We are middle class in NJ, family of 7, 1 income, have had 2 in college at the same time, for the next 4 years will have 3 in college, we have yet to qualify for FA. Therefore, my kids have either attended in state public universities (Rutgers and TCNJ), for a total cost of around $120,000 each, or got enough merit at a public OOS university bringing the cost down to in state (my current sophomore at UD gets $17,000 a year, 34 ACT, 4.2 gpa, 9 AP’s). Please run the numbers at these schools to determine the COA. If you aren’t eligible for free lunch, don’t count on FA. My current seniors are applying to in state and safeties out of state, they can’t apply to reaches because we can’t afford them. There are also schools (not in the northeast) who do give automatic merit for good stats.