Anonymous wrote:um, why have you put nothing aside for your kids' educations? We just recently got to this HHI, and we've been saving since our first was little and we were living on @$100K

Keep living on the $100K and save the rest for college.

Anonymous wrote:This I don’t get. Why should schools subsidize at all for rich people with large assets just cause they are in certain pots?

I am not rich income wise. But I have a 1.8 million dollar house and 2.5 million in my 401ks. I am over 59.5 so can tap the 402k with no penalty and mortgage free so can tap home equity. I could cry poverty based on income but is that right?

Let’s say I had same assets and lived in apartment and had no 401k and had 4.4 million in bank how is that different?

Nothing is different. You have just demonstrated the insanity of the college tuition and loan program in the US. If you have assets or higher income the only way to fight back is to accept the insanity and insist DC goes to a state school.

This I don’t get. Why should schools subsidize at all for rich people with large assets just cause they are in certain pots?

I am not rich income wise. But I have a 1.8 million dollar house and 2.5 million in my 401ks. I am over 59.5 so can tap the 402k with no penalty and mortgage free so can tap home equity. I could cry poverty based on income but is that right?

Let’s say I had same assets and lived in apartment and had no 401k and had 4.4 million in bank how is that different?

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My husband makes 145k and I make 65k. I feel like I'm better off not working. We just recently combined assets 5 years ago. I was making 40k until two years ago. We can only afford maybe 10k out of pocket per kid, per year to cash flow. Maybe 20k per year out of our retirement for both kids. UMD is 30k, they wouldn't even be able to afford most in state options it sounds like.

Check out UMBC’s new net price calculator. It now shows merit aid scenarios. 1300 SAT plus decent weighted GPA yields $7k annually, which gets your direct cost of attendance (tuition, fees, R&B) down to $20k. Merit at UMD (sounds like you are in state MD) is much tighter and of course it’s a more difficult admit. UMBC at this price is an excellent cost-quality option. DC can take moderate student loan of $5k annually and easily earn $5k, getting your cost down to $10k. Plus maybe another $2k for books and misc. expenses.

I think you’re going to have to consider community college, parent loans and/or using home equity to pay.

I have an incredibly similar profile income wise (including the salaries), but we have socked away some money in 529s and continue to put that money in monthly. We also do anticipate cash flowing some as the 529 money runs low. I also wonder if I should just not work, but my income allows us to eat, so…

We have done our best to find schools that would cost between $25-30k after merit since we do not anticipate any need aid.

OP here. My husband makes 145k and I make 65k. I feel like I'm better off not working. We just recently combined assets 5 years ago. I was making 40k until two years ago. We can only afford maybe 10k out of pocket per kid, per year to cash flow. Maybe 20k per year out of our retirement for both kids. UMD is 30k, they wouldn't even be able to afford most in state options it sounds like.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I are 2 years away from our 1st heading off to college. Our second will follow in another 2 years. We do not have specific college savings, only 401k's and IRAs.

Will we qualify for aid? How did you determine your budget?

Be careful. If you are looking at selective privates, it isn't just your income, it is also your assets including your home equity.

Run the NPC because some schools consider home equity and others do at different levels. Our gross HHI is over $200k, AGI significantly lower, and NPC ranged from $40-60k at privates. Full ticket price at the in and OOS publics we ran.

Anonymous wrote:um, why have you put nothing aside for your kids' educations? We just recently got to this HHI, and we've been saving since our first was little and we were living on @$100K

Thinking the same. Similar lifestyle/savings here.

I imagine you will get 20k in aid for the first kid and probably 45k in aid for the second. At least at private schools. Still means you are looking at roughly 60k tuition room and board for kid one and 30k tuition room and board for kid two.

Anonymous wrote:DH and I are 2 years away from our 1st heading off to college. Our second will follow in another 2 years. We do not have specific college savings, only 401k's and IRAs.

Will we qualify for aid? How did you determine your budget?

Be careful. If you are looking at selective privates, it isn't just your income, it is also your assets including your home equity.

Also keep in mind that need based financial aid needs to be applied for every year and can go down.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on your assets and the school. Our HHI is 211k and we pay 41k per year for college. We have a FA grant of 46ish thousand.

How’d you get that? I assumed income like $211k is full pay.

DP:

Our HHI is $235k, and our financial aid offers at 3 private schools (one T20, and two T50s) ranged from $52-60K. We have typical 401ks/savings and about $175K in home equity.

I don't believe this. Are you including merit aid in this?

No, just financial aid. Publics are full pay.

Just to clarify, we are expected to pay 52-60K so financial aid is 30-40K.

OK, that makes a lot more sense. Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on your assets and the school. Our HHI is 211k and we pay 41k per year for college. We have a FA grant of 46ish thousand.

How’d you get that? I assumed income like $211k is full pay.

DP:

Our HHI is $235k, and our financial aid offers at 3 private schools (one T20, and two T50s) ranged from $52-60K. We have typical 401ks/savings and about $175K in home equity.

I don't believe this. Are you including merit aid in this?

No, just financial aid. Publics are full pay.

Just to clarify, we are expected to pay 52-60K so financial aid is 30-40K.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on your assets and the school. Our HHI is 211k and we pay 41k per year for college. We have a FA grant of 46ish thousand.

How’d you get that? I assumed income like $211k is full pay.

I just ran Bowdoin's NPC with a 200k income and got a 40k grant

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on your assets and the school. Our HHI is 211k and we pay 41k per year for college. We have a FA grant of 46ish thousand.

How’d you get that? I assumed income like $211k is full pay.

DP:

Our HHI is $235k, and our financial aid offers at 3 private schools (one T20, and two T50s) ranged from $52-60K. We have typical 401ks/savings and about $175K in home equity.

I don't believe this. Are you including merit aid in this?

No, just financial aid. Publics are full pay.