Contact financial aid and see what they can do.

DC got into an Ivy, HHC is a little over $200K, no major assets, asked to contribute $45K a year, no other kids in school, some special circumstances.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe you

This is an odd post.

Under the circumstances OP has described, I don't believe an Ivy would require the parents to pay 75k. I just don't.

I’m actually with this person. All of the Ivies either exclude home equity or cap it at a low multiple of income when considering how much the parents have in assets. Most (all?) also take into account medical expenses not covered by insurance.

I ran the Columbia (who I think uses the highest multiple of income for home equity) NPC calculator quickly with the limited info OP provided and some generous assumptions and it only had a family contribution of $19k, with Columbia picking up $78k. There are some major assets missing from this story.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe you

This is an odd post.

Under the circumstances OP has described, I don't believe an Ivy would require the parents to pay 75k. I just don't.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe you

This is an odd post.

Under the circumstances OP has described, I don't believe an Ivy would require the parents to pay 75k. I just don't.

That is exactly what Ivies (excluding Princeton) ask of families such as described. We were in the same position last year with slightly higher income and the schools asked for between $63k and $72k. It’s obscene how bad the financial aid is at the Ivy league level.

Not to be a turd by why do the schools "owe" you aid? Going to an Ivy is a privilege, not a right. If you can't make it work, I'm sorry. Lots of other great schools out there that might be cheaper.

And sorry if people have multiple kids. Should have thought about that before having more kids (I feel a bit worse for those with twins). I knew what I wanted to be able to pay for for my kids and that having more than two kids would prohibit that, so we stopped at two. Three would have been nice but the sacrifices weren't worth it. Plus the fact that you get more aid if you have two kids in college at the same time but less if kids are further apart? That makes no sense.

Because we as a country still like to believe in the myth of meritocracy, that elite college slots goes to those who earned it on merit, and that college is the gateway to upward social mobility. And these elite institutions with more money than entire countries pay virtually no taxes on the assumption that they're doing a public good and serving society.

And it's very fair to question the outrageous cost of higher education. It's like this nowhere else in the world. Even UVA in-state is over $40,000 per year. That is not accessible or affordable to the vast majority of Virginians. An undergrad can't borrow enough to cover even a quarter of that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmm. I am in that rough income bracket and have a kid at an Ivy and the cost is 48K. But, I have another in college at the same time. I do recall the aid letter saying it was based on having another in college, and if that child did not in fact enroll for the 2025-26 year, the cost would be 70K. So this seems legit. But, we are also a little higher - $260K income. We also have some, but not major, assets.

Two things: 1) House equity is likely not counted. Most schools do not count it. 2) The parents should absolutely call the school and share that they have twins coming into college age and medical expenses. They honestly might get more aid. Then, they might want to consider a combo of the more aid plus home equity loan.

Are you willing to share which Ivy? I ask because some have these various "promises" that the parent might want to specify when calling. Usually they're under $200K, but if parents can explain that, in reality due to medical expenses they are under the threshold, it might help.

They can also argue that due to the medical situation the income might be at risk as well if the parent has or potentially might need to take medical leave.

IME, nope. My Dad lost his job and MIT said, tough, no discount. Then when he started a business they also counted his purchasing of computers for the business as income. Outrageous.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe you

This is an odd post.

Under the circumstances OP has described, I don't believe an Ivy would require the parents to pay 75k. I just don't.

That is exactly what Ivies (excluding Princeton) ask of families such as described. We were in the same position last year with slightly higher income and the schools asked for between $63k and $72k. It’s obscene how bad the financial aid is at the Ivy league level.

Not to be a turd by why do the schools "owe" you aid? Going to an Ivy is a privilege, not a right. If you can't make it work, I'm sorry. Lots of other great schools out there that might be cheaper.

And sorry if people have multiple kids. Should have thought about that before having more kids (I feel a bit worse for those with twins). I knew what I wanted to be able to pay for for my kids and that having more than two kids would prohibit that, so we stopped at two. Three would have been nice but the sacrifices weren't worth it. Plus the fact that you get more aid if you have two kids in college at the same time but less if kids are further apart? That makes no sense.

This is the case, but only at some schools. FAFSA doesn't take it into account, but CSS schools might. I am the one with a child at an Ivy paying 48K. We have twins, so assuming all goes well with both kids, we will get significant aid at the Ivy all four years (other kid is at a public that does not take this into account - that twin does not get aid). I do agree this is unfair, because the aggregate amount we will have paid for two kids is less than other families with two kids who did not go at the same time, even if they have the same income. But, I am certainly not going to advocate for changing this. And again, it's a decision of the individual (private) school, not national policy or anything.

I do think it's unfair to say people should have thought about this before having kids. Not everyone gets to plan things the way they want. Their might be unexpected pregnancies, or disabilities/medical expenses, or elder care expenses. Never assume another family's expenses are the same as yours.

Anonymous wrote:My niece got into her dream school, an Ivy. Cannot make the numbers work, two-teacher family making just over 200k, expected to contribute 75k per year (roughly 20k per year in aid), have two other kids (twins three years younger), sizable medical expenses. They simply bought a home at a good time and have a lot of equity, ruining financial aid calculations, and they aren't selling their house to pay for college. My sister is heartbroken and feels like she failed her kid. This is not a good feeling.

That's how we felt when we couldn't swing our kid's $90k+ dream school. Private schooling is are how capitalism drains upper middle class back to middle class and keeping from entering rich class. Funny thing is that people with same income can get aid if they didn't live frugally and saved but lived a high life, saved little or nothing or hid it somewhere. Rich people don't care about college costs, poor get aid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe you

This is an odd post.

Under the circumstances OP has described, I don't believe an Ivy would require the parents to pay 75k. I just don't.

As someone who worked in elite higher ed financial aid, this circumstance doesn't surprise me at all. This is probably a "lesser" Ivy. Not HYP. Many Ivies still consider home equity, and two teachers who bought at the right time could have well over half a million in home equity in a modest house in high cost of living area. And if the parents have been responsible about socking away money in 529s, that will also count against them in the financial aid game.

For what it's worth, I threw in some net price calculator figures that were pretty modest assumptions. $225,000 HHI. 2 14 year olds. $50,000 in total college savings for all three kids. $750,000 in home equity on a house purchased for $400,000. $50,000 per year in retirement contributions. No other investments, real estate, etc. That spit out a net price at Cornell of $44,501 per year. OP's family members could easily have been more diligent in college savings and investments over time, which would bump up the estimated contribution.

Don't believe everything you hear about how great Ivy financial aid is. For all the schools, the "free tuition under 200k" (or some other benchmark) comes with an asterisk about "typical assets" and the like.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe you

This is an odd post.

Under the circumstances OP has described, I don't believe an Ivy would require the parents to pay 75k. I just don't.

I paid just about that same amount at a lower income years ago, so I believe it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe you

This is an odd post.

Under the circumstances OP has described, I don't believe an Ivy would require the parents to pay 75k. I just don't.

I'm the OP. I promise you it is true. Your post is strange.

Possible your sister and her husband have investments you don't know about?

This is not that unusual a situation. The prices are out of control.

Anonymous wrote:Hmm. I am in that rough income bracket and have a kid at an Ivy and the cost is 48K. But, I have another in college at the same time. I do recall the aid letter saying it was based on having another in college, and if that child did not in fact enroll for the 2025-26 year, the cost would be 70K. So this seems legit. But, we are also a little higher - $260K income. We also have some, but not major, assets.

Two things: 1) House equity is likely not counted. Most schools do not count it. 2) The parents should absolutely call the school and share that they have twins coming into college age and medical expenses. They honestly might get more aid. Then, they might want to consider a combo of the more aid plus home equity loan.

Are you willing to share which Ivy? I ask because some have these various "promises" that the parent might want to specify when calling. Usually they're under $200K, but if parents can explain that, in reality due to medical expenses they are under the threshold, it might help.

They can also argue that due to the medical situation the income might be at risk as well if the parent has or potentially might need to take medical leave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe you

This is an odd post.

Under the circumstances OP has described, I don't believe an Ivy would require the parents to pay 75k. I just don't.

That is exactly what Ivies (excluding Princeton) ask of families such as described. We were in the same position last year with slightly higher income and the schools asked for between $63k and $72k. It’s obscene how bad the financial aid is at the Ivy league level.

Not to be a turd by why do the schools "owe" you aid? Going to an Ivy is a privilege, not a right. If you can't make it work, I'm sorry. Lots of other great schools out there that might be cheaper.

And sorry if people have multiple kids. Should have thought about that before having more kids (I feel a bit worse for those with twins). I knew what I wanted to be able to pay for for my kids and that having more than two kids would prohibit that, so we stopped at two. Three would have been nice but the sacrifices weren't worth it. Plus the fact that you get more aid if you have two kids in college at the same time but less if kids are further apart? That makes no sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe you

This is an odd post.

Under the circumstances OP has described, I don't believe an Ivy would require the parents to pay 75k. I just don't.

I'm the OP. I promise you it is true. Your post is strange.

Possible your sister and her husband have investments you don't know about?

Anonymous wrote:People, attending an Ivy is not a life or death situation. She will be fine elsewhere. The family does not need to sell the house, get a HELOC, or sell a kidney.

The Ivy worship on this site is insane.

+100

It might be worth an appeal based on high medical expenses but otherwise, move on to what you can afford.