Does high % of income deferral effect EFC under CSS/ PROFILE

bgbg4us
Fri, 30 Nov 2018 14:31:02 +0000

i’m guessing that you are living very frugally as you are saving so much each year. I’m impressed! You have a strength of “maximizing” – and are doing very well at it. Are you a “mustachian”?

Here’s something to think about. If your student doesn’t get into a school that meets needs and gives institutional aid – and he is headed to a state school – I’m guessing that your frugal/maximizing aspect is going to react when you hear how much room and board costs at a state school. It can be around 11-15K per year for 1 kid, which is almost half of what your family of 4 is living on.

That cost is going to go against everything your family has worked for and saved for. It irks me - and i’m not a saver as much as you (but i am a maximizer)! It’s mandatory for many schools at least freshman year.

So — to feel like you are maximizing the most you can, i’ll encourage you to make sure you have in your back pocket a list of schools that offer good merit that your kids will qualify for. Encourage them to do their best with grades and testing in HS; study for that PSAT – and with merit possibilities it might take the sting off that expensive R&B cost. Make sure there are some financial safeties in your list.

( I have 2 in college now. 1 in the dorms. 1 in a greek house which costs less than the dorm. It’s pricey all the way around. As a maximizer, i have gone around and around with the FA and scholarships department; it gets me no where. All about the AOTC (tax credit for qualified expenses) and scholarships, and if they REALLY wanted to help, they would put a dept. scholarship toward R&B and not towards fees/tuition which one kid has mostly covered already and makes it a wash for us. Makes no sense!)