Son was graciously accepted to Wisconsin as an OOS from Ca. Just received financial aid awards. Its 70k a year++ a year to attend. Like most of you my son has very high credentials that i won’t bore you with. His mom passed away and we have really nothing as far a monies. FAFSA Is -1500 and he’s a first timer. Although we don’t want to be mooches and come off ungrateful we did expect something more than the offer. They obviously want my son but come on! Borderline slap in the face of ALL OUT OF STATE potential students. He was also accepted to Texas, Michigan and UVA too name a few. Sadly, although most others have offered a lot more they are alll still out of reach financially for us OOS potential future leaders.. WHAT A JOKE! So pissed and a huge letdown..
Sorry but you are not a Wisconsin taxpayer. Their obligation is to those who pay taxes.
Only UNC and UVA guarantee to meet need for all students, even OOS.
So I’d assume the UVA offer is most aggressive.
But don’t forget an SAI alone doesn’t necessitate an offer. For UVA, you needed to fill in the CSS and you needed to show far more than FAFSA and assets or other things could have reduced an offer.
I’m sorry for your loss and UWM does have a fund they could use (they gave you $250) but they do not promise or even infer they’ll meet need for out of state students.
Unfortunately, it seems you applied to schools, short of UVA, that likely weren’t ok for your student from a budget POV.
Hopefully you have acceptable options elsewhere.
Sorry for your loss and best of luck.
But it’s not a joke - it’s a reality of taxpayers protecting their citizenry as the cost of educating a student is very expensive. There are schools out there that are subs (large flagships) that buy kid on on merit - from $25k - $40k and of course you have in state and / or community colleges.
Sorry you got upset but this is not unusual.
Best of luck.
Ps - yes they want your student as they admitted them but an acceptance and cost are detached from one another. So you can’t make that connection. But out of state yields at publics are typically low so they already expect most won’t attend. They are seeking the wealthy.
Sorry again - it’s just a part of the app process to know where one should apply. I hope the student has a landing spot. They only need one.
Thank you for the info.. I guess i don’t like the "keep to your own” attitude. I totally get it and understand it. Look, I live in ca! It’s the sane here, he was just accepted to Berkeley (Haas), it’s about 90k ish, with all the help it will cost us 10k max a year of that. Havent heard from USC, UCLA and Stanford yet but if accepted probably will be the same. The point is he wants OUT OF HERE (ca) lol. I don’t blame him. I would do the same if I could do it all over. Again, I get it but just don’t like it. I feel these kids should go to whatever college they want to. They, my son has worked his ass off to be able to pick and choose but money gets in the way and that isn’t fair imo..
People forget, these are businesses. Some shop at Kohls or Wal-Mart for clothes. It’s all they can afford. Some eat at Burger King. They can’t afford Five Guys.
A college is a business - and people need to remember that. So what you say is nice, but not a reality of economics.
Did you run the Net price calculators at these schools before your S applied? Obviously nothing you can do now, but for the benefit of future readers, use those NPCs!
Here’s Stanford’s (use the NPC, not the MyIntuition calculator):
USC:
UCLA should be similar cost to Berkeley (at least before any merit you may have received from UCB).
Is UVA affordable? Assuming Texas and Michigan are not.
Did he apply to any out of state privates where the net price calculator showed he’d receive aid? You mention him wanted to attend school out of state, if so he really needed to look for schools that meet need and NPC shows they see your need the same way you do, or have aggressive merit. Most of out state public schools, do not offer merit or need based financial aid for out of state students. I’m sorry you didn’t realize before applications went out. Best of luck in your other acceptances. I hope he finds a good fit that is affordable.
Is this affordable for you? Your son can take a $5500 federally funded loan for freshman year. And if he has a small part time job now, and works up to 10 hours during college…Cal might work for you financially.
While I know that your son wants to leave CA now…please let him know that a good college education will open up tons of opportunities to move elsewhere once he has his degree….either for a masters or for a job. There are students country wide who would be thrilled to get accepted to Cal!
Maybe one of the meets full need schools will be an acceptance with a lower net cost than Cal. At this point, just wait and see.
Look, obviously if he gets into Stanford he going! But his chances of getting in our less than any other school. Austin was a 7% chance probably less so was mich and others for us but he got in. Stanford? Even though he is from ca he might have a 2% chance so to me he ain’t going to Stanford unfortunately.
Looks like they come out all the same ish. This is USC. Great tool for everyone. I did however know this without the tool. Yes, I knew the OOS schools for the most part wouldn’t give a much as in state but 9k for a 85k+ bill? THAT i didn’t expect.
It’s really whether they’re public or private and OOS. There are many generous OOS colleges that meet full need which based on above you have. Did he apply to any out of state PRIVATE colleges - particularly ones that meet full need?
You mentioned that UVA was not affordable. UVA meets full need for all accepted students. Was their net price unaffordable? IIRC UVA uses the CSS Profile which looks more deeply at your finances than the FAFSA. Perhaps @Mwfan1921 knows…but if you own real estate in CA, does UVA consider home equity when they calculate need based aid?
Most OOS schools give zero for need aid. Most, not all.
Many give merit aid and significant amounts - but those would be ones you likely wouldn’t consider - often in the South and midwest where you can get down to $20K. And then others are just lower cost to begin with - like Purdue, Georgia Tech, Florida - under $50K full price.
You also had access to WUE schools at a discount - those are schools from other Western states that discount tuition.
Fortunately, you have UCB at $10K and short of a full ride scholarship (like the Johnson at W&L or Presidential at SMU), that’s going to beat most any other school. CA is a huge state so if that’s too close to home, I’m hopeful a UCR or UCSD type can come in similar and be further away.
But if he does go to UCB and it’s close to home - he needn’t come home and he will meet students from all over - so it won’t be HS 2.0.
The issue here and fortunately you have the safety gap so don’t take it the wrong way - but you didn’t build your list properly - at least from the OOS public POV. But fortunately, there’s still a home. But zero reason to be frustrated. You’re assuming they will meet your need or somewhat meet your need but they don’t. btw - that Wisconsin kid with need applying to Berkeley - would have gotten the same shock.
All I know is UVA’s NPC does not ask about primary home value or mortgage debt on the home. That leads me to believe they don’t hit for home equity but I just ran the NPC for a low income student and the net price (ignoring books/pers expenses) is around $8K.
So, if OP’s FA offer is materially different than that…UVA might hit for home equity even though it’s not on the NPC (which would be maddening) and/or there are some assets that OP has like a life insurance payout from mom, or something like that.
There are OOS publics that will get you down lower, some a lot lower like those that offer big scholarships for NMSF, but they are probably not the tier of college you’re aiming at. With the 2 exceptions noted above, you shouldn’t be expecting more or much more than federal aid from highly-rated flagship publics. Their mandate (simplistically) is to use state tax revenue to provide affordable, good options for instate students - just like your son is offered at Haas (which I will note very many people would give their eye teeth to be offered a place there at the cost you’re seeing).
