<p>180,000 really isn’t that much, but i see your point…</p>
<p>Using the federal Methodology: $ 10,540
Institutionl Methodology: $ 48,655 </p>
<p>Ugggggggggg…I wish Stanford used the federal methodology.
Are there any federal grants or anything I would qualify for?</p>
<p>I don’t remember how much it was for us. Something like enough for one year at NYU haha. My brother didn’t get any aid when he applied in 1999, but took out loans instead. What FAFSA didn’t take into account that was we were living in Belgium at the time and that the cost of living is very high there (gas alone is like $5/gallon) on the salary we had – we actually lost money when we moved there for my dad’s job. Now we have a lot of debt because my brother went to Boston University and took out a lot of loans. </p>
<p>I hope we get some kind of aid (around 20k a year would be amazing haha) because I have my heart set on NYU.</p>
<p>where do you live that $180,000 isn’t much?
The median family income - not individual income where I live ( Seattle) before taxes is $66,000.
The average price of a home is $330,000 or over- and the required income to afford an average home is $108,000, so obviously many folks have housing costs disproportinate to their income , yet their EFCs are just as difficult for them to reach as the family who makes twice the median family income- probably more so, because basic housing costs are the same whether you make $60,000 or $120,000</p>
<p>If FAFSA estimates your EFC at $10,540 what is Stanford taking into account that FASFA doesn’t?
I really don’t think Stanford is worth going into a lot of debt for- if you are in CA- obviously you know that there are a lot of terrific state schools where you can get a bargain education.
Finaid offices will also take other things into account besides what is on PROFILE and FAFSA- it can’t hurt to ask ( nicely)</p>
<p>Stanford I think is taking our farm value into account-- I’ve heard the federal methodology doesn’t count it. And yeah, our farm’s worth a ton. But we can’t just sell a 45k chunk of it every year.</p>
<p>I think I will ask ask them. But it wouldn’t make a difference unless they reduced it by about 15k, because outside scholarships cancel need based aid anyways and I’m expecting to bring in about 10-15k in outside scholarships.</p>
<p>i used to live in chicago, and 180,000 would not cut it at all, especially if you want your kids to go to a good school…</p>
<p>“What would a family with less than 40,000 and little assets receive for a private school that guarantees to meet 100% need?”</p>
<p>a full ride</p>
<p>don’t count on a full ride – </p>
<p>our families AGI is $22,119 with earned income of $24,903. We have no assets (just $240 in cash in the bank) and 2 in college and my EFC is $221. It isn’t much, I’ll grant you that – but we have significantly less income than $40,000.</p>
<p>It would be nice if someone in the $40,000 range let us know what their EFC was.</p>
<p>I would think that “a family with less than 40,000 and little assets” would end up with an EFC of a few thousand.</p>
<p>soccerfanatic: that is a common misunderstanding that you are expected to sell a portion of your farm or home to pay for college. The expectation is that the home or farm is an assest that you can borrow against.</p>
<p>Well I already spill my guts about everything else- Our before tax income has varied the last 5 years from $55,000 to $65,000 and our has varied from $14.600 to $15,900.( This is not counting daughters summer income- all of it is earmarked for tuition, but the fact that she earns a good amount raises her EFC.)</p>
<p>Our only asset is the house we live in, and it is under the cuttoff amount for residences.</p>
<p>emeraldkity4 – thanks for that info. we are hoping our income goes up in a few years (i am going to school and then will be back in the workforce) and it is good to know what an EFC looks like at that income level. that way we can plan on it!</p>
<p>can I ask what the cutoff amount is for residences for the asset cutoff – we don’t currently own a home, but hope to in the future!</p>
<p>well i’ve never seen anyone asking what the efc for a family on welfare for many years with no assets is… but i’m pretty sure it’s 0. just in case someone needs to know. :)</p>
<p>the home equity protection depends on teh school- it seems several schools allow $150,000 of equity .
FAFSA of course doesn’t ask about home equity. :)</p>
<p>Some of you guys have a pretty inflated idea of what kind of income is necessary to get by. The idea that someone can’t pay full tuition on 180,000 or 250,000 is beyond rediculous. </p>
<p>We used to have (don’t any more ) an income in the mid 100s. On that, we paid full tuition at my D’s college plus saved a year’s worth for when my S started college after her. (top-priced schools.)</p>
<p>guess what we didn’t have? A big house, private school, new cars, and all the other things you all seem to think are necessary for a “comfortable” life. Guess you’d find ours darned uncomfortable.</p>
<p>But we’re not whining about being too rich.</p>
<p>Oh, and we live in NE Jersey, so spare me the “expensive area” argument.</p>
<p>Time to open your eyes to the real world–believe me, those lucky poor folks aren’t eating cake.</p>
<p>Thank you for trying to make me feel guilty about having a family which makes a six digit income and still feels the EFC according to the federal government is unfair.</p>
<p>Also, thank you for your assumptions about people making such incomes and feel they are unable to meet the EFC.</p>
<p>Private school? Necessary if you want a decent education in my area. And isnt that what this is boiling down to in the first place? I’ve work 16 hours a week since before freshman year to contribute to paying for my schooling.</p>
<p>Lavish homes? New cars? Hardly.</p>
<p>Try a disabled grandmother living with the family which we finance but cant claim as a dependent, a mother who works 70 hour works and a father who leaves for work at 4 am and gets back well past 6.</p>
<p>Does the FAFSA care about this? Nope. Sometimes its more than just the numbers that makes paying $40 a year for a college not an option.</p>
<p>i agree with eckie. Garland, you know nothing about any of our backgrounds, so how can you make all of those assumptions. You have no right to pass judgement on any of us. obviously, your family was fortunate enough to pay for college, but there is no need to make anyone else feel guilty about their family situation.</p>
<p>I wish my family made that much money and I had all of the problems you guys have…lol…i don’t even think about most of the top schools because a parents income of $25000…really wont pay for a $35000 college…ill have enough trouble paying for a decent state school…(probably end up at a mediocre school for a year or two…which is a shame for where i could be) …and loans are really not the best thing for poor people… if something ever happens…i really wont be able to run to mommy and daddy and ask for help…so im hoping to keep that to a minimum…</p>
<p>good luck to everyone…</p>
<p>This topic comes up over and over…</p>
<p>Bottom line: Most people prefer to think if themselves are middle class, or upper middle class. Few want to think of themselves as wealthy – even when their family income is in the top 10%. The wealthy prefer to think of themselves as ‘comfortable’, and kids from these families don’t think of themselves as wealthy because most of their friends have similar houses, similar cars, similar toys, and take similar vacations.</p>
<p>Median family income is somewhere around 48K per year. If your family makes 3 times that amount, some of your taxes will go to help the more needy attend college, not the other way around.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’m the one making the assumptions…</p>
<p>And as for “good schools”, you wouldn’t have touched the public school my kids went to with a ten foot pole, that’s obvious (Average SATs about 900).</p>
<p>You don’t think the rest of the world works hard, has long hours, takes care of family? LIke Sblake says, the medium income is a fraction of what your families make. count yourselves lucky.</p>