Pete0six

Yes, it is true, we spend about 25K in private school expenses for High School and Elementary School. The FASA only considers children in college when calculating EFC. As the D1 goes to college, does anyone know if some institutes consider this in financial aid calculations? If so, do they typically treat this as a direct reduction of the EFC? We have heard this varies by school. Our situation is similar to 2 in college and if some schools consider it this way, it makes a huge difference. If no consideration is given, we probably will be ineligible for aid until D2 goes to school one year later.

Pete0six

Bump! The good news is it doesn't seem like there are many people in this same situation. Getting nervous, any help?

weenie

FAFSA does not consider siblings' private school expenses. Period. I believe that on the Profile it might be considered, but I've got to be honest with you - if you can afford to put 5 kids through private school it's probably not going to help you out substantially with need-based aid for that first one off to college.

Also, I don't think anyone knows the actual methodology used in the CSS Profile, so stuff like private school tuition for siblings is in a no man's land - certain schools might throw you a little tiny extra, others won't want to hear about it, but you'll never really know which schools are which. And the problem with anecdotal information is you don't know the real reason a college gives a kid some extra money. Do they just really want that kid or are they somehow calculating in that tuition expense for his or her family?

Hope that helps, but I undertand if it doesn't. LOL You might want to start shopping HARD for merit aid at this point.

sonofsam

There's no need to send kids to private school. If the financial issues are unbearable without the intervention of handouts, maybe they shouldn't be going to a private school?

thumper1

I do not believe that the FAFSA considers tuition for students other than those enrolled in college. It also doesn't include other "choices" in providing educational opportunities as I would guess that those are viewed as family choices. For example, the year DS was applying for finaid as a freshman, the previous year, we had expended well over $15,000 in music related expenses (summer program, new instrument, youth ensemble, private lessons on two instruments). In retrospect, we should have put that under "other considerations" or whatever it's called on the Profile...but the reality was that if we were able to pay that $15,000 for something optional, it was not going to help us with finaid. Of course, for DS...these were not optional expenses....he's a music major.

Pete0six

There's no need to send kids to private school. If the financial issues are unbearable without the intervention of handouts, maybe they shouldn't be going to a private school?

Sam-We make extraordinary cut backs to send children to these schools. It is a choice, but we believe in the mission of these schools, where they focus on building a well rounded student that requires service to the community. Every situation is different. How many people on CC send there kids to public schools where they pass through metal detectors and graduate kids for just showing up when they don't have the most basic skills? I am betting not many. This is not buying a 60 inch plasma and taking 3 vacations a year. I am not looking for a hand out, but I am looking for the CSS to take the whole financial picture into account.

thumper1

Pete, I believe there is a question on the CSS Profile about costs of education for others. For those sending students to public school, this line would be zero...we don't have tuition costs. For those sending a child to private school, that is where you would put your tuition costs. I haven't done a Profile in two years, but when I did, that question was there. Perhaps many of us misunderstood your question as in your OP, you did not mention the CSS Profile..only the FAFSA(which does not ask for this information or use it in its computation of EFC). Also keep in mind that the way each school USES the information you provide on the Profile is unique to that school. The only way to find out if that is a consideration at a school you are considering, is to call that school and ask. Schools using the Profile to award institutional aid can use the information provided any way they choose. The Profile does not provide an EFC the way the FAFSA does. It collects information for the schools to use in awarding institutional aid.

Pete0six

Thumper-thanks for the clarification. It appears some schools give you the standard "we will consider it" when it comes to the CSS. However, they seem vague and don't want to give specific info. I was hoping some of the CC crowd had gone through the process with similar circumstances.

weenie

Pete - That was why I said, "And the problem with anecdotal information is you don't know the real reason a college gives a kid some extra money." I could tell you that we listed private school tuition (and we did) but I have no way of knowing if it made any difference at all. Really, no one does. (In neither case did we get much, and we were unable to see any difference.)

swimcatsmom

Having kids in private schools is one of the circumstances that makes you eligible for a special circumstances adjustment for FAFSA. It is at the discretion of financial aid officers at the college but worth a try.
FinAid | Professional Judgment | Special Circumstances

I don't know how profile schools treat special circumstances but for FAFSA EFC they are not allowed to directly adjust the EFC. They adjust your input figures (for instance in our case they reduced our income because of loss of income and high medical costs) then the figures go through the EFC formula and spit out a new EFC.

emeraldkity4

Profile does have a space for extra expenses
However- with a daughter in private college and one who wasn't in private school but we did have extra educational expenses i.e. tutors for special services that the school did not provide ( like following her IEP), it wasn't my impression that our EFC was altered in any way by the claiming of extra expenses

Majesa

Wait...so if someone is sending kids to an optional private school, that counts as some kind of big expense, just like having to send more than one child to college at the same time?

Frankly, I would find that really odd. The public schools may be bad , and I know what a metal detector looks like at every door, running from fights and a few gunshots, emphasis being put on passing the graduation exam and not college in classes feels like, but it's still optional and one of those "privileged" things. No offense intended if such is taken.

thumper1

Majesa, The Profile allows you to put in information about private school expenses. The posters here indicated (and I suspected the same) that they have no way of knowing whether it was considered or not. Remember, the Profile is a form that collects financial information from families so that the schools can use that information for awarding institutional aid. From descriptions here and elsewhere, it is clear that the schools do NOT use this information in the same ways (awards vary quite a bit...if they were using the awards the same way, full need schools would have the same awards). Everyone who has posted her about private school expenses has indicated that they didn't seem to think there was a significant increase in their financial aid. BUT that doesn't mean the OP shouldn't indicated this on the form.

foto2gem

I know that Princeton asks about private school tuition. It made a difference of about $2000 in aid when tuition was $12000. Not sure if they will actually provide this aid, just seemed that way when filling out the financial estimator online.

bartleby

I think UofC asks about tuition expenses for siblings.