public vs private for low income

[koushirou]

<p>my familys income is about 50k for 3 people, so i figure i’ll be able to get a lot of aid. but here’s part of a conversation that occured in another thread:

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<p>“I’m wondering why you are limiting yourself to State schools in CA. With your family income, private colleges will most probably cost you less money when you factor in the loans you will need to take for a UC.”

“im curious about what you meant by “the loans you will need to take for a UC.” it was my understanding that even though private colleges will give a lot of financial aid to low income kids, it’ll still be more expensive than publics just because you’ll get money from publics as well. Anyone care to enlighten me?”

It’s how the aid packages are structured. Say you qualify for pretty full aid. So at a UC, that could easily mean you get a $4K Pell Grant, maybe a few thousand more in grants and the rest in a student loan and work study. Many kids at UCs graduate with tens of thousands in loans.</p>

<p>Then tke the same kid at private schools that meet need and limit loans, which a lot of top schools do. Princeton and Brown have NO student loans, it’s all grants. Other top schools have limits on the amount they make students borrow.</p>

<p>So a low income kid who can get into one of these colleges is highly likely to graduate with less debt.

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<p>Not that I don’t believe this person, but I would like a couple more opinions. Is that really the way it works?</p>

[bettina]

<p>I agree with the poster.</p>

<p>You do likely qualify for nearly full aid. In my daughter’s case UCB will cost much more than Private colleges-because of loans. It is still very do-able debt (a bit less than $20k total I think.) But she has an acceptance at an Ivy which is all grants and no loans. Family contribution is very low and similar. She also has packages at other privates that have lower loans than UC’s.</p>

[macattak]

<p>Many public schools rely more on loans than grants to meet a students financial need. Publics also tend to gap more as a result of budget issues. Of course this isn’t true for all schools, public or private. </p>

<p>S, 1540/3.765UW, applied to privates Northwestern, Bradley and St. Ambrose; publics Purdue, UIUC and VA Tech. Our EFC was about $2k less than the in-state cost of Purdue. All three privates met at least 100% of need with varying blends of merit, grants and loans. Bradley did the best for total bottom line cost to beat Purdue by $3k/yr. UIUC made a valiant effort with a couple of merit scholarships and loans to get the cost close to Purdue, VA Tech brought up the rear with the biggest gap after student loans. Purdue didn’t really do much except offer $600 subsidized and $2k unsubsidized and no merit.</p>

<p>Your best bet is to find a good mix of schools you might like to attend, apply and see how it shakes out.</p>

[reidm]

<p>This will vary by state and individual private schools, but low-income students often can do better at privates. I have a young relative whose bill at a top 40 LAC is half what his cost would have been at our flagship uni, and I would call his family middle-class, not low-income.</p>