Honestly all of this conversation about how I saved and others didn't is just a narrative that people want to keep spreading to keep poor people out of these selective schools. Thankfully schools like Rice are onto this and they know full well like other schools that if this country doesn't get all of its populations (URM, poor, immigrant) participating in our economy to their fullest potential, we as a country are DOOMED. Higher ed is a part of that equation.

If you make a decision that you want to save and pay full freight great. Just do it. What does that decision have to do with anyone else's situation? Be happy you have $2M in assets and move on with your life.

If you understand the economics around college costs you would know that you aren't paying the full cost of tuition at these private schools anyway. That's why schools have endowments and they can do what they want with them.

Anonymous wrote:I am not PP, but it is obnoxious that I pay full tuition because I have assets over 2 Mill. I have those assets because I spent less and saved while the Jones down the street had an interest only mortgage, leased new cars every 2 to 3 years, and took lavish vacations. I currently pay full tuition at a school where 77% of students receive financial aid. I definitely feel like the idiot that was left holding the bag.

You honestly do not have a financial advisor that is smart. He would have told you this years ago.

Anonymous wrote:I've been doing the math on this. I currently earn $77,000 and my husband $50,000. So HHI of $127,000. I've been looking into increasing my salary by getting a Master's degree but the bump would be about $4,000. If I get that bump we'd be at $131,000.

With kids who are two and four years away from college, I was thinking I should do everything I can to increase my salary, but for financial aid purposes it seems that a lot of aid goes away at about the $125,000 - $130,000 level. (We have "average" assets for the DC area. Home worth $300K and non taxable retirement savings.)

I've been looking at financial aid assistance at several schools and it seems like there's a big difference right around our income level. It might make sense for me to go to working just 80% of the time if only for financial aid?

Gotta look at the whole financial picture - not just college for your kids.

What would a higher salary mean to your retirement? Does your employer match what you put in your retirement plan? Even if they do not, you could put all of your salary increase into your retirement and it would be not considered as a college-tuition asset.

Conversely how is your retirement savings hurt if you lose 20% of your income?

Rice is a private institution and can do as it wishes.

If you don’t like it send your kids elsewhere.

I would prefer fewer gimmicks and more thinking about why tuition is so high and what we can do about it.

Our income is such that there is no financial aid for us. That doesn't mean 70k per year is affordable. We had our son late, had some career changes along the way and have some health issues. We expect graduate school in our son's future.

Where will the money come from for this plan? Raising tuition on people like me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not PP, but it is obnoxious that I pay full tuition because I have assets over 2 Mill. I have those assets because I spent less and saved while the Jones down the street had an interest only mortgage, leased new cars every 2 to 3 years, and took lavish vacations. I currently pay full tuition at a school where 77% of students receive financial aid. I definitely feel like the idiot that was left holding the bag.

Do you mean assets besides non taxable retirement accounts which usually aren't taken into consideration for financial aid? Because $2 million on top of nontaxable retirement is a LOT of savings. You should be able to pay for college instead of having to take out loans.

I'm the PP who originally asked the question about $2M assets.

Why do you think this PP has to pay? Because they were thrifty enough to save and everyone else did not? We have over $2M in savings. Do not live in a fancy house (our house is below median price for FFX county), Do not take fancy trips, etc. I could have easily lived in a house twice as large, spent money on fancy trips, cars, etc and have close to no savings. With income at about $200K, I would get a 50% discount at a school like Rice. That's about a $100K per kid. With 3 kids, that's $300K. I'm now penalized for being responsible. Put another way, my thrift is sponsoring some spendthrift a-hole!. How is that fair?

And $2M is NOT rich. At all. Probably not even enough to cover retirement.

Anonymous wrote:I am not PP, but it is obnoxious that I pay full tuition because I have assets over 2 Mill. I have those assets because I spent less and saved while the Jones down the street had an interest only mortgage, leased new cars every 2 to 3 years, and took lavish vacations. I currently pay full tuition at a school where 77% of students receive financial aid. I definitely feel like the idiot that was left holding the bag.

Do you mean assets besides non taxable retirement accounts which usually aren't taken into consideration for financial aid? Because $2 million on top of nontaxable retirement is a LOT of savings. You should be able to pay for college instead of having to take out loans.

Anonymous wrote:I am not PP, but it is obnoxious that I pay full tuition because I have assets over 2 Mill. I have those assets because I spent less and saved while the Jones down the street had an interest only mortgage, leased new cars every 2 to 3 years, and took lavish vacations. I currently pay full tuition at a school where 77% of students receive financial aid. I definitely feel like the idiot that was left holding the bag.

Are you sure about the Jones's down the street? I'm assuming you live in an area where people have similar incomes to be able to afford expensive houses. If the Jones's income is more than say $200,000, they aren't going to get a lot of institutional grants, even if they failed to save anything for college. They will qualify for loans.

If your college aged child is at a school where 77% of the students receive financial aid, what percentage of that aid is grants versus loans? Qualifying for loans isn't that great a deal. Your savings means your child doesn't have to take out loans. The Jones's kids do, if they failed to save and spent all their money on leased cars instead of driving their car into the ground.

I am not PP, but it is obnoxious that I pay full tuition because I have assets over 2 Mill. I have those assets because I spent less and saved while the Jones down the street had an interest only mortgage, leased new cars every 2 to 3 years, and took lavish vacations. I currently pay full tuition at a school where 77% of students receive financial aid. I definitely feel like the idiot that was left holding the bag.

I've been doing the math on this. I currently earn $77,000 and my husband $50,000. So HHI of $127,000. I've been looking into increasing my salary by getting a Master's degree but the bump would be about $4,000. If I get that bump we'd be at $131,000.

With kids who are two and four years away from college, I was thinking I should do everything I can to increase my salary, but for financial aid purposes it seems that a lot of aid goes away at about the $125,000 - $130,000 level. (We have "average" assets for the DC area. Home worth $300K and non taxable retirement savings.)

I've been looking at financial aid assistance at several schools and it seems like there's a big difference right around our income level. It might make sense for me to go to working just 80% of the time if only for financial aid?

I’m not religious but I was raised with the Parables, and OP’s concern reminds me of the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. Essentially, either don’t compare or be grateful that these talented students can benefit from a Rice education. Some lines of work just don’t pay well (nanny, teacher, non-profit worker, garbage handler). Do you think their kids are less deserving?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They get you with assets though.. One of us can quit our jobs and take the income to under $200K. But then we have assets > $2M. Would this work? Would assets still come into play?

Here's what the website says:

Beginning in fall 2019 under The Rice Investment, middle-income families with typical assets will receive grant aid to cover full tuition if they earn up to $130,000 per year, and half tuition for families earning between $130,001-$200,000. In addition, students with family incomes below $65,000 will receive grant aid covering not only their full tuition, but also all of their mandatory fees and room and board. Students receiving aid under The Rice Investment will have all demonstrated need met without any loans.

Not sure what "typical assets" means..

It means retirement and home equity. Anything else is fair game

And PP if you have assets over $2 million you are beyond obnoxious to want financial aid. Go get some merit aid if you want a cheaper price.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have the sense that what Rice is doing with this initiative brings them in line with the financial aid policies of traditionally generous schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Amherst. Is that right, or are those schools more generous still?

Havard et all give free tuition and room and board to people with family income below $100,000. If your income is between 100K and 200K, you will get no assistance from any of them.

NOT TRUE!!!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This isn’t going to be sustainable unless they have a huge endowment. Why would a full pay family pay a premium to go to Rice when they don’t have to do so at other schools? I certainly wouldn’t.

And what would those schools be?

Any that is not adopting this tuition plan. They are going to get an influx of students paying nothing or next to nothing. Thry have to pay operating costs somehow, and tuition will have to go up much faster than at peer schools. I’ll just cross it off the list for my kids since we are full pay.

No.

How exactly do you think they are financing this?

Read the news articles / pres release. They are financing it with their $5 billion+ endowment. https://www.npr.org/2018/09/18/649160232/rice-university-says-middle-class-students-wont-have-to-pay-tuition

From NPR:

"...The change reconnects Rice to a key part of its legacy, Leebron said. For decades after the school first opened in Houston in 1912, Rice didn't charge tuition at all. It changed that policy in 1965...

...Rice is announcing the changes to its aid plan two years after its finances — and particularly its large endowment of more than $5.5 billion — became headline news. The school was among a group of wealthy universities that drew scrutiny from federal lawmakers for announcing plans to raise tuition in 2016.

In response, Rice said it used the endowment to cover around 40 percent of its operating costs. Officials also said the fund "covers more than 90 percent of their financial aid program," as Houston Chronicle reporter Benjamin Wermund told Houston Public Media.

Since then, the school's endowment has continued to thrive — and Leebron cited the fund's strong returns as one reason it is now able to make Rice more affordable to lower-income and middle-class families."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This isn’t going to be sustainable unless they have a huge endowment. Why would a full pay family pay a premium to go to Rice when they don’t have to do so at other schools? I certainly wouldn’t.

And what would those schools be?

Any that is not adopting this tuition plan. They are going to get an influx of students paying nothing or next to nothing. Thry have to pay operating costs somehow, and tuition will have to go up much faster than at peer schools. I’ll just cross it off the list for my kids since we are full pay.

No.

How exactly do you think they are financing this?