Hi
I am a single parent to a son who wants to attend Marquette. I filled out the FAFSA and my EFC was 004333. I couldn’t believe I have such a high score. I receive about 6k a year in child support which ends in May when my son graduates. I have 5k saved in a 529. My son has about 1k saved in his account. I have no money saved as I was hit with unexpected tax bill/ escrow shortage on my home that I purchased in 2013. I am currently living check to check and my ex will not contribute to college. He does have a 529 for our son that he started years ago but stopped contributing to a few years back. I don’t know the value of that. Marquette gave my son $10900 financial aid award. My fafsa says my son will qualify for up to $1380 Pell grant. Will I ever be able to retire? Everyone I know said that we would get tons of aid with my being a single Mom, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I make in the upper 40’s but with child support, it puts me over 50k. As I said this will be gone in May. I have used the support for the last 4 years to pay for my son to attend private Catholic high school. What options are best to finance his education. I don’t want him to go to community college. My son has worked very hard to keep his grades high and while doing tons of extracurricular and community service. He deserves to go to great school
I should also add he has applied for the Chick Evans Scholarship and we are waiting to hear about that. Help, I am making myself crazy!
Which UW system school do you live close enough to commute to?
One of the challenges is that Marquette does not meet 100% demonstrated need. While the 19k scholarship is nice, but the scholarship along with the pell and the $5500 loan (the max your son can borrow) will not put a dent in $46k cost of attendance. Does your son have a financial safety, where he is getting considerable merit money and will be affordable to your family or as Madison mentioned, a UW school that he will be able to commute to ?
Your son, like many other kids, will not likely get to go to the college that he wants. he’ll survive. where else did he apply? Hopefully he applied to some instate schools, including a univ that he can commute to.
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Everyone I know said that we would get tons of aid with my being a single Mom,
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whoever you were talking to didn’t know what they were talking about. most schools do not have the money to give. Sure, the ivies and similar do, but most colleges do NOT. When someone with a low EFC applies, they don’t have a treasure chest to go to and pay that child’s costs.
AND…the schools that do have the money (like ivies) are the ones that won’t just look at a single mom’s income…they will ALSO look at the dad’s income/assets…because schools believe that parents are first in line to pay for their kids’ educations. (BTW…Please do those people who gave you such bad advice a favor and correct them before they mislead others…tell them how little aid you were given…most schools do not have much money to give. PERIOD It is nearly impossible for most schools to “meet need” for those with modest/low EFCs. Your EFC may seem high to you, but it is a lowish EFC. For a school that costs $50k, these folks were essentially advising you that Marquette was going to hand you $45k per year. Schools like Marquette don’t have that kind of money to give. If your child’s school’s GC was one of the people who misled you, please inform her so she won’t do that in the future.)
Attending a pricey private is a LUXURY…you need to look at it THAT way. Luxuries are often not affordable…particularly when living paycheck to paycheck.
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Will I ever be able to retire?
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If you are considering taking out Plus Loans so that he can go, please do NOT do that. Not only would you not be able to retire, but that is just crazy. That would be over $100k in parent loans. In your income bracket, you shouldn’t be taking ANY parent loans out, much less mega-size ones.
Of course your child worked hard at school. THAT IS WHAT he’s supposed to do. That’s his job. You’re doing YOUR job of supporting your family. Does that mean that you get to put the family in huge debt for some unnecessary dream? No.
I know that you may feel guilty because you may be thinking that if his parents had stayed together then he would have been able to go. Maybe or maybe not. But the fact is that the marriage split, dad won’t pay, and you are earning a good-but-not-high salary. As you say, you’re living paycheck to paycheck. You know that you need to be setting some money aside for “rainy days” and retirement. Right?
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He deserves to go to a great school.
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That is a scary position to have because it seems like you’re saying, “he deserves to go to the school that he wants even though it is completely unaffordable and would require me to take on huge debt.”
Your son will survive without going to a pricey univ…believe me.
No one deserves an unaffordable luxury. Repeat that to yourself.
There are many “good schools” out there. Unless he had a poorly-advised application list, he should have a few state schools or other schools that are less expensive.
As someone who also sent her kids to Catholic schools, I suspect that you may be thinking “private equals good” and “public equals bad”. Universities are very different than K-12. There are many very good public univs.
What schools were his “safety” school?? (I’m concerned that since you were misled about aid, that maybe he didn’t apply too any? Did he?)
If your son was a great student, did he receive any merit awards from any schools?
What are your son’s test scores and GPA? Maybe we can suggest some late apps.
You may need to have his affordable schools adjust his EFC since child support will be ending. That won’t make much difference at a school like Marquette because their gap is tooooo wide, but for a MUCH lower cost instate univ it will…particularly if it qualifies you for some state aid.
You also need to have your son ask his dad how much is in the 529 acct that his dad has…then divide that by 4.
I know that is is all likely very upsetting because you all were misled about aid, so likely the assumption has been that your son will be going to Marquette. Suddenly switching gears, and suddenly having to tell people that he won’t be going is likely very unsettling.
Tell us more about your son…his stats, his intended major, his career goals, and your home state. We can help find a more affordable solution.
ETA. What is your state of residence. If it’s not Wisconsin…substitute schools in your state of residence in my reply below.
Marquette is great school…but so are the University of Wisconsin schools.
Has your son applied to any other colleges?
He will only be able to take $5500 in loans for his freshman year. He will get about $1000 in Pell Grant money if that EFC is accurate. does that $10000 Marquette gave him include his Pell?
What other schools did he apply to? I would very strongly suggest you put all college decisions on the back burner until you see what your actual net costs will be everywhere he applied…and this includes seeing all the financial aid packages.
To be honest, I’m not sure you will qualify for loans in the amounts you suggest you need each year. And YOU are looking at $160,000 plus for four years. I’m not sure you should be considering this level of debt.
If he hasn’t applied to a UW campus, I would suggest that he do so asap.
I think the earlier posters are spot on. Marquette is an expensive private school that does not guarantee to meet full need and does not do so most of the time. Financial aid is based on income in the prior year, so any reductions in your income in 2015 will be reflected in the 2016 FAFSA for your son’s sophomore year. However, that only guarantees him more PELL (if eligible) and some sibusidized Direct loans, which are no where near what it will take to pay for schools that are in the $60K a year range.
No school guarantees to meet need as defined by EFC. That number is usually the bare bones MINIMUM you will be paying unless you find a local school that charges less or your son gets a big enough merit award to engulf the EFC. I can tell you that though my state schools will pretty much meet need for residents, it’s limited to tuition and fees. Room, board, transportation, books, other expenses are on the family and student. It’s a bit much to assume a school will pay for your children’s living expenses, IMO. Private schools, going a way to college are all luxury items.
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While the 19k scholarship is nice,
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I think the above is a typo…the @batmom96 says her son got $10,900 in aid. I don’t know if that’s a need-based grant, a merit scholarship, or a mix of grants and loans.
@batmom What is the $10,900 in aid? Is that the merit award that came with your son’s acceptance? Or was that in the FA pkg awarded to your son? Did it also include the Pell grant and the student loan?
Did your son go to a Jesuit HS? If so, does Marquette give an award to grads of Jesuit HS’s?
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Financial aid is based on income in the prior year, so any reductions in your income in 2015 will be reflected in the 2016 FAFSA for your son's sophomore year.
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Although this is true, FA officers often will make adjustments when income will drop due to a known upcoming reduction in child support. That could happen and if it did, it might mean another 1000 in Pell or something. It won’t make Marquette affordable.
Even if the actual FA pkg hasn’t arrived, and all that has been received so far is a merit award (we need clarification), then M still likely won’t be affordable. There’s a reason why M’s student body is mostly rather affluent students. And frankly, THAT would be another concern. Your son would be attending a school where nearly everyone has a lot more money than he does.
I hope he gets the Evans Scholarship. I very much encouraged my kids to go for it, but they did not. I’ve never known an unhappy Evans Scholar!
Did your son get $10k in financial aid from Marquette? He may also qualify for a merit scholarship. Contact the school and tell them your situation. They will not know that your child support is ending, and they may consider it. Would he live at home and commute?
Single parents do not get special consideration. The formulas look at the number in your household, salary, assets, but don’t give a break if it is one person earning the money or two.
Not only do single parents not get special consideration, but the aid formulas are even harsher .
A family with 2 parents and 1 child earning $45k will have a lower EFC than a family with 1 parent and 2 children…since the formulas assume that adults in a household “cost more” than kids do…so the “exemption” for adults is higher.
Each school should be contacted and shown court orders that will indicate that child support will end in May/June. Often that can cause a FA officer to adjust the numbers so that your EFC will drop a bit (not a lot, but a small amount). Again, this will not likely make Marquette affordable, but if you have a state that gives aid based on income or EFC, then maybe the state schools would be more affordable.
As a mom of kids who went to Catholic schools, I know that the Catholic univs heavily recruit…and if your child’s high school was Jesuit, then there is even more of an emphasis. Yes, a Jesuit education is very good. But that doesn’t mean that a great education can’t be had elsewhere.
Public univs do provide a very good education. The choice should not be Marquette or a CC.
IF a Jesuit education is highly desired, then I suggest looking at some of the others that are known for better aid and merit. Since it doesn’t sound like M gave your son a significant merit award, his test scores may not be very high. If that is the case, then look at Jesuits like Spring Hill in Mobile…they are cheaper, they give good merit, and they give good FA.
There are also some other Jesuits in the midwest and NE that might give great merit…like Xavier , Canisius, LeMoyne, Fairfield, John Carroll, Xavier, Scranton…and Loyola Maryland is known for very good need-based aid.
Net Price Calculator 2014-2015 for UW-Madison in-state freshman commuter who signed the Wisconsin Covenant Pledge in 8th grade and has an EFC of $4,333
Student Profile
Residency Status Wisconsin
Academic Level Freshman
College of Engineering/School of Business student? No
Dependency Status Dependent
Housing Plan Commuter
EFC ? 4333
Are you a Wisconsin Covenant Scholar? Yes
Estimated Cost of Attendance (COA) for 2014-2015 ?
Tuition : $10,610.00
Books & Supplies ?: $1,200.00
Room : $0.00
Board : $1,500.00
Miscellaneous : $2,414.00
Travel : $1,024.00
Total Cost: $16,748.00
Estimated Need Calculation for 2014-2015
Cost of Attendance (COA) $16,748.00
Expected Family Contribution (EFC) - $4,333.00
Total Need: $12,415.00
Estimated Eligibility for Grants (Gift Aid) for 2014-2015
Wisconsin Covenant Scholars Grant : $1,000.00
Pell Grant : $1,380.00
UW-Madison Institutional Grant : $2,000.00
UW-Madison Initiative Grant : $1,500.00
Total Estimated Grants: $5,880.00
Estimated Net Price Summary for 2014-2015
Cost of Attendance (COA) $16,748.00
Total Estimated Grant Aid - $5,880.00
Estimated Net Price $10,868.00
Estimated Eligibility for Other Aid (Self-Help) for 2014-2015
Federal Work-Study : $2,200.00
Perkins Loan : $835.00
Subsidized Direct Loan : $3,500.00
Unsubsidized Direct Loan : $2,000.00
Total Estimated Other Aid: $8,535.00
Estimated Remaining Cost for 2014-2015
Estimated Net Price $10,868.00
Estimated Other Aid - $8,535.00
Estimated Remaining Cost $2,333.00
Regarding the estimated remaining cost in this example - the parent may be able to cover this with the $2,500 American Opportunity Tax Credit (by reducing federal income tax withholding throughout the year, resulting in additional cash flow).
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True…but do we know if the family lives in Wisconsin?
My concern is that if the student applied EA and got his results in Dec and the family thought that they’d get great aid, the student may not have applied to other affordable schools. Hopefully the mom will come back and provide some more info.
I’m sure that many of us are sad that some people (a GC???) wrongly told this mom that her child would get tons of aid because she is a single mom.
OP hasn’t yet been back to cc - many unanswered questions.
HI everyone,
My son also received the following scholarships
Loyola 16K a year
Bradley 10K a year
Xavier 18k a year
St Norbert 11k
NIU 4k
He only applied for NIU because it is an Evans Scholar school and they wanted him to apply for at least 4 Evans schools (Marquette, U of IL, NIU and Miami of Ohio) we are waiting for replies from Miami of OH and U of IL but Marquette is really the only one of the 4 he wants to go to. We live on NW side of Chicago.
My son currently goes to a Catholic HS and part of the reason for choosing Marquette is he wants to pursue campus ministry as well. It is something that he really enjoys. I am not sure if this is something he can get at a public school. He does like Bradley…it is probably his favorite IL school. He wasn’t crazy about Loyola as it is too close to home. He is thinking about Xavier as they gave the most $$ but it is going to be hard enough sending my only child away…I want to at least know hes only a few hours away and not 5 1/2…this whole process has made me so sad…my son has worked so hard with everything and I cannot provide him what he deserves and his father who he doesn’t see very often will not help.
I am reading through your replies and I am very grateful for them. I thought I was so well informed going to the seminars and things, but I feel like a dummy.
Here are some answers to other questions,
His ACT was 25 twice…28 in English 27 reading but then flip flopped math and science with scores between 20-24.His GPA is 3.62. He raised it a bit this semester with his 4.0 average.
The aid from Marquette is $10900 a year, not 19k a year. It is a merit scholarship. His GC used to work for Marquette…she warned me they don’t give that much and she told me not to take the PP loan. She did encourage him to apply to Xavier because they give more and are also Jesuit. The thought of my baby so far away though is really hard.
Besides the Chick Evans Scholarship he is applying to a few for Eagle scouts, and about 9 others. He also applied for the Golden Apple as well but he would have to attend an IL school if he won that.
Ok, so Illinois resident then. Can he live at home and commute to a public? Do you have a financial safety (community college?)?
Wow - the Evans Caddie Scholarship is full tuition and housing for four years?
There are campus ministry opps at publics. Most publics have churches that surround the campus…and those churches have campus ministries. Assuming that he’s Catholic, there are Catholic student ministries, Newman Centers, etc at likely all or nearly all publics.
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Loyola 16K a year Bradley 10K a year Xavier 18k a year St Norbert 11k NIU 4k
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Can he commute to Loyola? If not, that may not be affordable either.
Has he gotten his FA pks from these schools? or are these purely merit awards that are being mentioned?
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this whole process has made me so sad...my son has worked so hard with everything and I cannot provide him what he deserves and his father who he doesn't see very often will not help.
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Do NOT beat yourself up over this. Doing so will only guilt you into doing something that you would regret for many decades…MANY decades.
Your son worked hard…(sorry, harshness alert) …so what? He’s supposed to work hard. Nearly every parent on CC had kids that “worked hard” and got top grades and stats.
Working hard in high school does NOT mean that the student is entitled to attend a pricey school, particularly if it would put his parent into deep debt. (read this sentence three times! )
You work hard (I’m sure that you do). Does that mean that you should get something that is completely unaffordable and will put you deep into debt???
College is ONLY 4 years…it is NOT the dream. The dream is his future life…career, family, children, whatever. He’ll have that dream and future…even if it’s not at Marquette.
How much can YOU pay each year towards college???
??? How would Bradley be affordable? can he commute there? It’s private, right? how much would that school cost you.
(believe me…if you can’t pay a lot towards college now, then you can’t later afford to pay the loan payments on some big ole loans)
I know that you’re emotional right now, but time is running out. It looks like he needs to quickly apply to some schools that still are accepting apps and will give aid/merit that will be much larger than these schools.
It doesn’t even look like any of these schools are affordable.
What are his test scores? What is his GPA? What is his major? What is his career goal?
GPA and test scores are in post #15.