How does financial aid work at a realy expensive school

[disney_5]

Any insites about how financial aid works at a school that chrges 45k per year? We looked at 2 such schools this last yer for our kids but did not apply to either of them. We endedup finding a great school we could afford but i wonder how averagemiddle class familes can afford such costs.

Jen.

 

[eliza61]

Any insites about how financial aid works at a school that chrges 45k per year? We looked at 2 such schools this last yer for our kids but did not apply to either of them. We endedup finding a great school we could afford but i wonder how averagemiddle class familes can afford such costs.

Jen.

LOL. There are a myrid of ways that parents send their kids to an expensive college but the "afford" part is up for debate.

So, one of the schools that my son has been accepted to is Seton Hall in NJ. It's a good school, private catholic school. Tuition and room and board will be between 39K and 42K depending on what dorm he picks. They gave him 40K in scholarships over the 4 years. not in one bop (I wish) so that cuts 10K off the bill. Still a really hefty price tag. So it's off to fill out the Fasfa I go

 

[Mkebound]

At Harvard and Yale, If the family makes less than $150,000 a year, the MOST a person would have to pay for tuition that qualifies is 10% of the annual salary.

So if the family makes $65K a year, tuition would be $6,500 a year.

 

[DisCookie]

Depending on how desirable the student is to their school, there could be some merit based aid in terms of some scholarships.

Then some need based financial aid like grants and subsidized/unsubsidized loans to help make up the remainder.

That is overgeneralizing things, but if they are not getting free money somewhere, they are borrowing it somewhere.

I got accepted to some pricey out of state schools and they always offered a rather huge chunk of "scholarship" money, brought it inline with what I would pay at an instate school

 

[Marionnette]

Any insites about how financial aid works at a school that chrges 45k per year? We looked at 2 such schools this last yer for our kids but did not apply to either of them. We endedup finding a great school we could afford but i wonder how averagemiddle class familes can afford such costs.

Jen.

Many of the more expensive private schools offer a number of scholarships, work/study and grants to make up the difference between what FAFSA says the family should be able to pay and what tuition, room and board cost. The earlier that the student does their FAFSA, the better shot they have at the grants and scholarships.

But even with that, tuition is still expensive. My daughter attends one of those high-tuition schools. Most of her classmates are from wealthy families (girls wear Prada and Gucci to class). And there are some who are there on scholarships aimed at attracting qualified students from disadvantaged backgrounds. There are very few students who are from lower middle-class families.

 

[prncess674]

Are you talking about university or private K-8/High School. If you are talking about private HS/K8 then it is a pay to play. They can determine who qualifies for financial aid on any way they generally see fit. Most of these private school state that they have financail aid, but it probably isn't enough for the average middle class kid.

 

[tzolkin]

Depends on the school.

I applied to 13 schools. The most expensive one (currently $56K) was the one I wound up going to because it turned out to be the cheapest. I don't mean a little bit cheaper, I mean thousands each year cheaper. My parents paid $0, I took out about $1500 per year in loans and paid cash for my books. I believe the school with the next best financial aid still expected me to pay over $10K a year.


Some of the more expensive schools simply have more money to offer. In the case of my school, they are not need-blind in their admissions. Which means it's much more difficult for a "poor" student to get accepted, but there are so few of them that they can offer them significantly more financial aid than schools where all or most of the students need some financial aid.


This is why I always tell parents not to discourage their kids from applying to schools simply based on the price. The tuition was more than my family (of 7)'s annual income, so if I had applied to places based on that I wouldn't have gone to college.

 

[disney_5]

This is great info. The 2 schools we looked at were both fancy private high schools. One also has a college which is also very expensive but would be a great school for our son so we will look into that in a few years. I am just learning how financial aid works.

Jen.

 

[prncess674]

This is great info. The 2 schools we looked at were both fancy private high schools. One also has a college which is also very expensive but would be a great school for our son so we will look into that in a few years. I am just learning how financial aid works.

Jen.

The FAFSA is for university/college expenses. You would need private loans for HS. It seems as though you can afford some level of private education since your kids are currently enrolled in a private school, so I doubt you will get much in the form of need based aid without some other reason such as superior athletic ability or superior (Think perfect SAT type) academic ability. Private high school love touting athletics so if your kid is a star center forward on the basketball court then you may get some aid, but if you are the average middle class family with a kid who has good smarts but isn't a genius, I would put the 45K school on the back burner and save the money for post secondary education.

 

[Kitzka]

Any insites about how financial aid works at a school that chrges 45k per year? We looked at 2 such schools this last yer for our kids but did not apply to either of them. We endedup finding a great school we could afford but i wonder how averagemiddle class familes can afford such costs.

Jen.

DD will be going to HS next year. there is a LOT of competive private and public HS in my area. She was accepted to a private HS where tutition for the year is 29k. The inital package offered for us had us paying boaut 15k. It was still too much for us to afford and they somehow found another 8k. which is more in line with what we can afford.

I'm not sure if she will go there as there are 2 other schools we are waiting to hear from and she may still end up at the local (free) high school.

I think private HS can do what they want with their financial aid. This school really wanted DD for some reason and we are defintely taking that into consideration but have other schools to look into.

Lara

 

[coachb]

Don't let sticker shock preclude you from applying to an expensive private college. As previous posters have stated, oftentimes a more expensive (and affluent) school becomes more affordable after financial aid is distributed.

Look at it this way: The private school in question costs $45k, the public college $20k. You fill out the FAFSA and the feds say you have an EFC (expected family contribution) of $10k. The private school meets your need and gives you $35k in aid (grants, loans, work study). The public gives you $5k. They don't meet your need and "gap" you $5k. Small or no gaps are good. Large gaps bad and where negotiations begin.

FWIW, there is a new federal law this year whereas colleges must provide a cost calculator to the general public. Because different schools use different methodologies this takes all of the guesswork out. You can find these calculators on schools websites.

 

[prncess674]

Don't let sticker shock preclude you from applying to an expensive private college. As previous posters have stated, oftentimes a more expensive (and affluent) school becomes more affordable after financial aid is distributed.

Look at it this way: The private school in question costs $45k, the public college $20k. You fill out the FAFSA and the feds say you have an EFC (expected family contribution) of $10k. The private school meets your need and gives you $35k in aid (grants, loans, work study). The public gives you $5k. They don't meet your need and "gap" you $5k. Small or no gaps are good. Large gaps bad and where negotiations begin.

FWIW, there is a new federal law this year whereas colleges must provide a cost calculator to the general public. Because different schools use different methodologies this takes all of the guesswork out. You can find these calculators on schools websites.

The OP isn't looking at post secondary schools, she is looking at a HIGH SCHOOL.

 

[Darcy03231]

DD goes to a private catholic university. Average tuition and room and board come to about $37k per year. The university has given her financial aid in the forms of grants and scholarships that cover about 2/3 of the cost. She has applied for other scholarships and has received anywhere between $1k and $5k per year. The rest is loans, which we plan to pay off when she's done school. She doesn't know this because I wanted her to be invested in her education.

She applied to our state university with tuition and room and board of approximately $20k per year. They didn't offer her any financial aid beyond student loans.

Obviously, she was better off attending the private school.

 

[DisCookie]

The OP isn't looking at post secondary schools, she is looking at a HIGH SCHOOL.

In their defense, the OP did not say they were seeking financial aid for a high school in their original post. I know I opened this, but didn't get a chance to reply to it until later..

Like you said, HS financial aid is a different ballgame, they can give aid as they see fit. What applies to one school may not apply at another.

 

[lurkernj]

I took it to mean college too. 45K for high school?

We're beginning the college search now and most of them are in the $40-60K range. Our private high schools around here are in the $10-20K range

 

[a1tinkfans]

FAFSA appears to be a joke to me
The efc is so high for us it is Unrealistic...and we wont pay it...
so unless I decide to forego
mortgage/tax payments?
Dump the vehicles ?
wipe out "retirement" savings?
wipe out back up money for emergencies?
sell my home (THAT one I am tempted.....!)
mine will be going to the least expensive school that he is accepted at...which will make for one less happy kid....cause I will not go into debt for a school loan/s.......been there, done that...and wont return...so heres to crossed fingers for some Good Money Offers...and they'll come, I have no doubt...Q is...will it be enough???
rant over.....

 

[punkin]

Yes, there are high schools that expensive, and they can do financial aid any way they want to that is not clearly discriminatory. What most of these high end schools like is diversity, so (just like private colleges) they are looking for minorities, real hardship cases, and the truly brilliant. If your child is just bright and well rounded and you are middle class, I would look elsewhere.

 

[Sheree]

our efc is also a joke. we did things right, saved for college, paid down our home, etc
husband just back to work but we had a lot of capital gains (we sold things) so no aid since son has asssets

instate all in is 27k; out of state is 37k and private is 59k; all on us no matter where he goes. of course in 2 yrs when we wipe out his college money maybe then we'll get something

 

[luvdisney00]

LOL. There are a myrid of ways that parents send their kids to an expensive college but the "afford" part is up for debate.

So, one of the schools that my son has been accepted to is Seton Hall in NJ. It's a good school, private catholic school. Tuition and room and board will be between 39K and 42K depending on what dorm he picks. They gave him 40K in scholarships over the 4 years. not in one bop (I wish) so that cuts 10K off the bill. Still a really hefty price tag. So it's off to fill out the Fasfa I go

I am just starting to look at all of this as my oldest DD is a junior, but I had to pipe in to say that I'm a Seton Hall graduate. I took my daughter to look at it in the fall and we both enjoyed exploring my old campus. Great school, good Luck with the financial aid!

 

[crisi]

FAFSA appears to be a joke to me
The efc is so high for us it is Unrealistic...and we wont pay it...
so unless I decide to forego
mortgage/tax payments?
Dump the vehicles ?
wipe out "retirement" savings?
wipe out back up money for emergencies?
sell my home (THAT one I am tempted.....!)
mine will be going to the least expensive school that he is accepted at...which will make for one less happy kid....cause I will not go into debt for a school loan/s.......been there, done that...and wont return...so heres to crossed fingers for some Good Money Offers...and they'll come, I have no doubt...Q is...will it be enough???
rant over.....

They expect that if you are a middle class - and particularly an above median income middle class - family that when your kid was born you opened up a college savings account and made regular contributions to it - making sacrifices all along the way to put a few thousand aside each year if you wanted your child to go to "expensive private school without an excellent endowment." Or you can bet on scholarship money. Or you can do what you are doing and just choose a less expensive school.

And it hurts to make those sacrifices in order to save for college - and retirement as well. But small private colleges are very expensive to run (all those old buildings alone cost an arm and a leg), and if the parents and kids aren't going to pony up the dollars, who will?

(And the day my youngest leaves for college, my kids are on notice that the house is going up for sale and mom and dad are downsizing