What major?
This is smart but to really pull it off you need to know what you’d get.
We are full pay but set a $50k budget. It was easy. Your situation less so.
After our Georgetown tour, we learned many schools only had need aid. They all came off.
But if you feel like you qualify for aid, it becomes more difficult, especially if you have a situation that is not clean.
Some schools, like Whitman, but not sure how many, will analyze you up front. See link below.
Others and there’s myriad from Alabama to Arizona to Mizzou to Truman State for small, have tables. There’s not a million but many - both flagship universities and directionals/regionals. See sample below. There’s also schools with income based tables - make below X, get free school or tuition. But they look at assets too. Usually higher end privates but some in state publics.
Some are just inexpensive full pay depending on what is inexpensive to you. W Carolina and for a flagship FSU meet this rule for many.
The trick is - find a school type you like. If you can’t figure out if you’ll get money, go for them.
But make sure you have a few assured in the back pocket and get your kids comfortable and jazzed about them in case that’s where you end up.
A good starting point - share the students stats (gpa, test), course rigor, ECs, budget and what they seek - size, geography, weather, sports, Greek life. We can suggest those that might work.
And don’t forget college has added costs - transport, Greek life if they do, trips etc.
You can totally plan effectively - that I know. Even with unknown need. But when a strict budget is in mind, you have to recognize that sometimes you have to make choices you didn’t initially expect up front. In a situation that isn’t clean financially, there’s more risk that you mis plan. And while each school is different, maybe doing a Whitman or two can give you somewhat of an idea even if it close to exact for others.
Good luck.
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You’ll have to understand residency rules because in many you need to be there for a certain amount of time to gain in state tuition - and I promise the state has the major in one of its schools. It may not have the formal name but there is a way to get the desired course of study. Or close enough to it.
Unless you go to a big merit school (and that merit will depend on stats), you need to understand residency requirements now.
You don’t want to unknowingly make an avoidable mistake (if it is) that costs you dearly at college time.
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I thought I responded to this…but I guess it’s in the void someplace.
Be careful about when you move to a different state, or you could find that your student doesn’t have instate status for tuition purposes in either state.
If you leave your current state after your child starts their senior year in high school, you will lose residency for tuition purposes in the state you are leaving.
If you haven’t lived in the new state for 12 months prior to the start of college, your student likely won’t have instate residency in the new state either.
At some colleges, if you start as an OOS student, that is your status for all four years. At others, you can petition for a change to in state status after the required residency time has been met, plus any other criteria the state has for determine instate tuition status.
So…do check these things.
We don’t know your student stats so it’s very hard to make affordable suggestions. Western Carolina has already been mentioned.
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Both of my kids’ schools stacked scholarships- merit, talent, need- but neither school met full financial need.
School #1, Florida Tech, had auto merit which was pretty easy to figure out based on gpa, test score, class rank. Then there were a number of other grants for a few minor things like Boy scout Eagle, GS Gold, visiting campus before applying. D also got an athletic scholarship (and at the time, no need based aid directly from the school was allowed). She also got state merit award, state resident scholarship, a Pell grant, and SEOG, a state SEOG. All stacked.
Other child (U of Wyoming, OOS) got a school scholarship, an alum scholarship, SEOG, Pell grant, a talent scholarship (theater), and a few other things. There were no direct need based awards (they were in the form of an alum scholarship or dept scholarship). All also stacked.
For kid #1, all those awards paid almost all her costs. For kid #2, I think about half was covered. They were not living the high life (no spring breaks to Mexico, no elaborate living situation or gourmet food) but they enjoyed college. They did not have cars, gaming systems, TVs, etc. #2 did study abroad (actually cheaper than a regular semester on campus) but the other didn’t want to.
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How can you know that?
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If your state participates in one of the academic common markets, it’s possible that if a major is not offered in your state, that you can get a reduction on the OOS tuition costs at another public university participating in the market that does offer it. That’s what these are often about…providing a reduced cost for a major not offered in your home state.
BUT not all states participate in these arrangements. You need to check your state to see if it does.
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An educated guess. Try us.
It may not be the same name. It may be two programs combined. Also many have a name your own major.
Prove me wrong - maybe I am - but I’m sure we can find something to get close.
What’s the major ?
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I would prefer to keep that private. I have reasons for being cautious.
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I guess we’ll have to trust one another.
You don’t have to identify anything about yourself.
You can just share the major and I can see if it’s out there or other similar possibilities.
Or keep to yourself but then we cannot help other than with generic answers.
You can also dm me. Just click on my name. Hit message. And I can help you in private.
Whatever works for you is fine.
Just know that we can hopefully find a school that will work for you. We’ll certainly try when that time comes if you seek our help.
I asked a specific question that had nothing to do with my kid’s major. That’s really all I need, but thank you for your offer.
That’s fine - it’s your call.
I didn’t bring up major. Someone else did. You responded that the state you’re in now doesn’t have the major at any schools.
Hopefully you have enough info for what you asked.
And at the time you start to build a list, if you want to come back with an updated situation, to help find schools that will work for you, please let us know.
Good luck.
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I can definitely relate! When going thru the college app process, discovered most, but not all schools will look at the income/assets of the non-custodial parent when determining aid.
Here is a link of schools requiring the CSS form showing which schools won’t consider non-custodial parent’s income/assets.
https://profile.collegeboard.org/profile/ppi/participatingInstitutions.aspx
In trying to figure out which schools might offer the most in merit aid, this list might be helpful.
It’s far from not a simple process. Good luck!
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I can provide a solid response that yes, there are schools that reduce need based aid when merit is awarded, even when need has not been met. I worked at a school that did this. It was a state university, and the board of governors set the rule: every student would receive need based aid in the amount of average tuition - expected family contribution, if EFC was less than tuition. However, any merit aid awarded by the school or any other entity would reduce the amount of the need based aid dollar for dollar. The financial aid office was charged with adjusting the need based award if new merit scholarships were awarded (for example, if the student got a community scholarship). It was the rule. So I am going to agree with others who say that the only way to know is to look at the school’s website and/or call the school’s financial aid office.
Research schools based on your child’s interests. From there, research the individual school’s aid policies, which will probably include contacting each financial aid office.
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It is difficult to provide specific assistance due to limited information, which is your choice of course.
You indicated that you are not sure what state you will be in by graduation.
If applying to public colleges, I would apply to safety schools located in states that you are certain you will not move to…if this is possible. I don’t know what would happen if your student received an OOS merit award and then your family moved to the state. Would they remove the merit the following year? Could you afford the new tuition, etc?
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First of all Merit is applied first as it reduces your need.
If your demonstrated need is $75,000 and you got a $25,000 merit scholarship, your financial need will be $50,000. The $50,000 will be the amount that your need-based financial aid package will be based on.
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Whan a school says it meet 75% need. this number is usually and average. for some students, the school may have meet 100 % of their need. For another student, the school may have only met 50% of their need. This is what gives you 75% of need met.
Think of it this way:
Student A needs $25,000. the school gave $25,000 there by meeting 100% of the student’s need.
Student B needs $50,000. the school gave $25,000 there by meeting 50% of his need.
While the school does not guarantee to meet 100% demonstrated need for every student, it will be easier for them to meet 100% demonstrated need for students who do not have a high need.
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This description does a good job summarizing what we have received so far. Schools have mixed merit and financial aid to meet our full need. But none are using merit to give us more money than it says we need.
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Each school has its own policy for how merit and need aid interact, but I agree with other posters who say that most schools decrease need aid when merit aid is given.
I agree with the idea of considering CCs for safeties. Another option is to look at state schools that have low COAs for everyone. State directionals are the most likely to do this, especially if they are located in less popular geographic locations. As an example, in the upper Midwest, schools such as UMN-Rochester, UMN-Morris, Winona State, Bemidji State, the UW directionals (UW-Stout etc), all have either equal tuition for OOS vs In-state, or at least OOS tuition that isn’t much higher, and many have scholarships on top of this. In addition, R&B are often much cheaper in less popular locations.
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I have twins applying this year and we have lots of nieces and nephews in college. One thing we noticed in the past year or two are colleges desperately trying to fill open seats, as late as mid-summer. Even schools that are a little less competitive and do not guarantee full need seem to be handing money out in June. I think the reality is that if they have open beds in the dorms, anybody willing to pay anything is a financial win for them. It’s kind of a fixed-cost business.
I had a nephew turn down his top choice in favor of a place that offered more money. When he told his top school his decision, they asked him to send his offer from the other school. They straight-up matched it.
He was a good student, and I think they wanted him there paying X to a lesser student paying X+1. Might have also had to do with his major, etc.
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