They either start saving when their children are born ( rare if they live in expensive areas or really anywhere). Or, they get a windfall by selling a business, inheriting or they make a lot of money so they can take it out of their income. Or some combination of the above.
Finally, college is a long term investment in yourself. The difference in money you will make during your lifetime will outweigh the costs ( if you proceed cautiously and have a plan to have a career that pays). Just as you wouldn’t buy a house without considering many factors, you should also consider all aspects of your education including the costs.
we are in the midwest. In our area, tuition at state schools costs less than Room and Board. SO - tons of kids we know go to our local college and live at home. That’s a big cost savings.
One of my kids is paying a few thousand per year from summer earnings- so that’s part of our plan. She moved off campus this year and is saving a bit from the published R&B rates.
My kids also have and will work hard in HS and earn merit awards to cut tuition costs - the best deals are at in-state schools for our family. .
something else to know: if your parents make less than $180K - and can pay $4000 a year for tuition and fees, they can get back $2500 of that through the American Opportunity Tax Credit. Even if they can pay $1500 - that’s given back. That’s a win-win situation.
but yes; college is very expensive.
Our kids go to instate public universities where they could get merit and a state grant. They take their student loans and work during the summer.
Our state does not have the Excelsior program like NYS, tuition costs $11,000-18,000 at instate publics.
The majors that my kids pursued, were not offered at schools within commuting distance, but they saved some money by living with roommates off campus and cooking meals after the first year or so.
Don’t just apply to any 5 additional schools. If you’ve applied to 5 and know you’d take one of those 5 over the next 5, it doesn’t do any good to just apply.
Right now you need to follow the money. Many scholarship deadlines have passed, but you need to search. What schools have you applied to and where are you thinking of adding?
Are the five that admitted you affordable?
Are the other two applied to and five others you may apply to likely to be affordable based on their net price calculators?
Go where you can afford and do well, don’t worry about “prestige”.
As to how- community college and very non-prestigious state university graduate myself, worked part-time during school and full-time all summers, lived with family friends. I’ve made a decent and comfortable living since, am a single mom who proudly has raised my D who is now a freshman in a top program at a private college which awarded her a very generous talent scholarship. I moved to the same city (was able to transfer offices for work) so D can live at home and I make tuition payments from my current income.
Good luck, make wise choices and you will find a way!
Definitely put some SUNYs and CUNYs on the list.
Especially if you can get Excelsior and/or TAP, and Pell.
Make sure you work as much as possible during breaks and summer.
Just wanted to make sure it’s clear that there is a reduced refund amount for those with income between 160k and 180k (married filing joint). OP may want to read the IRS provisions or consult a tax professional if in doubt.
Hi everyone, thank you for all of your responses, I appreciate them.
I live in NY state. I plan on living on campus, at least for the first year or so, since I’m the kind of person who isn’t productive at home and get kind of stir crazy being forced to stay in the same area. Although it’ll be more expensive, I can’t really stand the thought of being closer than an hour to my hometown.
Neither of my parents are able to contribute anything for my education and I also have an older sister about to go to PA school. My mom is on disability and my parents are divorced so for schools who only see the fafsa, my EFC is 0. However for other private schools who require a CSS profile, they will view both incomes and my dads is just above 100k. I did the net price calculate and for a lot of the schools like Boston University the prices were +/- 10k a year, no more than 15k which includes room and board.
The whole thing is complicated however, because my mom hadn’t received disability for a while when she should have, so she received a lot of it at once, so her taxes a bit messed up b/c it looks like she makes more than she does. Also my dad was recently layed off because of budget cuts so he’s thinking about retiring if he can’t find another job (he’s 63).
So the reason I’m applying to so many is because I’m not sure exactly how much I’ll get and I want to see to be sure.
So far I have been accepted into UAlbany, Binghamton, Fordham (don’t plan on going anymore), Pace (NYC) and Hoftsra. I am waiting on Northeastern and Boston University. I plan to apply to Lehigh, Swarthmore, Stonybrook, Cornell and Yale (just to see lol), and possibly a few more. I have fewer waivers for sending my scores and for applying so it’s not as expensive as it seems.
If you’ve read any of my other posts, you’ll see that I do Cosmetology school in high school which I plan to do on the side to get me through school and I also plan to take a break in between undergrad/grad to teach english in Japan for a year (they pay for housing you get paid fairly decent). My SAT superscore is 1410 and ACT is 33 with all 5s on APs except for Chem with a 97 GPA.
It sounds like you will know how to budget your money.
Go with whichever school is the cheapest because you are paying on your own dime and will want to stay out of debt.
The SUNY schools are under-rated. My California surfer daughter went to Buffalo. Got her education in 4 years, came right back to California, and was employed.
It doesn’t matter where you go; she’s been promoted several times through two corporate companies, and has colleagues from every UC and T20 school. She is constantly headhunted.
They don’t ask her where she went for her university education. She was only asked that when she applied.
@katens, here is the problem you face: COA for SUNYs is high for you because of room and board costs at most of them Basic first year cost estimates at a SUNY runs over $25k when tuition hovers at $8k or under. It is very possible you are covered by the Excelsior, which may cover your tuition. SUNY basic room and board, books, fees run. $ 16k on paper as estimates and do not include transportation, cell phone, personal expenses like shampoo, sundries, etc.
Living expenses while going to college can be high— minimally $15k living in campus housing in a meal plan. Where are you getting this money if your parents cannot pay for ANY of it? You can only take out $5500 in loans in your own name freshmen year? Where do you think you are going to get $10k?
Also, your FAFSA EFC will be largely determined by your custodial parent’s 2018 AGI plus child support from your non custodial parent. I believe TAP will use the same numbers. @sybbie719 can give you a good lowdown on what you can expect from NYS schools If your parents made a “bubble “ of large income that is included, you may not qualify for much aid that year. You can appeal to each school for professional judgement to adjust, but it’s something that may not work out.
Bear in mind too, that the Excelsior is for tuition only and is a last dollar award. In other words, it kicks in only after other financial aid like PELL, TAP, etc is taken into account and attributed to the tuition.
What your parents appear to be able to afford, is the lions share of what it’s going to cost you to go to college; ie living expenses. The roof over your head, your bed, food, household and personal necessities which can add up easily to $12-15k
What is your FAFSA EFC? CSS PROFILE schools like BU will include both parents’ financials. Hofstra and Fordham very likely have merit money for you. Run their. NPCs along with the other schools’
Binghamton is a great school, but expensive. Unlikely any merit there. It’s very difficult to get enough money out of a SUNY to bring the costs down because of last dollar nature of Excelsior.
I understand that you have been to Cosmetology school, and I commend you on having a great skill that will likely make you employable. Still, it’s difficult making much more than min wage at a lot of salons In NY state, outside of Metro area. Also, transportation issues might come into play. My hairdresser’s daughter is trained in this regard, and experienced, having worked in her mother’s salon for years, but found getting an on campus job much more lucrative and convenient when she went away for college. She is at a smaller SUNY now, after getting two years of college credits living at home. She and family could not afford to send her away to college till this year, after saving money during the first two years while going to a CUNY and commuting. They stashed money away during those first years , something they had not done for first 18 years of her life. College is paid for by past, present and future earnings, and not having enough in savings means you gotta make it up in present earnings and Loans.
Your challenge right now is that you have no affordable options
While you may not be able to stand being an hour away from home, you need to apply to that school so that you have an affordable option when the dust settles (it could be the difference between you attending and not attending college).
Pace, Hofstra and Fordham do not meet 100% demonstrated need, it will end up not being affordable options
The schools that do meet 100% demonstrated need; Swat, Cornell,(big reach) Yale (big reach), Northeastern, Lehigh will require the income and assets of both your parents. You have already stated that your parents will not pay. Even at schools that meet 100% demonstrated need there is a student contribution through summer work of about 3/4k. With the exception of Yale, all of the schools you mention give loans as part of their financial aid package. If you are looking at reaches, I would add Barnard to the list (they will most likely work with your family to make it affordable)
Unless you have applied to McCauley’s honors at Hunter which covers 2 years of housing, CUNY is not on the table because housing will be unaffordable.
If you are going to apply to SUNY, look for schools where you can get stackable merit money on top your need based financial aid. With a 0 EFC, you will be eligible for max pell (~6100, TAP 5165 and a $5500 loan). See if you can get scholarship money from Albany or see if you can be admitted to the Honors College (unfortunately your scores do not put you in the range for the Honors College at Bing). If you are going to toss some applications again look at SUNYs where you can get merit that can be used to offset some of the tuition and housing. Example the Presidential Scholarship at Owsego (the additional 5k would be huge!!):
https://www.oswego.edu/financial-aid/scholarships
If you plan on going to Japan for a year after graduation ** do not apply for Excelsior** as this money becomes an unsub loan if you are not working in NYS after graduation. Keep in mind that your loans will become due while you are in Japan.
As @cptofthehouse stated, Excelsior is a last payer. Your TAP and PELL will be applied first before Excelsior. It may not be worth it to jump through the hoops if you must be tied to NYS for years to come.
My daughter is 1.5 hours from home at her college. Even though you might not see it now it has its advantages.
My daughter did this program after her study abroad. She took off a semester to travel in Southeast Asia. But 1 negative is that she will not have a grace period to start paying back loans since she took off a semester.
My point was to maybe get some traveling in one of the summers to get that bug out of your system. Since as stated if you go to a Suny, you have to be in the area for a certain amount of time.
Are there any SUNYs you could commute to from home?
Are you sure? I tried BU’s calculators with parental income of $100,000, and they suggested a net price of about $20k (around $15k cash plus $5.5k student loans).
Since neither parent can pay for college you need to find a financial safety. You can take the ~$5500/year federal student loan and it sounds like you qualify for the ~$7k NYS Excelsior Grant. The Excelsior can only be used for tuition at a SUNY, but you have to live and work in NYS after college or all of those grants become loans. You can’t afford to add another $30k to the ~$27k federal student loans, especially for an undergrad psychology degree.
There are many good SUNYs. If you’re in central NY you may be able to commute to Oneonta or Oswego. Farther west is Buffalo, Fredonia, and Brockport. If you can commute to a SUNY the Excelsior would cover tuition and the loan can be used for commuting expenses, books, etc.
With a 0 EFC it does not make sense for her to apply for excelsior. As a last payer her tuition will be paid by tap and PELL before any excelsior money kicks in. Excelsior will not be of any benefit to Op
I agree with @austinmshauri that OP needs to look at Brockport, Fredonia, Cortland, Plattsburg, Potsdam, where she would stand a chance of stackable aid.
Shame Op is not interested in anything as SUNY ESF. Amazing school, where op can cross register for 15 credits at Syracuse (literally right next door)
https://www.esf.edu/welcome/esfsu.htm
directly across the street from SUNY upstate medical (joint degree program in Physical Therapy)
https://www.esf.edu/academics/coordinated.htm
Yes I just tried it again using my dads tax forms and it said 7k total which includes room and board. It said the BU need based scholarship would be like 65k. It may be because I have a sibling and college and he still owes 132k on his home
The net price calculator is not accurate for divorced parents. You would minimally gave to run it twice once using your fathers income and then using your mom’s income.
If your sister is in grad school she may not be counted as part of the 2 in college because she is an independent student.
That’s true but since my mom is on disability, she barely makes any income so I tried to just add a little to my dads income. My sister is actually currently a senior in college, going into PA school, so when they ask if a sibling is currently in school, she is.