<p>After suffering through an extended period of unemployment that eliminated our college and family savings, I have landed a job that pays $70,000 gross annually to support our family of three. My wife has been looking for a long time, but has had no luck finding employment. My question is, for college financial aid purposes, is it better for us to try and make it on our $70,000 gross income our should she continue trying to find a job that can pay in the $15,000-$20,000 range? Any ideas on what we can expect in aid? If it helps, my daughter has a 3.50 GPA in a strong centralized academic gifted program with a tough college-prep curricula (lots of AP classes-8) and an ACT composite score of 30.</p>
<p>Congrats on finding a new job…it sounds like it’s been an ordeal! Have you tried calculating your EFC both ways? College Board has a decent calculator but, if you’d like to get more insight into how the EFC formula works, I’d recommend using the worksheets/tables marked A in the EFC Formula Guide:</p>
<p><a href=“http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf[/url]”>http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf</a></p>
<p>A $70K income for a family of 3, barring any huge medical expenses, is going to put you above the range for Pell grants which are the biggest source of “free” federal aid. You might get state grants but that depends on the what state you’re in and whether your D stays instate. If your wife takes a $20K/year job you will get an extra employment allowance of $3500, plus the standard allowances for payroll taxes, etc. After that, her remaining income will be assessed at 47%. But, if it’s not going to affect need-based aid in a big way and you can afford to live on your salary and devote hers toward college expenses, that’s often a good way to avoid going into debt to pay for college.</p>
<p>Your best bet is probably to look for schools that will offer her good merit aid and that are reasonably affordable. Is the 3.5 unweighted and is she going to take the SAT or retake the ACT? Does she have any colleges on her list yet?</p>
<p>If she gets a job at $15-20k/year, you will come out ahead in terms of money available to spend on college. Unless you are at a school that meets need 100%, there will probably be a loan expectation & gap, anyway. Having the extra income allows you to pay more.</p>
<p>I returned to work when my oldest began college, and all of my income goes to pay for school. I didn’t have it before … I wouldn’t have it if I continued to stay home … so it makes sense to work.</p>
<p>It almost always pays to go to work. The only time I have seen it not be worth while is when PELL grants are at stake and the extra dollar or so takes you over. If your wife gets a job, she can plough all of that income into paying for college. Many spoused go back to work for specifically that purpose when their kids go to college.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. My wife is trying to find a job, but still no luck. Hopefully her luck changes.</p>
<p>It is usually a plus to have more income since most schools don’t meet need…especially since your income is too high for free federal aid.</p>
<p>If your D is a junior, she needs to target schools that will be affordable - either because they give good aid or they give big merit.</p>
<p>Most schools do NOT have a lot of aid to give, so that can be shocking. </p>
<p>You need to figure out how much you can afford to contribute towards college costs. Chances are, the amount that you’ll be expected to pay will be more than you’re comfortable paying because you’re recovering from being unemployed and probably are trying to get back on your feet.</p>
<p>What schools is your D considering?</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>What is her likely major?</p>
<p>I suggest that your D take the ACT again and take the SAT. She’ll need the highest scores possible to have the best options.</p>
<p>My daughter is a junior in a centralized academic gifted program. Her courses are mostly AP and those that aren’t are said to be collegiate level courses. She is considering Pepperdine, Baylor, TCU, Northwestern, Wheaton College (IL), Vanderbilt and Sewanee - The College of the South. </p>
<p>We live in Illinois and her interest is in fighting human trafficking/social justice. DePaul has a new major “Peace, conflict resolution and social justice” that also really appeals to my daughter. She wants to double major in Biblical Studies and either Psch, Sociology or law.</p>
<p>She’s taken the ACT again last week, but we don’t yet know the scores. We’re hoping she beats her previous 30. At this point, she’s not planning to take the SAT, since the colleges she is interested in require either the SAT or the ACT but not both.</p>
<p>the reason your D should also take the SAT is because some kids do better on one test than the other…and your D needs the highest score possible. Virtually all schools will take whichever test is the highest. </p>
<p>Most of the schools on your D’s list do not meet need and would likely expect your family to pay a lot more than you may be willing to pay. </p>
<p>Right now, NU and Vandy are significant reaches - altho they do “meet need.” </p>
<p>Do you know how much you can pay each year? You need to figure that out and let your D know. Once everyone is on the same page financially, then the list of schools to apply to will work within your family’s financial situation.</p>
<p>Once you know how much you can pay each year, tell your D and explain that all other costs must get covered with financial aid or scholarships. </p>
<p>Your D needs to understand that it won’t do her any good to have several acceptances, but none that are affordable.</p>
<p>Make sure that she has 2-3 financial safeties on her list…these are schools that she’ll know for sure that she’ll get accepted to AND you know FOR SURE that all costs will be covered. And, these need to be schools that she’ll like.</p>
<p>It sounds like law school may be in your D’s future. If so, then she really needs to minimize any school loans because she’ll need to take out large loans for law school.</p>
<p>Single parent of S with 3.2 GPA and 32 ACT. In state school gave $2000, 1 out of state school gave $0, another (belmont) wait-listed academically and last out of state school(northern illinois university) gave $13,000. These are academic scholarships. I wll stll have to pay $13,000 which is my EFC. Your EFC will be lower but just a warning not to rely on anticipated scholarships too much</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>Your son could have gotten better scholarships with his ACT 32 if his GPA had been better. Good-sized merit scholarships usually require a 3.5+ GPA and a high test score.</p>
<p>For example…at my kids’ state flagship, an out of state student with an ACT 32 and a 3.5 GPA would be given a free tuition scholarship worth $21k per year (at least $84k total). In addition, if he majored in engineering or comp sci, he’d be given an additional $2500 per year…so $94k total. (The SAT equivalent would be a 1400 M+CR)</p>
<p>But, without that 3.5 with the ACT 32, the student wouldn’t get the money.</p>
<p>If the OP’s D only gets an ACT 30 with that GPA 3.5, then she’d get a 2/3 tuition scholarship worth about $14k per year (about $60k total). </p>
<p>So, as long as the OP’s D keeps her grades up, she could at least get that. If she raises her test scores, she’d get free tuition.</p>
<p>*Single parent of S with 3.2 GPA and 32 ACT. In state school gave $2000, 1 out of state school gave $0, another (belmont) wait-listed academically and last out of state school(northern illinois university) gave $13,000. These are academic scholarships. I wll stll have to pay $13,000 which is my EFC. Your EFC will be lower but just a warning not to rely on anticipated scholarships too much *</p>
<p>And…if merit scholarships bring the cost down to EFC (or below), the student can further reduce what a parent has to pay by taking out a 5500 student loan. So, if your son got a scholarship that brought his cost down to $13k (your EFC) and that is not easily affordable, then have him borrow up to $5500 (for frosh year) to bring that cost down.</p>
<p>After that, he can borrow…</p>
<p>6500 soph
7500 jr
7500 sr</p>
<p>And, he could work over the summer to further pay for various things like books and incidentals.</p>