For those of you with a child in college

[DVC Sadie]

Make sure your kids apply for scholarships like crazy. They are not all need based. The school guidance counselor should be able to help when the time comes. My DD got $19K in scholarships to a private college. That would have left us with $11K still to cover for the semester, so she decided to go to the local state school that is about $5K/year and she can still live at home.

I agree!! There are scholarships out there that will pay 100% of tuition. I would look at my local community foundations and also ask directly through the college or university that my child was interested in attending.

 

[KatheeME]

I'm wondering why you would need to worry about financial aid or grants if you and your husband make such a good living? I am a SAHM currently attending nursing school. We would most likely qualify for some financial aid for our children, based on my husband's current salary (I got a whopping $90 this term , I think mainly due to the size of our family). I am trying to get this ADN degree so we can pay for braces, extracurricular activites, retirement, college, etc. (my kids are still quite young). What is the purpose of you going back to work, if not to provide for your family/future? Why would you ask the government to pay for your kid's education if you are capable of doing so?

With a family of 7 to take care, $90,000 a year isn't going to allow anyone to pay out of pocket for college tuition. As for FAFSA .. it only based on what the government think you can borrow, based on your income ONLY. Good luck!

Kathee

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

We don't have kids in college yet, but I will be going back to work as a teacher when my youngest goes to school. If I were you, I'd be concerned about upping the household income to the point where you lose all 5 child tax credits, the tuition tax credit, etc. The child tax credit alone is worth $5000/year to your household, right?

Our plan is that when I do go back to work, my income will be put into a maxed-out 403b plan, maxed out healthcare spending account, and possibly into a dependent care spending account if we need aftercare for the kids. This reduces the taxable income and hopefully won't push us over the point where we'd start losing tax credits. Also, that would hopefully keep you from losing the ability to get financial aid. Perhaps your household would then be able to save more in terms of out-of-pocket healthcare costs, dental costs, braces, etc. and you'd have more $$ in the budget for the college tuition payments.

 

[nowellsl]

With a family of 7 to take care, $90,000 a year isn't going to allow anyone to pay out of pocket for college tuition. As for FAFSA .. it only based on what the government think you can borrow, based on your income ONLY. Good luck!

Kathee

This is just not true, particularly if the student starts off in Community College, lives at home and works part time and summers! Ideally you don't start thinking about it when the student gets in high school and have been saving for years. I suppose it also depends on where you live (cost of living) as well. Also, if mom goes back to work they shouldn't have any problem putting all 5 through college since they are used to living on one salary.

 

[tinaluis]

Wow, you guys are making me feel so poor! We're a family of 6 and make just over half of what the OP makes and we live in a high cost of living area. (I'm kidding about the poor part -- we do just fine with a lot of budgeting).

We try to save what we can, but our DDs know that they will have to start out at Community College and go on to a State University and will have to contribute by working, work-study, loans (if necessary). Nothing wrong with that. In fact, I watched many friends who were on the six year plan for college because their parents were paying for it spend their nights partying and their days skipping class.

 

[Kellydelly]

With a family of 7 to take care, $90,000 a year isn't going to allow anyone to pay out of pocket for college tuition. As for FAFSA .. it only based on what the government think you can borrow, based on your income ONLY. Good luck!

Kathee

I have no idea how FAFSA works, all I know is that I have to fill out my FAFSA forms to apply for scholarships . As for paying for college when you have a family of 7 and a salary of $90,000, that can be done if one chooses a school they can afford . Our household income is less than the OPs and with a family of six we are paying for my nursing school out of pocket. Community College is a beautiful thing for middle income people !

 

[hinodis]

I have a son in college. Most of our help came form academic scholorships. He was offered money from every school he applied at. It really is about the numbers. The GPA, the ACT and the SAT. My son was told by one university that if he retook the ACT and got 1 point higher he would get more money. It is called merit money. It is not based on the family income. Look around at college websites and you will see what they offer/look at. Most offer presidential type scholarships for very high GPA's. Help the kids hit the books and make sure they realize that GPA is very important. It starts freshman year. Be sure to check out the private schools. The tuition may be higher but the scholarship money is also higher. We pay $7,000 a year for a $38,000 a year school. Thats really his room and board!

 

[rockyroad]

When I taught in Tn. the children of public school teachers received a 25% reduction in tuition at state colleges. Of course now we have to pay tuition and fees and there was no discount on fees.

My oldest started college 6 years ago this fall.
Tuition has gone up at least 15% every year.
Wages have not gone up that much.

It's getting more and more difficult to pay for college.

About Fasfa, if the parents are divorced, then only one parent's income is considered.
So if the parents are divorced, it actually helps the kid qualify for a Pell Grant.
And if the mom remarries, then the step-father's income must be considered.

 

[phragmipedium]

Generally speaking, families need an EFC of $4300 or lower to qualify for the Pell grant. Many public universities tie other federal grant funding that they control to the Pell grant. Occasionally there may be grant programs through the state that you may be eligible for with a higher EFC, but not much higher than the Pell Grant limit. It would be my guess that with a $12000 EFC, you would already be out of grant range, so you might as well work if that's a primary consideration. What that *could* do is change your student's loan eligibility from subsidized to unsubsidized, but the benefit from a second income probably outweighs that issue.

If your child chooses a private university and is an excellent student academically or athletically or falls into their range of higher need, it's possible they could have more private funding to offer.

As a former financial aid counselor, however, I'd never recommend a family make job or career decisions solely with the idea of the FAFSA, but instead be saving for college knowing that you probably will not qualify for much grant aid and would like to prevent borrowing much. Your extra income could be much more beneficial in the sense that you could save it toward their college, rather than a hindrance with the FAFSA in mind. Toby's Friend was correct about how relatively small the amounts of grants are, even for those on the very low end of the income spectrum.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Toby's Friend was correct about how relatively small the amounts of grants are, even for those on the very low end of the income spectrum.

Have grants gone down over the years? I ask because my family was pretty solidly middle class with 2 incomes, and I still got a pretty decent grant from my college. I graduated in 1995. My grant went down some each year as my Stafford Loan went up, but overall I think that my financial aid package remained pretty good. My DH had a pretty good amount of grants also, and his parents also both worked pretty middle class jobs. Both of us had decent summer jobs and we probably even "hurt" our aid by earning a decent amount. We still did OK grant-wise, though.

The other thing that I really wanted to ask you is why a lot of schools offer what I call the "bait and switch" aid package. By this, I mean that in the freshman year, they offer substantial grants, small loans (just subsidized Stafford and maybe Perkins), etc. Then, in the sophmore year, they pull the rug out from under the family even though nothing has changed Suddenly the grant is gone, the loan is unsubsidized, and the EFC has gone WAY up. This happened to my sister, and it keeps happening to children of my mother's friends.

FWIW, these are all private colleges, so I'm not sure if the grants are discretionary or what. They seem to offer this tantalizing grant package to get the student to say yes to the school, and then the grant vaporizes after that first year. The parents don't want to move the student, who is by then thriving in the environment. Most of them have ended up borrowing on the home equity to pay for the last 3 years.

 

[dsanner106]

I have a freshman and the aid situation was an eye opening experience for us. We have 3 kids, med bills and a reduced income for me following an accident, practically no spendable income, but nowhere near the grants range, so I would say you also would not be eligilble. I would go back to work and save the increased income, and yes, look for a college job that offers tuition remissions.

Drew

 

[disney1990]

Don't give up people. My daughter barely made it through high school. She went to Community College and brought her grades way up. She has now applied to several colleges and has been offered anywhere from $1300 a year to $13,000 a year in scholarships from these colleges. She has 4 acceptances to colleges and everybody offered her money. These scholarships don't just go to the children with the A++ grades. They also go to the students with the great essays that tell why they want to continue their education.

 

[phragmipedium]

Have grants gone down over the years? I ask because my family was pretty solidly middle class with 2 incomes, and I still got a pretty decent grant from my college. I graduated in 1995. My grant went down some each year as my Stafford Loan went up, but overall I think that my financial aid package remained pretty good. My DH had a pretty good amount of grants also, and his parents also both worked pretty middle class jobs. Both of us had decent summer jobs and we probably even "hurt" our aid by earning a decent amount. We still did OK grant-wise, though.

The other thing that I really wanted to ask you is why a lot of schools offer what I call the "bait and switch" aid package. By this, I mean that in the freshman year, they offer substantial grants, small loans (just subsidized Stafford and maybe Perkins), etc. Then, in the sophmore year, they pull the rug out from under the family even though nothing has changed Suddenly the grant is gone, the loan is unsubsidized, and the EFC has gone WAY up. This happened to my sister, and it keeps happening to children of my mother's friends.

FWIW, these are all private colleges, so I'm not sure if the grants are discretionary or what. They seem to offer this tantalizing grant package to get the student to say yes to the school, and then the grant vaporizes after that first year. The parents don't want to move the student, who is by then thriving in the environment. Most of them have ended up borrowing on the home equity to pay for the last 3 years.

I'm coming from a public school perspective. The federal pell grant has not gone down, though it's maximum has increased only several hundred dollars in recent years - while tuition has skyrocketed since the early 90's. Your school, being private, sounds like it might have had a grant program that was privately funded rather than federally. The federal Pell grant does not exceed $4300 no matter how expensive a school is. There are some other smaller federal grants if a student meets priority funding deadlines, but generally speaking federal grants alone will not usually cover a public school student's cost of attendance, even if they qualify for the maximums.

In terms of your question about "bait and switch" - I want to clarify this for you, that it doesn't sound like that's what the school has done. If your EFC has skyrocketed, that has nothing to do with the school but rather the information you have input on the FAFSA. The FAFSA application determines your EFC. FAFSA submits this to the school, and they use the FAFSA information to determine your eligibility in their aid programs. It really doesn't sound like this particular situation classifies as bait and switch. You might have more legitimate concern if your EFC stayed exactly the same and your aid package changed, but even sometimes that happens - sometimes a school's level of funding stays the same, but more students qualify based on EFC for a program than in the prior year, so to spread the funds around they have to reduce the eligibility cutoff of EFCs for the program. This happens a lot with federal work study, for example - maybe you qualified last year with an EFC of $6978 but now it's only available for those with EFCs less than $6000. I still wouldn't call it bait and switch as the school is operating with some factors out of their control, but it is hard to swallow and feels unfair when that happens.

I know families frequently feel like "nothing changed from last year to this year," but it can take a very small difference and make a huge change in how the formula is figured for your family. If your school, like most, had eligibility cutoffs on their programs and suddenly your EFC was much (or even just a little) higher than it was before, you may simply no longer have qualified for them. When you receive an aid package much different than prior years, it never hurts to go to your aid office and ask them to help you figure out how it changed. You might even have made an error on the FAFSA that you can correct, but at the very least they can help you figure out why your EFC was higher and you subsequently lost eligibility, so you don't feel like the school was just trying to put one over on you. And you will also want to make sure that the "grant" disappearing after the first year wasn't just a one-time scholarship or something like that. Not all scholarships are renewable, and if it's a private school, they might call their scholarship a "grant" whether it's need-based or not.

 

[StephMK]

Since I don't want to start another college thread, hope you don't mind if I post a related question here.

Do you think where (as in different part of the country) you apply makes a difference? Both in acceptance & aid available?

When we lived in NoVa, it was so highly competitive that kids you'd think would have no trouble getting in weren't because supposedly "there were too many kids from that area" applying & colleges could be extra picky. Would someone have a better shot at a far away place rather than the local schools? Maybe that's a myth but wondered if anyone had insight.

To the OP - also consider the years of working would increase your retirement funding - assuming the schools offer some type of match -and increase in salary over the next 5 yrs. I know it's tough to weigh salary vs. family. We went through that recently & I went back FT a few weeks ago. Good luck w/your decision!!

 

[BostonTink85]

I think it depends on where they end up going and how much it is, etc. I go to a private college and my first 2 yrs got about 9k each in grants plus loans, once my brother started school I've gotten about 18k each yr in grants plus various loans. This is with my dad working full time and my mom part time putting us over 100k in income. So I guess it really varies on how much the school is and whatnot (for me it's over 45k/year).

 

[BostonTink85]

Since I don't want to start another college thread, hope you don't mind if I post a related question here.

Do you think where (as in different part of the country) you apply makes a difference? Both in acceptance & aid available?

When we lived in NoVa, it was so highly competitive that kids you'd think would have no trouble getting in weren't because supposedly "there were too many kids from that area" applying & colleges could be extra picky. Would someone have a better shot at a far away place rather than the local schools? Maybe that's a myth but wondered if anyone had insight.

I have a job in the admissions office at my school which is well known locally in the northeast, but not as much across the country and I know that they do take into account geography - to try to become more diverse. You still need to have the grades and whatnot but the geo certainly won't hurt when you're from further away. They also look at the # of kids applying from each specific high school and compare them. Different colleges may have different policies though.

 

[may06orbust]

The other thing that I really wanted to ask you is why a lot of schools offer what I call the "bait and switch" aid package. By this, I mean that in the freshman year, they offer substantial grants, small loans (just subsidized Stafford and maybe Perkins), etc. Then, in the sophmore year, they pull the rug out from under the family even though nothing has changed Suddenly the grant is gone, the loan is unsubsidized, and the EFC has gone WAY up. This happened to my sister, and it keeps happening to children of my mother's friends.

FWIW, these are all private colleges, so I'm not sure if the grants are discretionary or what. They seem to offer this tantalizing grant package to get the student to say yes to the school, and then the grant vaporizes after that first year. The parents don't want to move the student, who is by then thriving in the environment. Most of them have ended up borrowing on the home equity to pay for the last 3 years.

I have found the above to be true as well. We have DD20 now living at home and attending the local state university, where I also work. She spent her first 2 years attending another state university 3 hours away before she transferred home to save on living expenses--it's cheaper to live with Mom and Dad than in an apartment with roommates or in the dorms. Many of my DD's hs classmates found themselves in the predicament stated above and chose to move home and transfer to our local state university. I even see it at work. I have many freshman and sophomore student workers (work-study awards) that do not receive any work-study/grant awards when they return for their sophomore or junior year. It stinks because I have to start training all over again every fall with 12-15 new student workers.

Luckily, DD qualifies for roughly a 1/2 tuition reduction both here and at her previous university because I work for the state university system. We have to work here 3 years before we qualify. I qualified the winter of her senior year. Post Secondary options are really popular here as well. I know one young man who was able to enter the University of MN as a junior because he attended our local university as a junior and senior in hs. His story may be unusual as he was super motivated but he saved his parents a huge chunk of change.

OP, college for our oldest is scary for you. There are so many myths surrounding college funding/scholarships. I also suggest as PPs have to spend time with your hs guidance counselor. They are trained to help and may have some tricks up their sleeve.

As for our family, both DS and I work (I'm part-time with full benefits.) with a combined income of roughly 70k per year. The FAFSA always says our EFC is 8-20k, depending on the school. We do not have that kind of cash laying around either--we prefer to eat. DD was accepted to a couple of very nice private colleges, but due to her GPA, did not receive enough $ in scholarships to attend. She chose the state university that she could live with at the time. Truthfully, she just wanted to get out of her hometown.

DD usually qualifies for subsidized Stafford loans. There have been years she has not. She has taken out a few SELF loans. DH and I took out one Parent SELF loan, which we are now paying $50 a month on an original 3k loan. DD current loans total around 9k which we are hoping that she is done taking out. She just got back from a school sponsored trip to Italy which she financed with student loans--3k. Ouch!

DH and I made an agreement with DD. We will pay 3k a year for college--I know it doesn't seem like much, but I like PPs believe that students work harder when it's their dime. We also had no college savings--I always told her that I was her college savings, by my working. With our tuition reduction, 3k usually covers all of DD tuition. She pays for her summer classes herself. She works 2 jobs. She does not own a car--she owns a bus pass. We share my car which I'm happy to do. She does not pay us rent as she is a hard working college student. Was she always this responsible? No, but 2 years living away from home and pissing her student loans away made her responsible. Last year she lived in an apartment with roommates, worked 20-25 hours a week at her next door restaurant. She didn't have a car there either. She walked to campus.

I gotta go--have to get ready for work.

 

[tzolkin]

Grants go to the families who make next to nothing. I'm talking poverty levels. This is where the middle class gets screwed over. Someone's child living off of welfare for a lifetime will get a free ride to college, while the person's child whose taxes pay for that welfare will get offered financial aid in the form of loans.

Maybe you think there are more grants available than there actually are. I got a "free ride" to a top 20 college, but i believe less than $2,000 per year were in federal or state grants. (certainly not enough to actually cover tuition costs) The rest was scholarships given to me by the college. At the time the cost was over 37K per year. This was the most expensive school I applied to but wound up being the cheapest for me to attend because it has significant alumni support and many "rich kids" who received no financial aid. I worked 30 hours per week to pay for books and the EFC (expected family contribution) and took out a $750 perkins loan each semester.

Oh, and my family never received any welfare. So you can rest assured that I didnt live off your tax money before getting my free ride to college.

 

[Lisa_M]

Maybe you think there are more grants available than there actually are. I got a "free ride" to a top 20 college, but i believe less than $2,000 per year were in federal or state grants. (certainly not enough to actually cover tuition costs) The rest was scholarships given to me by the college. At the time the cost was over 37K per year. This was the most expensive school I applied to but wound up being the cheapest for me to attend because it has significant alumni support and many "rich kids" who received no financial aid. I worked 30 hours per week to pay for books and the EFC (expected family contribution) and took out a $750 perkins loan each semester.

Oh, and my family never received any welfare. So you can rest assured that I didnt live off your tax money before getting my free ride to college.

I think you misunderstood me. I'm sure your free ride to college was based on your merit, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten those scholarships. Congratulations!

 

[BostonTink85]

Originally Posted by Lisa_M
Grants go to the families who make next to nothing. I'm talking poverty levels. This is where the middle class gets screwed over. Someone's child living off of welfare for a lifetime will get a free ride to college, while the person's child whose taxes pay for that welfare will get offered financial aid in the form of loans.

In my experience (being a current college senior) this isn't true. I know many students, including myself, whose families I consider middle class (make over 100k) that have received grants. Yes, I am a good student, but I was not offered any scholarship money for the school I currently attend, however I was offered grants - this year totalling close to 19k. I think it really just depends on the family situation, the cost of the school, what the student is like and many other factors in the admissions process that change from year to year.