How does financial aid work at a realy expensive school

[Leajess99]

For college, it is sometimes best to start at a Community college and then transfer. I know in Kentucky some of the colleges have great transfer scholarships (think 1/2 off tuition) while others (U of L) have crappy transfer scholarships ($400 per semester for a year).

Check for all scholarships you may be eligible for and apply.

As for the op, I would so save the money for college. I would love for my daughter to attend a great private school but she will be great at our high school. I would prefer to save money for college so she is not forced to take out student loans. Thankfully if she stays in Kentucky for college and attends a public college she will have a tuition waiver like her brother has.

 

[momxx5]

Wow, all this info is awesome.

DS is a senior and currently finishing all the applications. At this moment he is class rank #1, but that can change during the next semester....so we'll see how that turns out.
He took PSAT and missed being a National Merit Scholar Finalist by 1 pt. He did get a Commended(sp?) title/honor, but neither DH nor I work at any big national company that hand out large scholarships to children of employees.
DS's scores for ACT and SAT are in top 2% of country.

We are truly blessed to have such a bright, well rounded, kind son. He plays tenor sax....making All County, All Districk and Govenor's School nomination. He is Drum Major of school Marching Band and plays sax for a local band that plays gigs around town(and a few road trips).

Considering our horrible financial situation, the one kinda good thing is that he has applied to the "need blind" schools. He wants to go Ivy League and be the kid that "got out of town". I will be on pins & needles until any acceptance letters arrived and any financial aid pkgs get worked out.
A friend of his, who is currently a freshman at State, got a full ride.....including room/board/books and laptop computer. We are so proud of her.

We were considered "middle class" when DH had his awesome job. Since that job was eliminated almost 2 yrs ago, all savings, 401K, any assets at all, have been used/spent on keeping family afloat. I am anxious to see how our Federal and State income taxes will turn out...that will tell A LOT.

Best of luck to all applying for colleges (and high schoolers). It is stressful, but usually has a great payoff = a happy, educated, good character member of society. Counting all our blessings.

 

[dimimi]

No judgement here...just curiousity. Why would you spend 45,000 for high school? I can understand if money were no object spending that kind of money, but since you are asking about ways to get money for high school, I am assuming that money is an issue. Why would you send her to such an expensive school?

(I teach in a public high school, so I understand the value of a good education.)

 

[meriface11]

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!

I'm a Seton Hall grad too!

 

[a1tinkfans]

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

well this is a definite learning experience for us.
I have a "feeling" that doing things right actually has worked against us.
The Middle has gotten lost in the shuffle.......
The top schools are not my worry ...regarding money, if they want him, we'd actually be paying less than other, mid tiers..But as everyone knows the competition is very fierce...there are just lots of Over achieving students out there.....the safety school has already offered 100K/4 years (when I was a student I would have jumped for joy ) which covers about all, But he wont go there and we all know it....so, it will be a wait and see for us....a state school has already accepted too, no financial yet, but merit is expected and the cost is nominal comparatively speaking...It will be a real changing year for us as a family....exciting yet anxious.......
If I knew then what I know now, things would have been done differently......
and yeah, I would love to escape to a warmer, downsized place....its all up in the air........... till april.

 

[cornflake]

No judgement here...just curiousity. Why would you spend 45,000 for high school? I can understand if money were no object spending that kind of money, but since you are asking about ways to get money for high school, I am assuming that money is an issue. Why would you send her to such an expensive school?

(I teach in a public high school, so I understand the value of a good education.)

Because they're really good, nationally and internationally schools, that feed into good schools, and have 'good' student bodies.

In some areas, that's normal for top-tier private schools and there are a lot of them. It's not like that's the one freaky high school on the hill (except if the OP is referring to the big-name boarding schools, heh), there are a slew top high schools and they're all 30-50k. There are ones 'below' that in the teens to 20s range, and top Catholic ones that are around that and can offer much more in the way of scholarship money and, if we're talking about NY, there are a few schools that are at the top level but free, public schools (but very, very hard to get into).

 

[prncess674]

Because they're really good, nationally and internationally schools, that feed into good schools, and have 'good' student bodies.

In some areas, that's normal for top-tier private schools and there are a lot of them. It's not like that's the one freaky high school on the hill (except if the OP is referring to the big-name boarding schools, heh), there are a slew top high schools and they're all 30-50k. There are ones 'below' that in the teens to 20s range, and top Catholic ones that are around that and can offer much more in the way of scholarship money and, if we're talking about NY, there are a few schools that are at the top level but free, public schools (but very, very hard to get into).

Sure there are plenty of schools that charge 30-50K per year for HS, but that doesn't mean everyone has the right to go to them for free. If the OP can get need or merit based aid then great, but she should expect to bring something to the table that the school doesn't have: minority status, star athletic ability or top 1% of the country academics.

I think the point most people are trying to make to the OP is why would you go 400K in debt (2 kids * 4 years *50K) and the kids aren't even out of high school. They would then be likely faced with similar debt burden for university. Spending 800K to send kids to HS and college is pretty unattainable for most families and if families needs to choose where to spend limited school $$$ then it is better to have your child attend a free or low cost HS and then shovel those dollars into college tuition.

Sure, attending an elite private school may increase your chances of attending an ivy league, it is certainly no guarantee. Yes, attending a private school increases your exposure to the very wealthy, but realize the wealthy are very insular and they KNOW who is there on scholarship so it may lead to your child being ostrasized as on outsider in the school community.

No one lists their high school on resumes.

 

[punkin]

Sure there are plenty of schools that charge 30-50K per year for HS, but that doesn't mean everyone has the right to go to them for free. If the OP can get need or merit based aid then great, but she should expect to bring something to the table that the school doesn't have: minority status, star athletic ability or top 1% of the country academics.

I think the point most people are trying to make to the OP is why would you go 400K in debt (2 kids * 4 years *50K) and the kids aren't even out of high school. They would then be likely faced with similar debt burden for university. Spending 800K to send kids to HS and college is pretty unattainable for most families and if families needs to choose where to spend limited school $$$ then it is better to have your child attend a free or low cost HS and then shovel those dollars into college tuition.

Sure, attending an elite private school may increase your chances of attending an ivy league, it is certainly no guarantee. Yes, attending a private school increases your exposure to the very wealthy, but realize the wealthy are very insular and they KNOW who is there on scholarship so it may lead to your child being ostrasized as on outsider in the school community.

No one lists their high school on resumes.

I do. My high school is a very well known public magnet. I am 44 yo and it is still on some of my resumes. Depending on the geographic location of the position, it may be worth more than my very well known private college (ranked top 5 last year by US News, I believe).

 

[prncess674]

I do. My high school is a very well known public magnet. I am 44 yo and it is still on some of my resumes. Depending on the geographic location of the position, it may be worth more than my very well known private college (ranked top 5 last year by US News, I believe).

If I saw someone applying for a professional position with a high school listed, even if it was perceived by the applicant as highly ranked, I would laugh out loud then bring it to others to laugh at as well.

I could see if you were a new college graduate and maybe did something wonderful in high school, then great list with your HS accomplishments, but a 44 year old with twenty years of professional work experience would be comical.

 

[punkin]

If I saw someone applying for a professional position with a high school listed, even if it was perceived by the applicant as highly ranked, I would laugh out loud then bring it to others to laugh at as well.

I could see if you were a new college graduate and maybe did something wonderful in high school, then great list with your HS accomplishments, but a 44 year old with twenty years of professional work experience would be comical.

Some people never outgrow high school behavior.

 

[ccgirl]

If I saw someone applying for a professional position with a high school listed, even if it was perceived by the applicant as highly ranked, I would laugh out loud then bring it to others to laugh at as well.

I could see if you were a new college graduate and maybe did something wonderful in high school, then great list with your HS accomplishments, but a 44 year old with twenty years of professional work experience would be comical.

I would think that the person just forgot to update their resume. For a person in their 40's...it would be the work experience, not the college, that got you a position with my company.

 

[prncess674]

I would think that the person just forgot to update their resume. For a person in their 40's...it would be the work experience, not the college, that got you a position with my company.

Agree, work experience at 40 is what gets you a job. Alumni connections are great and you should work your college and HS alumni connections, but I wouldn't list HS on a resume in the hopes a random HR person was impressed. I have always been told that if you have more than 5 years of relevant work experience then your college should info should be at the bottom with just school and degree listed.

If I thought a 44 year old forgot to update their resume and remove high school information I would then assume that they are lazy and lack attention to detail. Your resume is your image and lack of attention to detail would land you in the reject pile.

 

[crisi]

Neither of my kids is a top tier kid. We aren't worried about that target at all. One of my coworkers has a son at one of those schools, she raised him for it. But the pressure has been incredible since he was little, and it hasn't let up. I don't want my kids to live that life.

I think those of us that "do it right" are better off in the end. We may end up with fewer grants, but we need fewer loans as well. And I'll be too old for loans when my kids get to college. And my kids will be too young for that sort of debt.

 

[aboveH20]

The school my son went to cost $50,000+. The university gave him a $4,000 scholarship. When I went to his graduation and the university "bragged" that they had students from 124 different countries I figured that's where the scholarship money for American students goes!

One last note . . . don't compare financial packages with other parents or students. It will drive you insane when you hear about others getting full scholarships.

 

[roadtripper]

The school my son went to cost $50,000+. The university gave him a $4,000 scholarship. When I went to his graduation and the university "bragged" that they had students from 124 different countries I figured that's where the scholarship money for American students goes!

One last note . . . don't compare financial packages with other parents or students. It will drive you insane when you hear about others getting full scholarships.

I've never known of a foreign student to get a dime of aid. They pay the full boat, and actually subsidize American kids' scholarships. My heart breaks for my undocumented students who were brought here as babies, did everything right (pres of student council, national honor society--and get nothing because they're not documented. But that's a story for another day.

Good advice here about colleges though--the prestigious expensive colleges have more to give. Don't write them off due to the sticker price.

 

[KennesawNemo]

The school my son went to cost $50,000+. The university gave him a $4,000 scholarship. When I went to his graduation and the university "bragged" that they had students from 124 different countries I figured that's where the scholarship money for American students goes!

One last note . . . don't compare financial packages with other parents or students. It will drive you insane when you hear about others getting full scholarships.

My husband and I came to this country 10 years ago on full scholarships, but we came here for our Ph.Ds. A lot of our friends came to this country this way, but they all came for post-graduate degree, mostly for Ph.Ds.

A big percentage of us studied in areas where very few Americans would apply. It would take 5-6 years to finish the program and another 2 or 3 years to do post-dcotoral research. ALL our scholarships are merit-based. I've never heard of a need based financial aid for foreign students. As far as I know, if there are two students with same qualification, one american, one foreign, the money always goes to the American.

Undergraduate is a different story. There are some scholarships for foreign students, but you would have to win some international award in science/math to get that. Recruiting undergraduate or master students is actually where the universities make money. With the bad economy here, universities are putting more and more effort into recruiting foreign students. Some of the universities now have full time staff stationed abroad to recruit.

So I am very sure that foreign students are not taking the sholarship American kids derserves.

 

[KBoopaloo]

I've never known of a foreign student to get a dime of aid. They pay the full boat, and actually subsidize American kids' scholarships. My heart breaks for my undocumented students who were brought here as babies, did everything right (pres of student council, national honor society--and get nothing because they're not documented. But that's a story for another day.

Good advice here about colleges though--the prestigious expensive colleges have more to give. Don't write them off due to the sticker price.

My experience with top tier private schools has been the same. At the schools I am familiar with, most international students receive NO aid at all and pay the full amount of tuition and room and board.

 

[chimilady]

Neither of my kids is a top tier kid. We aren't worried about that target at all. One of my coworkers has a son at one of those schools, she raised him for it. But the pressure has been incredible since he was little, and it hasn't let up. I don't want my kids to live that life.

I think those of us that "do it right" are better off in the end. We may end up with fewer grants, but we need fewer loans as well. And I'll be too old for loans when my kids get to college. And my kids will be too young for that sort of debt.

Most top tier schools don't do loans at all. Like right now, any Ivy or top ranking private liberal arts college (Williams, Swarthmore, etc.) does not do loans. You pay what FAFSA says you can afford. Anything else comes from grants. The top schools realized they were losing kids to cheaper schools due to cost, so now they took cost out of the equation to make sure they get the best of the best. If your kid gets into Columbia, Princeton, Penn, they will pay whatever FAFSA says they can afford, and not a dime more. And will not be saddled with loans, as the alum pay for it with grants. This has been going on for about 5-10 years at most top tier schools. Private schools, a little less.

The school my son went to cost $50,000+. The university gave him a $4,000 scholarship. When I went to his graduation and the university "bragged" that they had students from 124 different countries I figured that's where the scholarship money for American students goes!

Only US citizens are eligible for aid. Foreign kids pay full price as PP said. They actually subsidize your kids. So be nice to those foreign students.

My husband and I came to this country 10 years ago on full scholarships, but we came here for our Ph.Ds. A lot of our friends came to this country this way, but they all came for post-graduate degree, mostly for Ph.Ds.

PhD programs though aren't considered financial aid. Most PhD programs are free tuition with a modest stipend for living expenses. That's not considered financial aid, that's standard for a good program. I have yet found any quality PhD program at any school that didn't do a full ride with modest stipend, and I've worked my entire career in higher ed. I'm sure some state schools don't do full rides, but grad school is way different than undergrad, it's a whole new ballgame. You're comparing apples to oranges. So throwing a PhD experience into an undergrad conversation will only confuse most people.

 

[punkin]

Most top tier schools don't do loans at all. Like right now, any Ivy or top ranking private liberal arts college (Williams, Swarthmore, etc.) does not do loans. You pay what FAFSA says you can afford. Anything else comes from grants. The top schools realized they were losing kids to cheaper schools due to cost, so now they took cost out of the equation to make sure they get the best of the best. If your kid gets into Columbia, Princeton, Penn, they will pay whatever FAFSA says they can afford, and not a dime more. And will not be saddled with loans, as the alum pay for it with grants. This has been going on for about 5-10 years at most top tier schools. Private schools, a little less.

not so true anymore. http://chronicle.com/article/Williams-College-Nixes-No-L/63851/ I also think Dartmouth dropped theirs. There are still some top tier schools doing this, but fewer than there were a few years ago.

Only US citizens are eligible for aid. Foreign kids pay full price as PP said. They actually subsidize your kids. So be nice to those foreign students.

They do pay full price as far as financial aid, but I believe that they are eligible for merit scholarships given by the school.

PhD programs though aren't considered financial aid. Most PhD programs are free tuition with a modest stipend for living expenses. That's not considered financial aid, that's standard for a good program. I have yet found any quality PhD program at any school that didn't do a full ride with modest stipend, and I've worked my entire career in higher ed. I'm sure some state schools don't do full rides, but grad school is way different than undergrad, it's a whole new ballgame. You're comparing apples to oranges. So throwing a PhD experience into an undergrad conversation will only confuse most people.

.

 

[crisi]

Most top tier schools don't do loans at all. Like right now, any Ivy or top ranking private liberal arts college (Williams, Swarthmore, etc.) does not do loans. You pay what FAFSA says you can afford. Anything else comes from grants. The top schools realized they were losing kids to cheaper schools due to cost, so now they took cost out of the equation to make sure they get the best of the best. If your kid gets into Columbia, Princeton, Penn, they will pay whatever FAFSA says they can afford, and not a dime more. And will not be saddled with loans, as the alum pay for it with grants. This has been going on for about 5-10 years at most top tier schools. Private schools, a little less.

Yes, I know. The point being that only 6% of the people who apply to Harvard are accepted. My kids won't be in that set. Columbia is 6.4%. Dartmouth is 9%, Princeton 8.4%, Stanford 7%. And those are just the kids that apply - most kids know they don't have a chance and don't apply. Not that my kids aren't smart. My daughter in particular. But she doesn't combine the type of smart, disciplined and driven it takes to get accepted to Stanford - nor is that sort of stress something I really want for her. I hope yours are smart, disciplined and driven enough if that is what you want, but mine will likely be going to Grinnell (44%) or the like, who have less impressive endowments and packages. If they get into Harvard, we will be happy to accept whatever aid Harvard offers for them. If my son signs with the Atlanta Braves, I'll be thrilled. Neither of these outcomes is something I'm counting on - I'll plan for kids who do well in life, but I'm not going to put my bets on excelling way on the tiny end of the bell curve.