College aid packages public vs private?

[HeatherC]

Hi Everyone! Well it is time for my oldest child(DD) to start applying to colleges soon. We have toured a couple different schools, but have primarily focused on Public Universities. We are in Massachusetts so have looked at UMass Amherst, UMASS Dartmouth, Salem State, Framingham State, and Bridgewater State next week.

We also looked at Roger Williams, Endicott and Salve Regina in Newport.

I will admit, the prices are astounding when you look on the websites...$55,000 plus a year. Mind boggling really and as a result we have only looked at a few private schools.

We have done tons of the Net Price Calculators and are finding that the Private Colleges will give her scholarship aid...some in the range of $20,000.

The State Universities will give very little. ( Based on calculators plugging in our financials and her test scores, GPA, rank, etc.)

My question is....are these pretty indicative of what you will receive after filling out FAFSA in Jan?

After aid packages come in, did you find they brought the tuition in line with a state school?

Am I missing something, or is there something else I should be aware of?

This is the first of three kids to help put through college so I am definitely in a
learning curve.

Has anyone had their child get offered enough in aid to make the private tuition equal to a state school when all was said and done?

Is there a rough estimate of how much more we should expect the private tuition to be? Like $5,000 a year more, etc?

Thanks so much for any input!

But...my question is....are these pretty accurate?

 

[packofjedis]

Take what I'm saying with a grain of salt, because I am by no means an expert. My son toured 4 colleges and decided he could choose from there. They were all private. All 4 we toured told us the sticker price was not real. No one paid that full amount. All 4 of ours (here in Indiana) offers academic merit scholarships to every person that gets accepted, anything from $1,000 to half tuition, renewable every year.

I got a pretty good idea of where he would fall by looking at their accepted SAT scores and figuring out where he was based on that. I can tell you that the 2 he decided to apply to both after scholarships have come in exactly or less than our state schools.

Read on their websites and see if there is a breakdown of academic awards they give away. One college after the admissions interview admitted to me there was a matrix they use to determine, actually included the matrix in a pamphlet they mailed here before he applied. So I knew for that college straight out what he would get based on his GPA and SAT.

You'll get financial aid info before she has to accept. (Unless she's doing early decision, and then I'm not sure)

 

[packofjedis]

One more thing, and again I'm going through the process at the same rate as you- so I'm probably just as lost. The FAFSA is mainly to determine if you qualify for "need" based money, the Stafford loan and federal work programs.

The academic money comes from the college itself. All colleges seem to want you to fill out the FAFSA these days even if you know you don't qualify for need money.

 

[kamik86]

One more thing, and again I'm going through the process at the same rate as you- so I'm probably just as lost. The FAFSA is mainly to determine if you qualify for "need" based money, the Stafford loan and federal work programs.

The academic money comes from the college itself. All colleges seem to want you to fill out the FAFSA these days even if you know you don't qualify for need money.

I was going to mention that second part. Even for alot of the merit aid and other aid in my college (and I graduated over 5 years ago) they wanted you to fill out the FAFSA. I think it was just an easier way for them to get the data without making you fill out another form.

I only applied to two schools when I did mine and they were both private but I did get some pretty good scholarship packages. Could I have gone to state cheaper though... honestly probably. However I can also afford my student loans so I'm not too regretful about it!

 

[bballmom56]

Granted, our experience was a while ago, but we found that if you looked at privates where their stats put them in the top 20% or so of applicants, they were offered quite generous amounts of merit money. It was enough so that they did not need to consider our state schools where they would have gotten little money (if any).

D applied to 3 privates. All had different sticker prices. Amazingly, when the financial aid offers came in, the final price to us was within $1000 for each college. And those final prices were maybe a few thousand more than we would have had to pay at a state school. In our experience and opinion, it was well worth it.

S applied to 2 privates. He received a full scholarship thru DH's profession at the first college, so he started there. But he really hated it and was miserable there and wanted to transfer to the other college. He did. After 3 semesters, he was able to receive that same scholarship again. He would not have received this scholarship at a state school, so again, he did well by going to a private.

The key to merit money is to look at colleges where the student would be a top applicant.

 

[mjkacmom]

My dd18 graduated HS with a 4.0 GPA, SAT's about 2000 she received money from almost every school she applied to, public and private (including UMASS), and with room and board, most brought the yearly cost down to $25,000 (she could have attended one local stare school for under $10,000 total if she commuted).

she is attending a large in state public university that gave her nothing. FAFSA gave her $3000 (which has to be paid back). One income, 5 kids.

Our state has the highest tuition for residents, and really no good programs (dd was eligible for 2 free years at community college).

 

[lastminutemom]

First, if you own your own business or are self employed, the NPC aren't generally accurate when it comes to need based money.

Second, the answer to this question depends on the cost of your in state public schools. Many states have relatively reasonable in-state tuition, while other states don't. In our state, it is hard for anything other than a nearly full ride (tuition and room and board) to beat the cost of our public options. However, that is not the case in other states.

Finally, I really recommend the college confidential board, particularly the financial aid board. There are several financial aid pros that respond to questions. Sometimes the advice you get there is painful, but generally pretty good. (avoid advice from students though)

FAFSA only measures need and usually families have far less need than they think they do. Most colleges don't meet full need, so even if your EFC (the number that FAFSA spits out) is X, most colleges won't expect you pay tuition-X. You will be gaped.

For real significant merit, your child will generally need to be in the top of the applicant/accepted student pool. You can get a sense of what freshman class stats look like, by googling, common data set and then the college name.

 

[aprilchem]

You need to find out the "discount rate" at the private colleges; that's the rate that students actually pay, on average. At my institution, for example, the sticker price is $50k+ a year but we have a 53% discount rate. So the average student pays less than $25k a year, and many pay much less than that.

 

[madge]

Hi Everyone! Well it is time for my oldest child(DD) to start applying to colleges soon. We have toured a couple different schools, but have primarily focused on Public Universities. We are in Massachusetts so have looked at UMass Amherst, UMASS Dartmouth, Salem State, Framingham State, and Bridgewater State next week.

We also looked at Roger Williams, Endicott and Salve Regina in Newport.

I will admit, the prices are astounding when you look on the websites...$55,000 plus a year. Mind boggling really and as a result we have only looked at a few private schools.

We have done tons of the Net Price Calculators and are finding that the Private Colleges will give her scholarship aid...some in the range of $20,000.

The State Universities will give very little. ( Based on calculators plugging in our financials and her test scores, GPA, rank, etc.)

My question is....are these pretty indicative of what you will receive after filling out FAFSA in Jan?

After aid packages come in, did you find they brought the tuition in line with a state school?

Am I missing something, or is there something else I should be aware of?

This is the first of three kids to help put through college so I am definitely in a
learning curve.

Has anyone had their child get offered enough in aid to make the private tuition equal to a state school when all was said and done?

Is there a rough estimate of how much more we should expect the private tuition to be? Like $5,000 a year more, etc?

Thanks so much for any input!

But...my question is....are these pretty accurate?

my DS is a college freshman ... so this info/process is pretty fresh in my mind.

Financial aid has a very high level of YMMV .... what is true for one student at one school may not be the case for your student at their chosen school.

To answer your question (bolded) ... in the case of my DS, the answer is yes. Sort of. He applied to 6 colleges: 2 private and 4 state/public. The financial aid packages offered from the privates brought the tuition down in line (if not cheaper) with our state's flagship university total cost. But, that was the only state school that scenario applied to, because DS got very little award money there. DS received significant scholarships at the other 3 state schools he applied to.

I saw where you asked how many schools a student should apply to ... DS applied to 6, seriously considered 5. That was more than enough for him.

 

[leebee]

DD21 is a college senior this year. She was third in her class, 1900 SATs, plenty of AP/honors courses, etc. She was accepted almost everywhere she applied, with a variety of scholarship packages. What it came down to for her was how much was loan money that both she and we would have to take. Even with GREAT aid packages, she was going to end up with about $20K in loans- a year! Aid packages give merit money, scholarship money, loan money, work study. Loan money needs to be repaid- no way around that- and the payments are amortized, just like a mortgage, so the interest portion is pretty hefty. Even with $40K annually in financial aid, it wasn't going to be manageable in the long run (majoring in English/creative writing, minor in dance and psychology). She chose to go to our state university, and will graduate with about $15K in loan money (subsidized) after 4 years of college; the rest was merit money, our money, scholarship money. She knows she can manage repayment on this, and because we didn't have to take any parent loans, we can help her with the payments. This is what worked out best for my DD.

FAFSA has to be filed even if you think/know you won't qualify for aid. Sometimes this is what decides whether federal loan money is subsidized or unsubsidized. It's important to get that FAFSA filed as closely to January 1st as possible; even if your numbers aren't totally accurate, they'll be close, and you can make adjustments after this.

 

[Darcy03231]

We have four children.

Our experience has been that the private schools give out a lot more aid than the public ones. It was much less expensive for our children to go to private schools, even though on paper they were a lot more expensive than the state schools.

 

[HeatherC]

LEEBEE..your scenario is exactly what I am finding/guesstimating. Mass. State Universities will average $18500 to live there. Private one $50,000 plus are mentioning a lot in merit aid but would still be around 30,000 plus a year. (Strictlyusing net calculators for now.)

With three kids, I can't justify in my mind that extra money...unless the packages come in closer to 20-25. I don't want her to take $20,000 a year in loans. $20,000 total would be ok.

She is thinking of teaching Biology by the way.

AprilChem...will definitely find out the discount rates. Thank you for mentioning this...one thing of many which I am sure I overlooked.

Thanks all!!

 

[barkley]

dd is a sophomore at a public university, but has friends attending private. the one suggestion I would make is to see if you can find out what the average aid package for a NON freshman is. it seems that the trend for both public and private is to offer much more to incoming freshman so they can get them committed, but the amounts they offer for sophomore and subsequent years can be substantially less.

 

[Tinker'n'Fun]

I have two children - both in college. One a State University and the other Private. Both are pretty equal on paper.

State University - after 5 years will have about 18,000 total and a Masters Degree.

Private University - after 3/4 years about 30,000 total, with a transfer to a State University for their Masters.

Both are getting a great education, both are extremely happy, and I learned sometimes you just have to visit as many as possible and apply where ever your child feels comfortable.

My daughter received the highest scholarship at Fordham. She received the same grants, etc as the State University. Her amount of loans would have been much higher at Fordham but not in the unreachable amount. She is an Accounting major and well she's cheap. She still gets to interview with the Top 4 - has had the same opportunities. She is just "cheap". My son is exactly where he wants to be also.

I would never count out either sector but would put them together and do an Apple to Apple comparison. Good Luck and I hope they enjoy their experience.

 

[Colleen27]

I think it really depends on a couple of things - your income (obviously), not just by FAFSA standards but also relative to average for your area and the chosen school, and you child's academic stats relative to the incoming freshman profile of the schools she's applying to. We have friends who found private school much cheaper than public because of more abundant merit aid as well as need based aid from the university (rather than just from the federal govt, which is almost all public unis have to offer in my area). But we also have friends who found smaller public universities less expensive even after accounting for aid offers from their kids' private school choices.

For example, one friend with an income around 50K and a top-10% student found that Notre Dame was MUCH cheaper than U of Michigan for her daughter. ND offered a lot of institutional gift aid, while U of M offered the basic Pell grant/work study/big loans combo with only a token merit award. But another friend of DS's, a solid B student, got the best offer from a smaller public university that offered an academic/athletic scholarship in a minor sport (track). While he had the numbers to get into the private schools he looked at, he was middle of the pack academically there and his top choice doesn't have many athletic programs so he didn't get nearly as good an offer from them.

 

[madge]

dd is a sophomore at a public university, but has friends attending private. the one suggestion I would make is to see if you can find out what the average aid package for a NON freshman is. it seems that the trend for both public and private is to offer much more to incoming freshman so they can get them committed, but the amounts they offer for sophomore and subsequent years can be substantially less.

that was not our experience with our oldest, who attended private school for 4 years. the aid amount was the same every year.

 

[barkley]

I think it really depends on a couple of things - your income (obviously), not just by FAFSA standards but also relative to average for your area and the chosen school, and you child's academic stats relative to the incoming freshman profile of the schools she's applying to. We have friends who found private school much cheaper than public because of more abundant merit aid as well as need based aid from the university (rather than just from the federal govt, which is almost all public unis have to offer in my area). But we also have friends who found smaller public universities less expensive even after accounting for aid offers from their kids' private school choices.

For example, one friend with an income around 50K and a top-10% student found that Notre Dame was MUCH cheaper than U of Michigan for her daughter. ND offered a lot of institutional gift aid, while U of M offered the basic Pell grant/work study/big loans combo with only a token merit award. But another friend of DS's, a solid B student, got the best offer from a smaller public university that offered an academic/athletic scholarship in a minor sport (track). While he had the numbers to get into the private schools he looked at, he was middle of the pack academically there and his top choice doesn't have many athletic programs so he didn't get nearly as good an offer from them.

it's a good point about looking to what kind of scholarships (sport and other) one college may offer vs. another. we also found that it can be TREMENDOUSLY beneficial to declare a major as an incoming freshman (if they change their minds later it's not difficult to change it). b/c dd declared a major when she applied to her university she ended up receiving a nice chunk of scholarship money that was only earmarked for students pursuing that major. the financial aide officer told me that she had never known a freshman to receive it before-but she said that was likely b/c freshman going into that major traditionally waited until mid way through their sophomore year to declare.

 

[Andtototoo]

My dd applied to in-state public schools, out of state public schools and out of state private schools. The FAFSA told us we would get $0 in financial aid.

That was true when we got the "package" offer. Zippo.

The public universities only offered sport and music scholarships. NO academic merit scholarships. None. Zero. All of that hard work netted her no money, even though she was in the top 1% of admitted students to the university. But her roommate with a B- GPA but who excelled at track, got money. Which tells you everything you need to know about the priorities in higher ed.

The private schools all offered her merit scholarships. They all offered her what they said was their biggest merit scholarships... which amounted to one third to one half the cost. The sticker price was real. As an example, one school cost $51K and she was offered their largest scholarship of $17K, which left $34K for her to pay. Per year.

In the end, she wound up at the local public university because that cost the least, even without any aid/scholarships.

 

[Darcy03231]

dd is a sophomore at a public university, but has friends attending private. the one suggestion I would make is to see if you can find out what the average aid package for a NON freshman is. it seems that the trend for both public and private is to offer much more to incoming freshman so they can get them committed, but the amounts they offer for sophomore and subsequent years can be substantially less.

This wasn't our experience at a private university either. DD#2 received the same amounts her freshman and sophomore years and her merit aid increased her junior and senior years.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm in Mass as well. Dd is in her junior year at Roger Williams. She gets some aid..about $7000 in grant money, and about $5500 in loans. She also has been awarded work study. She has yet to do work study...which is a whole different subject! RWU is about $46000, we end up having to come up with about $30000! Not even close to a state school. Now.....I know other kids are getting more grant money, so that's possible. Also, dd's grant money has gone down a bit each year.
She applied to Bridgewater and Salem State as well.....those were both running around $18000. And that's pretty much what you pay. Your dd would probably get the same subsidized and unsubsidized loans at those schools.
Our dd would have gone to Salem if she had to, and would have gone to Bridgewater happily. But, once she got on the campus of RWU, she was a goner! When she got accepted there she couldn't stop crying!
I guess it all depends on whether or not you can afford that addtl $50,000 for the four years, go for it. But if its going to cause a financial strain, don't.