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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

Retirement savings are not included in financial aid calculations.

The reality is that if a family is making the kind of income that qualifies them for no financial aid [b]($225,000 or above for a family of 4) at Harvard, [/b]then either they've been making that amount for a while, in which case they had the option of putting away significant amounts for college, or they just started making it recently, in which case they should be able to choose to put the extra towards tuition.  That isn't to say that they should, or that it isn't a totally valid choice to buy a fancy house, or send your kids to private high school, or take them on nice vacations instead of savings for college.  But families with incomes above $225,000 can afford college, barring something like a medical expense.  They have choices available to them.  Again, there's nothing wrong with deciding to spend your money on something else, and telling your child to go to 'Bama or in state or somewhere with merit aid, but acknowledge that it's a choice. [/quote]

NP here. Who keeps bringing up Harvard? As in, "all your DC has to do is get into Harvard, and he'll get a full ride." Isn't it obvious that about 6% of applicants get into Harvard, stranding thousands of kids with perfect SATs and GPAs of 4.0? You probably also know that Harvard has the most generous endowment [i]anywhere[/i], so it can offer the most generous FA [i]anywhere.[/i]

You know all this, right? For the rest of our kids, we are looking at schools with less generous endowments than Harvard and less generous FA than Harvard. (And I know you'll slam my slacker kid, so I'll say it now: my kid got into a school with a 7% acceptance rate. We are full pay.) You need to step out of your bubble and understand $225,000 is not all that much in the DMV area. A crappy house in downcounty MoCo costs $400k, which means $2500/month mortgage payments. Most of us should be saving $1000/month or more for retirement, so we're not relying on Social Security alone. If you bought your house in 1997 you're very lucky. Through in all the costs of raising a kid who can get into a selective school (sports teams, tutors), and most families on this budget are really strapped for cash. [/quote]

PP again. I need to add: if we abandon the *unrealistic* expectation of a full ride at Harvard, even the most generous colleges max out on FA at $125,000.  (In fact, I'm pretty sure Harvard maxes out on FA at $125,000, too, barring extenuating circumstances like multiple kids or family illnesses or disability, but I don't have time to check.) The vast majority of colleges max out on FA at much less than $125,000.  Federal aid, like Pell grants, max out at $50k.  That's $50k.  Even $125,000 is not very much to live on in the DMV area.[/quote]

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