MitJohn

Hi guys, this is my first post so please excuse any posting mistakes. My parents make about 70,000 a year. They said they won't be able to contribute to my tuition. Will I be able to get financial aid for Mit, or will I have to go into debt if accepted?

-Thanks

CalAlum

MIT used to have an online calculator to estimate the amount of financial aid a prospective student might receive. But I now see that this has been taken down: MIT - Student Financial Services

That's unfortunate, imo.

There is an easy-to-use calculator still on the Princeton website, but be aware that MIT may not calculate financial aid in the same way. Still, it should give you a rough idea:

From the Princeton website:
Princeton University | Princeton Financial Aid Estimator

There are other online calculators you can consult also. Google will help.

Podvigs

MIT's Net Price Calculator is here:

https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/mit

which you can access also from the main SFS page:

MIT - Student Financial Services

marciemi

Both most likely. While an income of 70,000 is likely to net you substantial aid from MIT, it is unlikely to cover 100% of costs. As a minimum you personally will probably be expected to contribute around $6000 each year; more with what they feel your parents should be able to contribute (just saying "my parents won't help" won't make a difference - they'll still add in what they think they should pay, whether they do or not). Some of your portion will be loans, work study, etc. Can you talk to your parents and see if they could pay your portion if you paid them back once you graduated? Are there extenuating reasons why they can't or won't pay anything? If so, that will come out in the FASFA/CSS (medical bills, other family issues). Good luck!

lidusha

Depending on your circumstances and the cost of living in your area, $70,000 might actually be little enough to get you a free ride. A friend of mine is from California and has a younger brother; his mom is a single mom and earns $70,000 a year. His financial aid covers everything.

It's fairly easy to get part-time semester and full-time summer jobs on campus, at a UROP or as a deskworker at your dorm, for example. A summer UROP pays up to $4,500-ish and a deskworker job can easily pay $1-2,000 a semester. This may or not put a dent in your tuition, but it doesn't hurt.

MitJohn

Thanks alot guys, that was a big help.

Mikalye

Actually, a family income of less than $75,000 should see all of tuition covered by scholarship and grants. As to living expenses, that is in the margins. Keep in mind that the goal of MIT's (and Harvard's, Yale's, Princeton's...) financial aid office is
1) Work out how much the family can afford to pay
2) Take all of that
3) Give the student the rest of the needed sum in the form of grants/aid.

As a result, family income is not sufficient to work out how much the family can afford to pay. The expenses side of that equation is at least as important. The family can have a high income, but expensive medical bills, or multiple children in higher education or something, which means that they cannot pay despite a high income. MIT does draw a line at 75,000 saying that almost regardless of expenses, you get free tuition below that line. Anything else is very much up to personal circumstances.

For very specific questions, the best bet is to talk to your respective assistant director of financial aid. These assistant directors of financial aid (assigned according to the first letters of the student's last name) can assist with specific questions about the financial aid process. That being said, I would not contact them with anything that can be found on the SFS website.

A-Ch Elizabeth Barnes barnes@mit.edu
Ci-G Ryan Callahan rcal@mit.edu
H-Ld Jason Marsala jmarsala@mit.edu
Le-O Emma Wilcox ewilcox@mit.edu
P-Ss Aimee Yorsaner aegrand@mit.edu
St-V Susan Wilson sawilson@mit.edu
W-Z Michael Albano malbano@mit.edu