@stachlj958 They do not consider mortgages.
Federal direct loans for 2020-21 have an interest rate of 2.75%. That is well below the market rate for an unsecured loan signed for by an 18 year old. Most credit cards have a compounding interest rate of at least 7% for a really good rate to 18-30% for cards like Macy’s or Citibank.
Staff at colleges have far too much to do already. How do you propose they find out whether a parent has chosen to work in a field that pays less than they could have earned? Should they collect parent IQ scores, along with information on the parents’ college degrees? Seriously, how does one go about determining whether parents have lived up to their potential? I ask because I worked in college financial aid for years, and I have no idea how I would have known this information.
The federal aid rules and college financial aid rules are determined based on data. Some students get the short end of the stick, some get more than they probably should get … but the majority are best served with the rules that are made. There is no money tree outside the financial aid office, and schools have to figure out the best way to allocate finite resources. The hope is that they will go to those who need it most. Is it a perfect system? No. But it’s designed to be as fair as possible.
Please take the good advice people on this thread have given you. If you work hard and watch for/take opportunities provided by whatever school you attend, you will do well in life.
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Seems like your parents already bought an education (theirs or your older sibling) that was $100k more than what was affordable to them.
The harsh lesson that you are learning now is that your educational opportunities are primarily determined and limited by your parents’ financial circumstances and choices. Only within those limitations do your own earned academic and other achievements matter.
They don’t? The College Board’s NPC asks for the value of my family’s house and the mortgage we still owe on it.
I was playing devil’s advocate. My point was that what another person said about Columbia footing the bill for another school was a bit flawed. I do not think this is the best way to go about it by any means.
What they are counting is the Net Equity in the home. That net equity is an ‘Asset’ for Profile purposes.
but yes, mortgage debt = personal debt which is not counted for the purposes of calculating ‘need’.
I think most of the SUNY schools have tremendous value (to employers) even the ones that don’t get a lot of love by HS students in NY State. I think Macauley and Baruch are gems for a highly motivated/hard working student. I am assuming that you are instate for NY?
But there are a lot of fine public colleges (if you don’t live in NY tell us where you do). They may or may not be affordable for you-- but in general, if your family is already struggling with educational debt, you will likely find your own instate options the greatest value.
When you describe the college loans- is this for one older sibling, and does that represent both the loans the sibling took out in his/her own name plus loans your parents took out? Or just the parent loans? If your older sibling has maxed out on the federal loan program, you can clearly see how quickly the debt can balloon once you add the parent plus loans to the mix. That’s why finding an option which you can afford just with your own loans is going to give you maximum flexibility with your career.
It’s easy to say that people should be earning the most they possibly can. But you don’t really think people give up a promising career as an orthopedic surgeon to teach preschool, do you? Or that someone decides after a year doing M&A at Goldman Sachs that they’d rather bag groceries at Whole Foods?
My sister was a partner in a Wall Street law firm and now teaches 4th grade. She made that change just as her kids were starting college. They didn’t get extra FA because of it since their father was still working as an engineer, but he made about 1/3 of what my sister had been earning, and she made less than 1/10th of what she had been earning.
But no, schools didn’t really care and didn’t give her kids extra money.
@blossom, OP is from NC, but I don’t believe he intends to go to school there even though there appear to be a couple of solid, affordable options.
Based on previous posts, I think the parents are divorced, so the $30k/year EFC from Columbia’s NPC may not be right. There was a long, drawn out custody battle, but that was a few years ago. We don’t know how the parents get along now or if both will cooperate with financial aid forms or not. If I remember correctly, OP is looking for a prestigious college so he can make tons of money.
This is all about choices.
Consumer debt, and that includes parent college loans, are considered a choice. The loans your parents have do not factor into financial aid equations.
But those loan balances should be a shout out to you @stachlj958 Your parents have not been able to pay off their own college debt in how many years?? Do you want to be in the same boat as they are in 18 years from now…still owing on your own college loans just to attend a prestige school?
Please answer these questions:
- What is your state of residence? Why not look at your instate options there? If this is NC, as mentioned above, you have some terrific instate options.
- Do you know for sure what your parents will give you annually towards college costs? Will they pay $30,000 a year? Keep in mind, the net price calculators are not accurate always for divorced parents. Any chance either parent is self employed?
What is their total GROSS annual income.
- Do you have a variety of schools at various price points? You may need this.
- What schools are you looking at? Do you qualify for need based aid? Many of the prestige schools require the Profile and the non-custodial parent form...if your parents are divorced. Are they divorced?
This thread indicates they are divorced…and not particularly amicably.
And you wrote:
You want to major in computer science or business. You should seriously be looking at UNC-CH, and NC State. Both are a bargain for instate students and are well regarded schools. UNC-CH is one of the top public universities in the country.
Wrong. Student loan debt it considered consumer debt.
Sure, apply to those top 20 and elite schools…but if the money isn’t forthcoming be prepared to walk away. UNC and NC State are real winning schools…and as an instate resident, you are so lucky!
If your parents are divorced, that will complicate getting financial aid and running net price calculators at colleges that require both parents’ financial information. In particular, if you do not have good financial information from both parents, you will not get correct results from the net price calculator, and actual financial aid offers may be an unpleasant surprise.
Divorced parents typically have less money after spending money on divorce lawyers and splitting into separate households that cost more (combined) than a shared single household. So even if they are cooperative (which seems unlikely given the other post describing the situation), it may be less likely that a college’s financial aid will be sufficient.
$28k a year, or $28k for all 4 years? Big difference. I think Columbia is worth $28 k total more in cost than any state school. $28k per year or $112k altogether plus interest, unmmm, no.
A mortgage can reduce your PROFILE EFC for schools that take primary home equity into account in calculating assets. The mortgage would reduce the value of that home. It would not effect FAFSA EFC because FAFSA does not ask for them home equity value of a primary home.
@cptofthehouse that’s not true. The mortgage balance would reduce the EQUITY in the house, not the value of the home. There is a huge difference!
I would disagree for about 4 different state schools, one of which is UNC-CH. And for CS (if that’s still an interest for the OP) I think NC State is a fantastic option.
Doesn’t PROFILE use the market value of a home less mortgage or other liens when assessing assets? They did for my clients who have homes valued well over a million dollars but mortgages to the hilt. It behooves a family to take out a HELOC or second mortgage and pay off debts as most debts will not reduce assets, but on PROFILE , for those schools who do include primary homes, or other real estate , the asset value is net of mortgages held on such property.
- Yes, I’m in NC. Everything in that thread you linked is correct.
- I'm fairly confident they're going to be able to pay the number that they say they will. Currently that seems to be approximately $40-60k. I have ~$5k myself.
3 . I think I need more. My “affordable” options so far are NC State and UNC. NC State is $24k a year, but I think I could get a significant amount of merit aid there given my stats. Do you recommend any safeties for CS with excellent merit aid?
- Columbia, Harvey Mudd, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, UNC, and NC State. I would definitely like recommendations for schools with good merit aid. Also, my parents are indeed divorced. I am estranged from my father and imagine I could qualify for an application waiver under the "abuse" category.
I appreciate the sentiment regarding in-state schools. They are certainly good schools. I’ll admit that I’m not too excited about them- I lived in Chapel Hill for quite some time, and I’m only ~20 minutes away now. Moreover, going to school in-state means my parents would have to stay in-state, yes? They would rather not do that.
The main reason I’m asking about financial aid is because I want to apply ED to Columbia this fall, and I’m concerned about putting myself into a position where I have to be released from the agreement for financial reasons. Are there any consequences for doing so, even if Columbia agrees to release me?
$28k for all 4 years. It seems like a minute difference, but that’s assuming I get $0 in merit aid from NC State, which I don’t really know. I am applying for the Park Scholarship, and I think I have a good shot at it (NC State is a safety) but I don’t really know the academic profiles of people who win it- AFAIK it isn’t publicly available.
When you ran the Columbia NPC did you include your dad’s financial info? Is your mom remarried and if so, did you include her new husband’s financials?
If you were granted a non-custodial parent waiver for CSS Profile schools that may change things for you, but we have to figure that out…so need the answers to the above questions.
For highly likely/safety schools with CS, what about UNC Asheville, Greensboro, or Appalachian State?
The private schools you listed above offer little to no merit aid. For schools with CS that offer merit look at U Dayton, Case Western, Furman, U Alabama.
You will have to check to see if even with merit those schools would cost you less than NC State. NC State is certainly competitive with those schools in terms of CS, maybe even better.