On average how much aid can you get from a private school? If the tuition is for instance $50,000, how much are you expected to pay? I just want some ball park number because I am clueless.
There’s no one answer to that question and anyone who gives you one is lying.
Need-based aid from private schools (or any school really) is based primarily on income and assets. In order to estimate how much aid you will receive, you have to have your family income and assets and know specifically which school you are talking about. You can then go to the school’s website and use a net price calculator to determine your individual net price estimate for that specific school. The final result can range widely from full price to a full ride but that depends on your school and your family’s individual circumstances.
This depends on the resources of the private school, your statistics, and your family financial situation. You are better off running the Net Price Calculator on the website of the private schools you are interested in to get an estimate for your individual situation.
Use the Net Price calculator found on each schools website. It should give a rough estimate based on your input.
Can anyone tell me just what the average number would be for an average person? Are we talking 10,000 dollar aid, or 40,000? Will private schools cover a lot? The net price calculators are not helpful because i do not know my family’s information currently.
Honestly, aid at private schools varies so widely there is no way to estimate.
You would have to know your family income and assets to get even a ball park figure. Also, amounts vary widely from school to school. A school that meets need will be more difficult to get into as well. Even if a school says they meet need, their idea of that may be very different from your parents’ idea of that.
Have you talked to your parents about college plans? That is really the place to start.
Good luck!
You HAVE to have a money talk with your parents before you look at schools. How much can they afford to contribute, and what is their annual income?
Private schools are very different. Some are generous with financial aid, and some are not. Some offer very generous merit scholarships and some do not - merit scholarships are based on your grades and test scores and are available no matter what your family income is. Some schools are “meet need” and can offer a lot of money, but some will expect you to pay the full price of that $50,000 that you used as an example. The schools aren’t like car dealerships and you cannot negotiate a price - you pay the full price, less any scholarships and aid that you qualify for.
In my daughter’s case, her scholarships from different schools were very different. She did not qualify for any help from our state school. She was interested in two private schools that offered the program she wanted. One offered very little in merit scholarships and the other reduced her tuition cost by 80% and then also provided need based aid to help cover room and board. Her second year she worked as a resident adviser, which gave her free room and board.
You need to get the financial information from your parents in order to use the npc’s and then check each school to see what merit scholarships are available.
There is no general average. You need to get basic financial parameters from your parents and use the net price calculator on each college’s web site.
But beware of the following situations when using net price calculators, and make adjustments accordingly:
- Income from small businesses or rental real estate -- some colleges will add back business or rental related deductions, so that they count revenue, not net income, as income for financial aid purposes.
- Divorced parents -- some colleges consider all income from both parents (and new spouses, if remarried). This can be a problem for you if they are spending all of their money on lawyers to fight each other, or are being uncooperative to spite each other, or one of them remarries a wealthy new spouse who does not want to help fund a stepchild's college.
Are you international?
What year are you in school?
Blue catch. Listen again. There is NO ANSWER to your question. Need based financial aid is calculated using YOUR family income and assets. What others have gotten does NOT matter…at all.
Merit aid is given based on your SAT/ACT score and GPA, and sometimes an extra application and interview.
All vary wildly by college. And each applicant is reviewed individually.
I would suggest you discuss college finances with your family…and GET the necessary info to complete the NPC.
^ This. Run the Net Price Calculator on the various school’s web sites.
In our case, all of it, unless merit aid is awarded. Even with merit aid most of the privates were unaffordable for us or that we weren’t willing to pay above a certain amount per year.
This question can’t be answered by any of us without income and other info from you. A guess answer isn’t helpful to you at all.
Private schools can be more affordable than many instate schools for the average income family and much more affordable for lower income families. In order to maximize private school financial aid you need to be smart about where you apply and need to be flexible about location. There is clearly the reality that the more selective schools are more generous but not always but again you must be flexible about location. Applying to a school further from your home and in a more remote location can bring great benefits. Also dont apply to places where lots of people from your school apply.
Also, the calculation is more income dependent than asset dependent unless the family owns a business, income real estate or a farm. In virtually all cases, retirement accounts and pensions are not counted and I would be shocked if home equity was counted in the calculation for the vast majority of applicants.
So, don’t assume private schools cost more and dont assume financial aid is less generous.
Look for merit aid too but in many cases need based aid will be more.
Run numbers and talk to the schools, don’t rule things out based on what you hear.
For schools that use CSS/Profile to dispense institutional aid, I believe the norm is that at least some part of home equity is counted in the calculation.
Depends on the level and the ratio to income. It could but for the vast majority of people home equity isn’t counted.
I think that the great majority of Profile schools do consider home equity in the FA equation, and in those circumstances where the entire amount of equity is not a factor, there is usually a cap based on a certain percentage of income. So even those who are low income and are not underwater on a home they own will be hit for some portion of home equity.