Will your child need scholarships to attend college?

[sk!mom]

As I'm reading the various *parents of the class of **** threads, I'm struck by the number of people who've been unpleasantly surprised by the lack of financial aid for excellent students with middle class parents.

I think that there are a lot of myths out there that if your child works hard, achieves, takes AP classes, etc... that they will be in line for large awards. This will not be the case for many.

I would urge you to do some research into realistic colleges for your student and look at the ACT/SAT scores necessary to receive scholarships and the amounts of the actual awards.

Keep in mind that the more competitive the school sometimes the less chance of a good award. Your child will often be offered more money at a school where they are an attractive candidate.

This is just a PSA.

 

[cabanafrau]

As I'm reading the various *parents of the class of **** threads, I'm struck by the number of people who've been unpleasantly surprised by the lack of financial aid for excellent students with middle class parents.

I think that there are a lot of myths out there that if your child works hard, achieves, takes AP classes, etc... that they will be in line for large awards. This will not be the case for many.

I would urge you to do some research into realistic colleges for your student and look at the ACT/SAT scores necessary to receive scholarships and the amounts of the actual awards.

Keep in mind that the more competitive the school sometimes the less chance of a good award. Your child will often be offered more money at a school where they are an attractive candidate.

This is just a PSA.

You said a mouthful.

My advice for those wishing to count on scholarships to help their kids fund college -- pursue it through athletics. Much wider pipeline by far. Don't overlook the possibilities in bowling, golfing, etc.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

The short answer is, "it depends".

There's a fund set up for both kids, but the funds aren't unlimited. Depending on their education path, they may or may not be covered without scholarships/loans.

 

[Disneylover99]

A scholarship would be nice, but I'm not counting on it. We've been socking away money for years for post secondary education. We'll see what happens.

 

[wishesuponastar]

Agree, a scholarship is nice to have but my daughters will still go to college without one.

 

[Poohforyou]

It really depends. My dd is a senior. We've saved quite a bit for her but without some merit aid she won't be attending her 1st choice which comes with a $65k price tag. We know need based aid isn't happening.

Sports is so iffy. My recommendation is to have you teen look at schools where they're at the high end of average. That's what my dd has done. There's more merit to attract students who help the school increase their standing.

 

[mjkacmom]

It is a shocker for many. Lots of private schools offer scholarships, which can bring the cost down to public (around $25,000 a year with room and board, in state here). My oldest had solid SAT scores, 4.3 GPA, NHS, top choirs, community service, clubs, and got zero from the in state university she attends. She did get $ from another public in state college (plus another public out f state university, and lots of private schools), but it was a lesser school.

 

[mnrose]

So true! I think it is 100% incumbent on parents to EARLY ON (and freshman and sophomore years are not too early!) to start filling in the net price calculators on any college's website where there's even a remote chance your kid might be interested. It takes 10-15 minutes per site to do, and less the more you do. Have your last year's tax return handy and it will take no time at all. At the very least do the following: low prices state PUBLIC college, high priced state PUBLIC college (in my state, there are only two types of colleges which are public), low priced private, and high priced private. For kicks, toss in a "highly selective" (also likely to be high priced) private. From that, you will get a strong idea of what sorts of colleges are realistically within your budget. Note that the highly selective privates RARELY provide merit aid because all their students would qualify. They DO provide excellent needs based aid, but MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND whether you qualify for that. For example, Stanford touts that they provide "full scholarships" for families under a certain income level. What you DON'T see until you go looking for the "fine print" is the qualifier that says "assumes average assets." And that level is quite low, given that the average parents who are sending kids to college are in their 40's and 50's....if I had "the average assets" they assume and I was in that age bracket, I'd be terrified of my retirement....LOL.

In my household, we will be sending twins to college in the fall of 2018. Even given that we will simultaneously be sending twins to college, and have a modest income (although above average assets, apparently), I have yet to find a SINGLE college where we are not expected to pay 100% of the cost (well, less the ridiculously small federally guaranteed student loan which barely makes a dent in the cost of any private college) for TWO simultaneously.

So that meant EARLY ON setting expectations at the right level for my students. No, I'm sorry, I cannot afford Stanford or Harvard or any Ivy league school, even if you get in. No, I can't afford any high priced private anywhere in the US, UNLESS you get substantial merit aid, and look, most of them don't offer it. I have a son who does very well in high school and has excellent test scores. He's being recruited by the best of the best schools. It is heartbreaking to me that I cannot afford them. But, I will not jeopardize my financial security for his college education.

The good news is that there are PLENTY of excellent colleges that DON'T cost an arm and a leg and ARE affordable for us. He will get into any of them easily with little anxiety or stress. He will be able to graduate debt free. The big name schools are the be all and end all for success in life.

 

[mnrose]

You said a mouthful.

My advice for those wishing to count on scholarships to help their kids fund college -- pursue it through athletics. Much wider pipeline by far. Don't overlook the possibilities in bowling, golfing, etc.

I listened to a presentation by our high school activities director. I don't know where he got his figures, or whether they are accurate, but he said the "average" athletic scholarship is $6000. The average academic scholarship is $12000.

 

[Magpie]

Did we "need" the scholarships? No, but it sure helped.

It also helps that in my neck of the woods there are automatic scholarships offered over a certain grade level, with the schools having the option to bump kids up into the next scholarship tier, or not, depending on the student's other qualifications.

In addition, Ontario universities are comparatively affordable, especially for provincial residents, and over the years we had put money into RESPs for them.

My son, who is dyslexic, got an academic scholarship, despite not having the grades to qualify. He lost that scholarship by the next year (because he STILL didn't have the grades, ) but he then qualified for a disability scholarship. So, it all evened out. He will graduate with an average amount of student debt, and will almost certainly choose not to pursue a masters.

My daughter, who is quite academically talented, got bumped up a couple tiers, because the schools she'd applied to were competing for her. She's maintained that higher level scholarship over three years and has earned various grants and other funding, as well as a paid internship. She will complete her Bachelors debt-free, with a decent amount in her bank account to carry her forward into her Masters and Doctorate (her dream).

I think it's critically important to do your research and come up with a financial plan, ideally when your kids are still very young.

 

[tvguy]

As my kids high school counselors put it, loans and work study in the college financial aid world are considered with the same weight as scholarships.
A college will not admit your child and not make available financing for them to attend. But many parents are shocked to learn that. And if you have have filled out a FAFSA, you know that, unless you are older, retirement savings are considered something that needs to take a back seat to paying for your kids college.

 

[loves to dive]

In Georgia we have the Hope scholarship which is open to anyone who has the grades, doesn't matter what income bracket. It will pay all the tuition but not books or extras. My son had that his first semester then let his grades slip because he was working full time as well so he took out student loans. He dropped out after his first year, worked, got married, joined the Navy and is now divorced and back in school. The GI bill covers his classes and part of his living expenses and he is medically retired so he gets some retirement from the Navy as well. The two combined are still not enough for him to live on so he works part time as well, he is limited in that because he has permanent nerve damage in this spine so he can't work many hours. He has taken out one student loan so far in the past two years of being back in school, he refuses to let us help him, which I'm proud of.

 

[Hikergirl]

No, but they would be nice.

 

[SC Minnie]

In SC we have the lottery scholarships for merit, the amount is based on grades and the upper tier includes class rank and SAT/ACT scores. It can be used for cost of attendance not just tuition. DD's ended up paying for most of her room and board, we had already prepaid her tuition starting when she was 4 so that was taken care of. Without the prepaid tuition and scholarship money DD would have come out with a heck of a lot more loans than she did (she did 2 summer schools and took out loans for those).

 

[ronandannette]

My DS was unmotivated and a chronic underachiever in HS; he didn't qualify for any academic scholarships. He's in university now part-time on a pay-as-you-go basis for which we are using his college fund, one course at a time. If he enrols in a full-time program he will NEED student loans. There's a slightly different sentiment in Canada in this regard. I don't think people automatically assume post-secondary education will be 100% a parental responsibility. I don't know a single one of my DS's peers that are going without loans of some kind.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I have twins that are freshmen in college. One is a college athlete. Neither got a penny of help with tuition. I knew we couldn't count on any help, so they made realistic choices. I'd taken them for lunch to certain schools for many years knowing that would be the case, so it turns out they were quite comfortable there, anyway. Both are happy with their choices. They are on track to graduate debt free or close to it, and that's been a big motivator. They both (gasp) commute to school, by choice, with the idea that when they graduate, they'll be in a better position to actually move out and support themselves then, not having been saddled with loans for the purpose of living at school. They both work, have made lots of new friends, and are doing well in school, so it's working out. If DS stays on track for what he wants to do, he will need to continue his education and will likely need either loans then or some other creative way of obtaining the training he'll need, and that's ok; at least he'll have a way of supporting himself with both his degree and his athletic experience. Most people thought we were nuts applying to just one (in the case of my DD) or two (in the case of DS) schools, but it wasn't, as they knew what they wanted and what direction they were going to go. Everyone at both the HS and colleges kept telling us how rare that was to see. I think it's helpful to have a firm plan in place. (But I realize it's not possible for everyone.)

Just a note about athletics. It's funny and kind of ironic that people think that's helpful with the cost of school. Maybe it is in some places. For us, it's been just the opposite. Some schools need to fundraise to help send their teams to tournaments and other venues, and we even had to help pay for uniforms and equipment this year. This is the case for both state and private schools for the players we know. Many athletic budgets have been cut along with everything else, apparently. So athletics can actually be a budget buster. But it's been a really great experience for DS, so no complaints, really, just an fyi.

The upside of paying tuition in full this year was a very nice tax return. Thankful for small favors.

 

[MomofKatie]

We were hoping for merit aid- DD is an excellent student. We make too much to qualify for Pell grants or work study, so merit aid was the option.

We have enough saved to cover about $6000/year for school, but the rest would need to come from loans or scholarships/grants.

We researched many different universities to see where merit aid was available. Many places that offer the most aid are also extremely selective- think Ivy League type schools. DD is an excellent student, but not an ideal Ivy League candidate (STEM major, no "hook" situation).

She ended up getting a full tuition plus books and fees scholarship at the University of Alabama. She qualified because of her high SAT scores and her high school GPA. We are paying just room and board for her 4 years. She will still have student loan debt when she graduates, but it will be a very manageable amount- less than a modest new car loan.

 

[Christine]

I never counted on any scholarships. My kids were average to slightly-above-average in the "grades" department. My son did end up getting an unexpected scholarship through my husband's union to the tune of $2500 per year for 4 years. It was nice to have.

We never managed to save any money either due to day care costs and private school tuition. I was on the "pay as you go plan" for both kids. It wasn't too much of a struggle since I was used to always paying daycare or private tuition. I did have one really hard year when both were in college.

 

[Poohforyou]

I did want to add that were we not in a position to contribute a tremendous amount to college dd wouldn't have applied to many of the schools she did. She still hasn't heard from a few but has gotten $10-15k from those she has. A few schools we'd be able to pay without anything but the others we need $15k or so to make it work.

What has surprised me are those getting much more than that in merit aid and it still not being enough. I think expecting a 50% tuition scholarship is pretty lofty.

 

[kidshop]

It really depends. My dd is a senior. We've saved quite a bit for her but without some merit aid she won't be attending her 1st choice which comes with a $65k price tag. We know need based aid isn't happening.

Sports is so iffy. My recommendation is to have you teen look at schools where they're at the high end of average. That's what my dd has done. There's more merit to attract students who help the school increase their standing.

We are hoping for ROTC to come through for my ds. No merit aid at his school and no need based for us. I don't know how this will all work out, but he is going anyway. 68,000 is a ridiculous amount for any college!