I do not see a general “paying for college” forum. I see a “financial aid” forum. Am I missing something?
For donut hole families like my own, I would not think to look at a “financial aid” forum because I don’t expect we would receive any of that, even though finances and budgeting are important in our college search.
(And sometimes families also assume they won’t receive FA even if their income is well within the range where many colleges will give FA.)
Some posters are unequivocal about saying that they have the money.
But others make rather squishy statements like “not considering costs for now”.
The latter type tend to get questioned more.
Experience that may or may not be of interest.
I use to advise families on selecting, applying to, and financing college as well as saving and paying for it. We had major income disparities within our family clients because we worked with corporations and their employees. If we talked money with the wrong people, the relationship was strained. Approximately half were applying for aid and half were not - for context.
I see CC families as similar, half are money oriented and half are not. Are we also straining relationships?
that makes sense to me
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I think it’s a bit different than what you’re describing because we don’t have regular or actual relationships. And we are not being compensated. Someone comes here voluntarily, to seek the advice of folks who are trying to help, and in many cases provide different levels or sorts of advice, and in many cases some more detailed than others.
Only on few occasions, at least for me, am I working with someone directly - and even in that case, I’m not compensated nor do I know them - it’s more PM consulting.
So I’m not sure strain is the right word. But if someone doesn’t like the guidance a person is giving or doesn’t want to work with someone, then they won’t. They’ll find a person or group they like or they’ll disappear as many do.
Good idea to start a “paying for college” thread or forum (lots of such exist already on Facebook with many, many thousands of members). Perhaps they would help to keep threads where posters are asking for specific information about specific colleges from going off topic.
I would not generally recommend these to anyone, as there is so much inaccurate info being passed around in these groups.
I think it’s appropriate on CC to ask once if the family wants to talk budget stuff and if not drop it. Financial discussions should be in chance me/list building threads if the family does have budget constraints because the budget is a key component of list building and categorizing schools.
THIS.
My point about the Facebook group was not about whether it was accurate (we know the answer to that) but that it’s a topic of strong interest and a dedicated forum here would be wise.
I think there are important financial topics that you wouldn’t think to put in a forum called “financial aid” but that all (or most, or many) families could probably get some value from. Just off the top of my head,
Those are all great topics. Maybe a forum called “issues related to paying for college” and then start sub forums with the excellent topics you mentioned.
Not sure if it would even need sub forums, but some pinned threads with info about these topics could be good, and a pinned general FAQ.
I just think “paying for college” is more general than “financial aid” and all families could be directed to check out this forum or FAQ even if they indicate they are full pay.
That might help to remove some of the “are you SURE you can pay?” from threads.
I agree, keep it simple and relatively high level headings/forums. I have never been one to navigate CC’s various forums because I find it confusing. Creating then pinning paying for college FAQs is a great idea.
Sometimes I think that people don’t know what they don’t know. People hear stories about people having big loans and think that it’s possible for students to take them out. Or they think that their top stats kid will get a full scholarship to Harvard because they’ve heard of other people getting full scholarships there (erroneously reported in the media as scholarships when it’s financial aid).
Perhaps changing/altering the chance me/match template to expand on the budget category, so that it says something like:
That way, people can be providing the information that financially-posted members want to know and it already helps to inform posters about limitations and reasons why they might want to explore a paying for college forum.
Statements like this are usually a red flag for me.
My parents refused to file financial aid paperwork when I went to school. They kept saying we wouldn’t qualify. Despite the college constantly mailing me letters asking me to file to be eligible for tuition aid.
Well, I was in line to pay my bill with a friend behind me who overheard my balance and asked if I’d tanked my gpa. Nope. Turns out, I was eligible for a big discount on tuition based on my current gpa, but because we didn’t file I was ineligible for merit aid. The school was using the form to verify I was a citizen/here legally, registered for draft, not a felon, etc. for merit eligibility. We didn’t have a clue about merit aid. If I’d have filed the form as a hs senior based on my gpa/test score, I’d probably have been offered full tuition.
You don’t know what you don’t know.
@tamagotchi, @Mwfan1921, just to confirm, is the suggestion to start a new Paying for College category? We had renamed the existing Financial Aid & Scholarships forum to Paying for College a while back but there was some push back and we reverted the decision. I’m totally up for creating a category around Paying for College, so maybe that’s the bigger category and Financial Aid & Scholarships is a subcategory in there?
Also, @tamagotchi, those are all excellent topics. Would love to see those discussed and maybe use those threads as resources for folks.
Does anyone want to help out with this? Work with me to get this implemented?
“Paying for college” would seem to me to be logically the top level category, but our family is full pay. So maybe I’m biased.
I think I’d also want to find out from families relying on financial aid whether they would naturally look for info inside “paying for college” or if it is important to have a top level financial aid category?
Speaking as a Pell Grant-eligible parent, I think the main category should be Paying for College. Most lower-income families still need to pay at least some of the costs of college out of pocket or with loans. The only exceptions would be those families with top academic kids who are accepted to “meets full need” schools. Sub-categories could include Merit Aid (Scholarships), Need-based Aid, 529s, Loans, Best Strategies for Tax Purposes, etc.
I think people use different definitions. I think of financial aid as dollars students (and their family) don’t have to pay, whether that is need based aid, merit based aid or a combination of merit and need. But other definitions also include loans (subsidized and unsubsidized) and work study.
For example:
Whether it’s scholarships, grants, work-study or connecting students to federal or state aid, Ohio State has many resources and ways to help eligible students and their families pay for the overall cost of attending college.
Financial aid can come from Ohio State, federal and state government, and private sources, and includes:
Scholarships
Grants
Loans
Work-Study
Yes, assuming you’re a U.S. citizen or U.S. permanent resident. Applying for financial aid is the best way to get help with paying for college.
Even if you don’t end up qualifying for need-based aid (aid that goes to students with the most financial need), you’ll still be considered for other scholarships, loans, grants and employment opportunities. Pro tip: Federal student loans are often a better option for families than the ones you’d receive from private sources like banks.
My note: Ohio State expects international undergraduates to be full pay. Obviously, international students applying to schools that do have financial aid for international students should apply for it.
If we assume that a financial aid package lists G (grants and scholarships), L (loans), W (work study), and C (cash outlay), with the sum of these being the college’s list price, then “financial aid” usually means G+L+W (excluding C). But “net price” usually means C+L+W (excluding G). Note that L+W is included in both “financial aid” and “net price”, so when using these definitions, be sure to avoid implying double counting L+W.