This is a tough one. Wife’s parents have said they will help with S18 just as they did S16. Even if they are able to pay the full amount beyond what we are able to contribute we believe that’s too much to ask. Is it reasonable to put the amount they contributed for S16? If they have to pay more than that for S18 it will be because the CSS colleges expect us to contribute more than we can reasonably pay. I suspect they’d say they would pay any amount, but neither we nor our son would be comfortable with them paying 40K per year (that would be a lot of pressure on a kid with anxiety issues). If I had known the school where it’s more likely to be an issue would be so expensive (there was a sizeable change in the NPC between the time he visited and starting on financial aid forms). Of course there’s a good chance it will all be irrelevant, since his chances of getting into the school in question aren’t great anyway.
Put down a reasonable estimate of what the grands can pay.
I just sent them an email and said I’ll put down whatever they say (and that no one will be upset if they don’t want to contribute 40K).