Am I the only one paying the full college cost?

nooob · 05-30-2009, 02:42 AM

My family makes a decent amount, enough to make our EFC just above the average cost a college (50K). They say they've saved up for my college costs already (which i'm guessing covers the four years for now) but they also said that anything I can do to save them money is appreciated.

Right now everywhere I look, kids are talking about "oh, this school gave me a lot of money/scholarships" and I feel like, "great, i'm going to the same school but paying about 4 or 5 times as much as they are." I tried applying for merit based scholarships but that pool was tough too and i found no luck. This year i didn't apply for need-based but next year I definitely think I might, just to see if I can get anything. I also found a part time summer job which I hope can help alleviate the financial burden, but with the couple hundred i'll make by the end of summer, it'll probably be spent on two semester's worth of books and then I'll be back to zero.

Anyone else feel the same way?

sk8rmom · 05-30-2009, 06:17 AM

Did you apply for local scholarships/awards? You could also ask your parents if they'd like you to take out a small amount in loans every year. You would have to file the FAFSA though.

dt123 · 05-30-2009, 06:28 AM

Spots in a university class are like airline seats, in that it seems everybody paid something different for the same thing. There are full-price customers all the way down to customers going free. The full-price airline customers are travelling on changeable, refundable tickets purchased at the last minute. The discount tickets came with all sorts of restrictions and advance planning required. The free tickets were issued to employees standing by, just before the doors closed, when it was clear that there would otherwise be empty seats for which no one was going to pay anything. So in the airline context, you trade price for restrictions/inconvenience and it seems fair.

The thing about being a full-price university customer is that you were able to choose where you attend without being limited by the cost. You could choose to go anywhere you could get into. Many who rely heavily on merit aid have compromised their choices, picking more generous, less desirable institutions than they would have in your situation. Imagine how they feel, thinking "I could have gone to Prestige U. if my parents had saved up the money." Instead they are on a merit ride at Tiddlywink State. Your Prestige is their Tiddlywink. Try not to focus on that too much.

So, just saying, you might want to be a little guarded in your complaint that others are paying less than you. In most cases there is a good reason, sad situation, or compromise of some kind behind their choice that you don't know about. And don't want to know about, really.

franglish · 05-30-2009, 06:46 AM

The way I think about it, is that it should probably FEEL about the same to everyone. The amount of sacrifice should be about the same. So for someone making $100,000, paying $10,000 for X thing is 10% of his income. For someone making $10,000, paying $1000 for X is 10% of his income. That should feel the same to each of these folks. The debate comes in whether each person is ENTITLED to buy the same X.

cptofthehouse · 05-30-2009, 10:26 AM

If you look at the percentage of kids on financial aid, you can see that you are not the only one paying full price for college. The more selective schools tend to have about half the kids on aid of some sort.

We are not eligible for financial aid. However, we have other financial issues that need to be addressed more urgently than a private college tuition. So when we looked at colleges two years ago, and made our decisions last year, we looked for schools with low sticker prices (our in state schools were the best deals that way), schools that had merit money, schools that would really want him (wanting males, diverse geographics, his areas of interest, etc), and special programs (Webb, Maritime, Deep Spring, Cooper Union). And he did get some nice merit offers, one of which he took. So if this is an issue for you, that is one of the things you need to do when looking at colleges. Your kid usually has to be in the upper 10% or so in stats unless he has some other hook the college would really want, to have a good shot at some decent merit money, I have found.

toadstool · 05-30-2009, 10:31 AM

Perhaps could the students who get boatloads of FA stop shoving it in the face of the full pay students and their parents? A little discretion would make FA/FP friction ease.

I favorite was the 100% FA kid announcing a boost in that year's award, while talking endlessly about the new horse she was getting. I wanted to throttle her.

Bay · 05-30-2009, 10:49 AM

In the old days, it was considered embarrassing to disclose that one was on FA in college, so kids didn't talk about it. Peoples' financial situations were considered private.

Nowadays, it is trumpeted around as though the recipient actually did something amazing to deserve it. This can cause some friction, I think.

kayf · 05-30-2009, 11:15 AM

The private high schools near me encourage it -- they trumpet every award.

The colleges encourage it -- labeling Presidential etc.

I agree, parents and finaid people should advise kids to put a lid on it.

oldfort · 05-30-2009, 11:29 AM

Presidential award is merit based - something to trumpet about. Not the case for need based. Depending where you live, around NE where cost of living is high, not as many kids are on FA.

kayf · 05-30-2009, 11:41 AM

Yes, I agree Oldfort, but when I went to school, many years ago, people didnt flaunt it. The colleges have brought many cost/finaid problems unto themselves.

'rentof2 · 05-30-2009, 11:46 AM

My kid receives need-based aid at a top LAC. Although he knows roughly half the students there also receive aid, he says it seems like only a few do. Most of the students, as far as he can determine, seem to pay full cost.

What I'm describing is, of course, his *experience* of the FA/FP issue, not the reality of it. But it does suggest many students keep it quiet. He said he has heard FP students saying derisive things about FA students and laughing about it. Things like that probably encourage FA students to keep their mouths shut.

It was different when both my kids were a bit younger. In the couple years before they and their friends went on to college, it seemed like lots of students were talking about the aid they receive. As a parent of students on FA, I don't think the talking about it is so much a matter of crowing, as being amazed and relieved that the universe could line up in a such a way as to allow them to go to college at all.

My second kid is at the state university, and there many students get some kind of aid, nearly all have to work to make ends meet. It's a different environment entirely, and from what I gather students rarely talk about it there.

nooob · 05-30-2009, 01:10 PM

Well, first of all, the university i'm about to attend is not a twiddlytwink university that everyone just settles for. Most people pick it because they love it.

Second of all, like many have already said, a major pet peeve of mine is when students say "oh yeah, this school gave me a lot of money, that's why i'm going there" But seriously, did the school GIVE you money? or did they just say, "hey, you pay less". There's no money going from the school to you, you're still paying the school.

Third, in response to one of the previous posts, yeah i tried my best not to make this thread about how i'm so fortunate i can choose which college to attend. I was just looking for statistics on how many students pay the full cost.

thumper1 · 05-30-2009, 01:12 PM

You are not the only one paying the full price. We are too...and we don't mind a bit. We are grateful that we are in the financial position (according to the Profile and FAFSA) to be able to do so. And we have very grateful kids too.

'rentof2 · 05-30-2009, 01:16 PM

The answer to that question, as cptofthehouse said, is about half of students pay full cost at the most selective schools. That's been consisent in everything I've read on the issue.

However, even among the other half receiving aid, the amount of that aid can vary widely, from not much at all to the occasional full cost.

I do think you'll hear a lot less about this once you actually get to your college, though.

nooob · 05-30-2009, 01:16 PM

I have a friend who had an EFC way over 50K because his family owned a lot of land, but due to certain issues, they couldn't convert that land into money, which meant that although he needed a lot of aid, he couldn't receive any. How accurate would you say the EFC determines how much you pay? 90% of the time? 95%? 50%?