loans she will have for year to come! I will say that the FAFSA calculator is pretty darn eye opening as to what they think we as parents are supposed to be able to contribute. I don't know how they think it's gonna happen, but for us with a combined income of just over 200K and another child in college, they expect us to contribute $30K per year for our rising college student. And they offered her $1K in work study and $5K in student loans. Total BS.[/quote]

Right, but then won't your older kid's drop too? Sounds like your efc is 60k, now halved for each kid when #2 enters because #1 is still in school, right?

This is actually a great deal, but it may not last. The new college finance bill the passed congress a few years ago will go into effect next year, and Lamar Alexander added a clause that eliminates this siblings at the same time benefit. For many schools, you may see that 30k double.

My #2 will be applying next year, and I hope some css schools will keep that provision even if FAFSA calculations drop it.

But at 200k annual, 60k efc is not bad and 30k is excellent.  You should have some money saved,  right?[/quote]

So Lamar is the one responsible for this horrendous change. PP, DYK why he did this? Who stands to benefit? Private loan companies?

I can't really imagine he was motivated by an equity argument. I think this is going to blow up and sadly can't see Congress being able to fix it.[/quote]

We have kids one year apart and our EFC right now is about 60k. 120k would not be doable without draining retirement savings. Ironically, I think we'll push them towards CSS schools because the change is only for fafsa [/quote]
An expectation that the applicant's family drains their retirement, mortgages their house, takes out loans, and spends tuition set aside for a siblings is not "meeting 100% of demonstrated need." These schools are too costly for those who are neither high income nor low income. [/quote]

Then, if you choose not to save and want your kids at these schools, you either figure it out or send them to a school you can afford.  If you choose a nicer lifestyle vs. saving for college, you don't need the aid, you want the aid so you can spend your money on other things.  We've taken at best 3 vacations (not expensive ones) for a week or so at a time and that's it.  We live in a crummy small house so we can save.  We drive our cars till they die (and one is a 98).  And, at best we can pay for a state college and graduate school.  We are thankful we can do that without debt.  So, zero empathy to someone in a million dollar house, taking vacations, etc. and not saving.[/quote]

So you spend no money in order to send your kids to school debt free; do you expect your kids to do the same for your grand kids? Does the cycle just continue indefinitely? [/quote]

We spend money on things important like activities for the kids.  Yes, I will do what ever it takes to make sure my kids are debt free.  A debt free education is the best gift you can give your kids.  I hope they will do the same for their kids but I also hope we are in a position to help.  My grandparents paid for a good chunk of my college and graduate school.  My parents are too stingy to help despite plenty of money.  I got my education debt free, my husband didn't get his till his 30's because he didn't have the money to go.  We don't want our kids to struggle like he did when we can make "sacrifices" and pay for it.  Our kids know we have the money to live nicer but also know we want to pay for their college and graduate school and know they will go to a state school in less we can find more money (we could pull from retirement if there is a good reason) or aid, which we aren't counting on at all.[/quote]

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