Parents now starting to worry about price....What to tell them?

[johnleemk]

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Remember that their (Harvard etc.) definition of financial aid includes LOANS taken out by the kid or the family. Loans have to be paid back, so it is not financial aid. My parents make like 120 K. So we expect zilch financial grants or breaks. We don’t see loans as financial aid, the colleges lie with statistics.

Loans allow you to pay for something you can’t afford now in the future, so they are a form of financial aid because they allow you to effectively defer payment. The loans offered by many colleges, especially HYP, also have more generous terms than those you might get from banks; for instance, I saw one package that doesn’t put any interest on your loan for one year after you graduate. Many colleges also extend the interest-free period through graduate school if you decide to do a graduate degree. For international students, if after graduating you go back to work in the developing world, some colleges even cancel your loans.</p>

<p>That sounds like aid to me. And if a loan is good enough to buy a car or a house, I fail to see why it isn’t good enough to buy you an education. Odds are you won’t be borrowing a crazy amount anyway - most loan packages I’ve seen are in the realm of about $5,000 a year or so.</p>

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I am talking about merit aid, not need based. Harvard does not offer merit aid.

It doesn’t matter what kind of aid it is, as long as it can help put you through college. Harvard doesn’t offer merit aid because it can afford to meet the demonstrated need of needy applicants, and if you can already afford to attend Harvard, it makes zero sense to be asking for money from them.</p>

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I don’t know why they are claiming two-thirds when it is more like half.

We all know colleges (heck, anyone) can play games with statistics - but 50% is still a lot. That’s a 1-in-2 chance of getting aid.</p>

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But either way, I think kids are foolish to buy the line that “somehow it will all work out financially” and all they have to do is get in…If they buy that line they are apt to end up at a school they don’t want to be at because they haven’t explored all the better, more affordable options.

Anyone who doesn’t look at all options on the table should blame themselves if things don’t work out. That’s exactly why people shouldn’t immediately say, “Oh, I’ll never be able to afford HYP” and don’t bother applying, and that’s exactly why people shouldn’t be complacent about investigating alternatives to their dream college. Educational and financial safeties are just as important as educational and financial reaches when you are thinking about colleges to apply to.</p>

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Not exactly a majority.

As I said originally, I was mainly talking about the top of the top - HYP. I specifically said that the chances of getting substantial aid decrease as you go down the tiers. But still, 49% of all first-year students getting aid is not something you can scoff at. Your figures also don’t look at income distribution - generally speaking, the odds are much better than 1-in-2 of getting financial aid if you’re earning less than, say, $100k.</p>