<p>Well, if your finances mean you can’t afford to both save for retirement and pay for college, then you have to make a choice and/or seek alternatives.</p>
<p>Your expected contribution is largely driven by income (for most people anyway). Look at it from the college’s perspective - why should they give your kid money so you can save for retirement?</p>
<p>That makes perfect sense to me. Now I see the reason why contributions to retirement are included. Otherwise, some people might choose to pad their IRA’s while expecting financial aid to pay their child’s tuition. Duh. Got it now. :)</p>
<p>I would think that those that are teetering at the magical $100K limit would probably have at least a few thousand that could send them other the top when added back in. </p>
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<p>Re: this and spousal support … I am answering from the FAFSA standpoint. If we are talking Profile only (which we may have been, but I missed due to scanning too quickly!), that can be different. At $100k for the vast majority of schools, there won’t be much aid, anyway. For a Profile school that meets need, it can make a difference … but each family has to decide for itself how important funding retirement is as they balance the question of its impact on financial aid. We absolutely have continued to fund our 401K/403B while our kids are in school. Our college choices took this into account. Others may feel they can stop funding during that time.</p>
<p>As for the $100k or some other magical number to get aid at a certain school, each school is different. You would have to find out whether it’s strictly AGI or if other amounts (including things like business write-offs) are factored back in. There are different ways schools go about determining the cut off income.</p>
<p>As for the question about reporting spousal support and child support received: You probably report your spousal support on your 1040, correct? If so, it is already being considered. Child support received in the base year must also be reported. Some schools will remove it from the formula if you document that you no longer receive it — but each school can make its own decision & does not have to do so.</p>
<p>(Former comments)Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford and (I think) Williams are the schools that give what I call “super aid” to those who have earnings up to about $160k. The other top ranked schools seem to use the more traditional calculations which seem to expect about 33% of those high incomes. So, someone earning $150k might be expected to pay about $50k or more per year (depending on assets).</p>
<p>The fact that those few give super aid sometimes misleads people into thinking that all the ivies/elites do this.
NYU gives lousy aid. And some of the other top schools, like JHU, are sometimes known for expecting parents to pay a lot.</p>
<p>NEW QUERY
In light of previous posts it seems that our income may very well be slightly over $100,000. Lets say its $110,000. If a college who"s total tuition +costs is $60k expects us to pay 33% -$36k that is certainly better than paying $60k
NYU is of interest to my daughter, at our income level, if they really expect $60k perhaps we should not be barking up that tree. If she gets lucky enough in The IVY Crapshoot …anyone have estimates about how much we would be expected to pay?
Also what about schools like Duke and Emory? or highly ranked state colleges such as UNC and UVA. Out of state costs at UVA are estimated a close to 50K.Is a student with top stats and parents hovering slightly over $100k income going to get any financial encouragement?</p>
<p>Former Comments)Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford and (I think) Williams are the schools that give what I call “super aid” to those who have earnings up to about $160k. The other top ranked schools seem to use the more traditional calculations which seem to expect about 33% of those high incomes. So, someone earning $150k might be expected to pay about $50k or more per year (depending on assets).</p>
<p>The fact that those few give super aid sometimes misleads people into thinking that all the ivies/elites do this.
NYU gives lousy aid. And some of the other top schools, like JHU, are sometimes known for expecting parents to pay a lot.
NEW QUERY
In light of former posts it seems that our income may be slightly over $100k. Let’s say $110K.By a formula that ask for %33 (is that tuition or total costs?) with a total package of $60k , $36k is certainly better than $60k. If our D. gets lucky in the Ivy Crapshoot how do you think we will fare in expected contributions? What about NYU? Schools like Duke ,Emory, Columbia?Out of state costs for UVA are close to $50K and UNC close to $40k. Would these or top rated state schools give a student with top stats any financial encouragement?</p>
<p>To get an idea of cost after FA at those schools you should go to their web sites and look for the net price calculator. People on these boards still debate how accurate the forecasts will be. And you need to realize that loans are considered meeting need. Try to look for schools that offer grants vs. loans.</p>
<p>thanks so much for the info about the net price calculator…I’ve fill out the form and gone to several schools to get some estimates and results.</p>
<p>I agree and think you just have to sit down and put a budget together. We continued to fund our retirement accounts albeit lowered to the percentage that was matched by the company and simultaneously gave the kids a college budget, then selected colleges. It’s the reverse of how many go at it, but financial considerations at our age and given the economy during the last decade took a gigantic chunk out of what we could have paid for 3 college educations and precluded us from simply selecting college and then figuring out how to pay for them. It’s much easier to figure out what you can afford and then go buy it than to figure out how to pay for something you probably can’t afford after you’re mentally committed to buying it.</p>