Here's an excellent synopsis of the best college loan posted in The College Solution which is an excellent source for information.

http://www.thecollegesolution.com/the-best-college-loan-for-students/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We make over 200K and our child just got 80K of merit aid over four years at a school she wants to go to. Our other child was offered 100K at a highly selective school although he's a really talented artist as well. Don't assume you won't get any money. if you don't file the forms you will never know. We didn't think we would get any either. I'm not so wealthy I can throw 180K away, are you?

yes, but merit aid and need based aid are different creatures...though one school presenter told us they give need based aid according to merit ie do they REALLY want you or not so much

Right, but OP's issue, as I understand it, is whether or not to apply for FA. If she chooses door #2, not applying for FA, then the question turns into whether merit aid could help instead.

I totally believe you heard a school say they dole out need-based FA based on merit. Some schools don't have very generous endowments,. At some schools, not every kid who qualifies for FA will get it.

Anonymous wrote:We make over 200K and our child just got 80K of merit aid over four years at a school she wants to go to. Our other child was offered 100K at a highly selective school although he's a really talented artist as well. Don't assume you won't get any money. if you don't file the forms you will never know. We didn't think we would get any either. I'm not so wealthy I can throw 180K away, are you?

yes, but merit aid and need based aid are different creatures...though one school presenter told us they give need based aid according to merit ie do they REALLY want you or not so much

Anonymous wrote:We make over 200K and our child just got 80K of merit aid over four years at a school she wants to go to. Our other child was offered 100K at a highly selective school although he's a really talented artist as well. Don't assume you won't get any money. if you don't file the forms you will never know. We didn't think we would get any either. I'm not so wealthy I can throw 180K away, are you?

Yup. One school offered DC $25K/year--$100K total--in merit aid even though we make $250+.

We make over 200K and our child just got 80K of merit aid over four years at a school she wants to go to. Our other child was offered 100K at a highly selective school although he's a really talented artist as well. Don't assume you won't get any money. if you don't file the forms you will never know. We didn't think we would get any either. I'm not so wealthy I can throw 180K away, are you?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My separate point is that if we check "no" to the question asking if we will apply for financial aid then I don't want to be forced to apply to financial aid (and give all our financial info) before my kid will be considered for a merit award.

If you want merit aid, then you have to play by the school;s rules. If you don't like them, then don't apply for merit aid.

1 of the 15 or so schools our twins applied to last year required our financial info before the kids could be considered for merit aid. They both passed on that school so we never learned if the financial info would have ultimately been required.

Anonymous wrote:My separate point is that if we check "no" to the question asking if we will apply for financial aid then I don't want to be forced to apply to financial aid (and give all our financial info) before my kid will be considered for a merit award.

If you want merit aid, then you have to play by the school;s rules. If you don't like them, then don't apply for merit aid.

My separate point is that if we check "no" to the question asking if we will apply for financial aid then I don't want to be forced to apply to financial aid (and give all our financial info) before my kid will be considered for a merit award.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hear this argument that the IRS already knows our financial situation. But that doesn't mean I want everyone from IRS to FAFSA to every college every one of our kids applies to and every admissions/financial aid office, to god knows who etc etc to know. As for the contingencies, we have all those covered. There's no way we'll need the money for college expenses. But I do get the point.

This makes perfect sense. But could one apply for a regular loan through other entities (bank, credit union, 2nd mortgage, gargage sale, etc) and not have to fill out the FAFSA? After all, they just want to get paid and probably don't care where the money comes from.

True, but you'd still have to tell private lenders a lot about your finances, too. More to the point, you'll pay a private lender a higher rate of interest than you'd pay on a federal non-subsidized student loan (which requires the FAFSA). If you need to borrow more than $6-7K a year, you might end up with a private lender anyway, but why not pay the lower interest rate on the first $6-7K.

Anonymous wrote:I hear this argument that the IRS already knows our financial situation. But that doesn't mean I want everyone from IRS to FAFSA to every college every one of our kids applies to and every admissions/financial aid office, to god knows who etc etc to know. As for the contingencies, we have all those covered. There's no way we'll need the money for college expenses. But I do get the point.

This makes perfect sense. But could one apply for a regular loan through other entities (bank, credit union, 2nd mortgage, gargage sale, etc) and not have to fill out the FAFSA? After all, they just want to get paid and probably don't care where the money comes from.

I hear this argument that the IRS already knows our financial situation. But that doesn't mean I want everyone from IRS to FAFSA to every college every one of our kids applies to and every admissions/financial aid office, to god knows who etc etc to know. As for the contingencies, we have all those covered. There's no way we'll need the money for college expenses. But I do get the point.

I realize some people feel like filling out the FAFSA to get merit aid seems ridiculous and an intrusion, and I get that.

Just to play devil's advocate, though, here's some food for thought. I read somewhere that it's advisable to fill out the FAFSA every year just in case something happens (health problem, job loss) and you have to document for your college junior's FA office that your financial situation really has changed since last year. Also, the FAFSA doesn't ask much more than the IRS already knows about you, in fact you can click a link and get your 1040 downloaded into the FAFSA.

YMMV.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At what HHI is it not worth applying for FA if it is your first child going to college? $200,000?

It depends. Some schools require the FAFSA to be completed to be eligible for merit aid. They do not want to give merit aid when needs based aid would have been available.

This. We were asked multiple times by a few privates to apply for financial aid as a requirement to receive merit aid. There was no way we were filling out the FAFSA form and soon after DS decided to focus on different colleges.

What was your reason for not filling out the form? I know many people feel it is a total invasion of privacy.

Yes, for a family that has zero zero zero chance of getting financial aid (and made clear on the application that we would not be applying for financial aid), I found it ridiculous to force me to fill out a form to prove just why it was we weren't applying for financial aid. And I didn't feel it should reflect on any merit aid decision. But I see that it's the school's discretion and we chose not to comply.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At what HHI is it not worth applying for FA if it is your first child going to college? $200,000?

It depends. Some schools require the FAFSA to be completed to be eligible for merit aid. They do not want to give merit aid when needs based aid would have been available.

This. We were asked multiple times by a few privates to apply for financial aid as a requirement to receive merit aid. There was no way we were filling out the FAFSA form and soon after DS decided to focus on different colleges.

What was your reason for not filling out the form? I know many people feel it is a total invasion of privacy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At what HHI is it not worth applying for FA if it is your first child going to college? $200,000?

It depends. Some schools require the FAFSA to be completed to be eligible for merit aid. They do not want to give merit aid when needs based aid would have been available.

This. We were asked multiple times by a few privates to apply for financial aid as a requirement to receive merit aid. There was no way we were filling out the FAFSA form and soon after DS decided to focus on different colleges.