Would an expat student (dual nationality Spanish American) qualify for financial aid if the family income was over $160,000 per year? We live in Spain, he is a junior in high school.
What kind of financial aid?
If your kiddo is a U.S. citizen, he would qualify for the same aid as anyone else who is a U.S. citizen.
BUT with an income of $160,000 a year…there aren’t a lot of colleges where your kid will actually have financial need…and receive need based aid.
With that income…your family contribution will be someplace between $40,000 and $50,000 a year. And the vast majority of colleges don’t meet full need anyway.
What colleges is he considering?
Thanks for your reply. Typo in the income… $100,000 a year. My oldest, now a junior is still looking at colleges but I have another son, that is a sophomore. Once they are both in college and have to pay out of stat tuition (we live in Spain) I was hopping for some kind of aid. My oldest son is looking for a good affordable college for computer science.
Highly competitive schools will generally offer good merit aid if there is need. With two in college you might qualify. Run the Net Price Calculator on each school’s web site to check. Alternatively you can look at places where high stats will get merit aid.
Do you get the foreign income credit, bringing your AGI to about $0? If so, your student could get a Pell grant and some other grants (SEOG), subsidized loans, and maybe some school grants for low income students.
What are his stats? Has he practiced or taken the sat or act?
Run the NPC on Bates, Dickinson, American University, Lehigh, Grinnell, St Olaf, Butler, Davidson. These meet need but calculate it differently, especially wrt home equity.
Public universities will only give merit aid and it mainly depends on test scores.
Do you live permanently in spain? You Pay taxes there etc?
Yes. We live in Spain permanently. I just found out that as an American expat, I have to file taxes. I’m trying to find someone to do that now thru the streamline procedure but it’s gonna cost about $1,200 to do it. My income is only about $30,000 a year. So I probably won’t have to pay taxes but when we apply to a college, I have to declare the family income.
Therefore, he’s eligible for Spanish universities, but also all European universities (sciences Po Poitiers if he’s interested in business/social sciences), including Scottish universities where he gets an automatic tuition waiver if he gets in through the SAAS scholarship.
For US universities he’d be in the ‘hispanic’ category.
I just found out that as an American expat, I have to file taxes<<<<<<<<
Was that a surprise?
US citizens living outside the US are generally eligible for financial aid at US universities, but will generally be considered out-of-state for state universities, meaning higher price and no or little financial aid.
Huh? $160,000 or $30,000 per year?
Could you please clarify your income?
And yes…as a U.S. citizen living abroad, you are supposed to file taxes here. There is a foreign income exemption…but yes…you do need to file.
My income is about $30,000 a year but when we add in my husbands income, out total family income is about $100,000. ($160,000 was a typo). I’m preparing to file now with the streamline program but it will cost me about $1,200 to do it. I’m gonna look into the Scottish universities and Scholorships. My son is doing the IB program and has good grades. Although he is interested in computer science, I’ve heard that the uk/Scottish universities as not very flexible once you have started if you want to change your major.
So your family income is $130,000 a year?
130K = a good scholarship at “meet need” colleges, so run the NPC (look up “collegesolution blog meet need colleges”). Boys have an advantage at LACs, especially since he’ll be also considered Hispanic, so look into Bowdoin, Bates, Grinnell, Pomona, HarveyMudd, Davidson, Vassar… Then, add national universities and run the NPC. Note that costs are likely to be higher than what you’d pay in Europe and higher than what you expect. Be very clear as to what you can afford.
All of that is assuming he does as expected on his test scores so register him for the June SAT and ACT, the August SAT, the September ACT.
Once he has his test scores, add automatic and competitive scholarships at public universities.
Note that Florida, Virginia,(the states) and UNebraska (the university) are especially generous with IB credit.
Scottish universities are different from the English universities. Students take 50% courses in their subject + 50% in electives during their first year. It’s easy to switch from one “major” to the other. They use UCAS and you have 5 choices. UEdinburgh is among the best universities for AI in the world. Aberdeen, St Andrews, Glasgow are all part of the “Ancient ones”, the great “old” universities in Scotland. Add Herriot Watts and/or Edinburgh Napier (STEM universities in Edinburgh) and you’ve got excellent choices, tuition-free.
Has he taken the SAT or ACT yet? What are his scores?
The meets full need schools might work financially…IF he gets admitted…
He will be taking his first mock exams for the IB at the end of May. He takes the SAT in October then again in December. What better the SAT or ACT? International students are at a disadvantage in both it seems. He has about a 3.2 grade point average.
He should take practice tests for both the SAT and the ACT. Some students do better on one or the other, and ther is no good way to predict which.
He should really, really take the SAT and ACT this June. December is too late for most merit scholarships (their deadlines are between October 15 and December 1st, and he should plan to take the test at least twice before that, although some students need 3 attempts to reach a merit-worthy score).
What are his predicted IB scores? They may matter more than his GPA.
Is the 3.2 a US school GPA or your estimation? Because you said he was a very good student and in the US 3.2 is not “very good”, it’s more like a 26-28 on the IB.
He needs to take a full SAT and a full ACT practice test and see which one he does better on - it depends on students. Many European students do better on the ACT because it’s a bit closer to the type of questions they’ve encountered before.
Finally making some progress. My son will take the mock IB exams at the end of May and we are hoping for a score of 32-34 range. He will take the Act June 9th. I’m currently in the process of filing my usa taxes thru the streamline procedure. Any suggestions on good computer science universities in the USA that are affordable? He doesn’t care that it’s note “brand name” but that has a good program, that he won’t be forever financially indebted and preferablynortheast, south or Midwest. Nothing on the west coast.