what are families that make 120k yr but have no assets supposed to do?

Paying for College
1

<p>We have no savings and extreme debt but we do make 120k yr. First child to go to college(3 younger siblings right behind her) We will be selling our home and renting a new home this fall( probally falling right in the application and fin aid app time zone)
Our d is a strong academic canidate.</p>

<p>How will all this affect our financial need and chances for aid?</p>

<p>Her list right now is comprised of mainly merit award schools(Manhattan College, Quinnipiac,Fordham,Sacred Heart,St. Johns,Marist) and a SUNY- probally Albany or Stonybrook.
She would like to add financial reaches such as : Boston University, Boston College, Emerson, Wesleyan, Connecticut College,NYU, Barnard, Vassar</p>

<p>But would these schools offer her need based aid in grant form or only in loans? We hesitate to apply to need based schools because we fear they will only offer loan heavy packages.</p>

2

<p>I am about the least financially savvy person I know, but if you sell your home wouldn’t you have a capital gain? And wouldn’t this be held against you on the FAFSA?</p>

3

<p>I suggest looking at the several threads on merit aid. I also suggest sending your D to a school that you know that you can afford. That may mean having her live at home and go to a local 4-year or 2-year college. There are many strong students who start at 2-year colleges and then transfer to 4-year colleges later, and get merit aid for being star community college students. </p>

<p>Unless your child is a valedictorian, 2400 SAT, NM finalist
applying to second tier colleges, I highly doubt that she will get financial aid covering everything. </p>

<p>Also, some of the colleges on your list such as Wesleyan have no merit aid. With your income, your student is unlikely to qualify for much need-based aid. Colleges don’t have a lot of sympathy for families with good incomes, but sky high debt unless the debt is due to something like huge medical bills.</p>

<p>Boston College’s merit-based aid is very difficult to get. NYU is stingy with aid and has been known to provide students with big loans, and a big gap between the student’s need and what NYU offers.</p>

<p>My advice is to take the time to look thoroughly at the scholarship/financial aid sections of the colleges your D may consider. Also buy the US News Ultimate College Guide, which gives excellent info about scholarships. It’s worth it also to spend the $15 or so to be able to use their on-line site, which has excellent info, too.</p>

<p>The colleges will not take into account the fact that there are 3 younger sibs who may eventually be college-bound. If they were applying to college now or were in college, the colleges would take their college costs into consideration. For all the college knows, however, they may never be college bound. Consequently, their future college costs will not be calculated into what you’ll be expected to pay.</p>

<p>There’s a thread on merit aid pinned at the top of the Parents’ Forum that you should check out.</p>

<p>I strongly suggest telling your D now that she’ll need to apply to places that she has a good chance of getting merit aid. No need for her to set her heart on a need-based aid place only to find out after acceptance that she can’t afford it. If you know that there’s no way that you’ll qualify for aid from a college, tell your D to look elsewhere.</p>

4

<p>I just checked your previous posts. Seeing that you mentioned that your D has minimal ECs and her SATs are V750 M490 CR690, and she’s a white female from Long Island who’s interested in the humanities, I don’t think that she’ll be a in great demand by top LACs and universities. However, she could get some nice awards from lower ranked places. If she raises her math score, that will help greatly. Unfortunately for her, many colleges this year aren’t taking the writing part of the SAT I into consideration because of its newness.</p>

<p>She would be in a much stronger position if she were from outside of the NE, were from a less affluent home, and had the SAT scores and interests to major in the science or math. Of course, you can’t change those things.</p>

<p>What you can do, though, is help her be realistic about her options and about her chances for the financial aid that you’ll need. </p>

<p>I think that the schools on her list as financial reaches aren’t likely to give her the aid that she needs. I also think that she’s a longshot for admission for most of them. My advice would be to discourage her from applying to those places.</p>

<p>Are there places within commuting distance that she could apply to and therefore save housing expenses?</p>

<p>I see that Elmira College offers the following, which she would qualify for: "Trustee Scholarships</p>

<p>Awarded to all accepted students who have earned a 3.5 GPA (on 4.0 scale as determined by the Office of Admissions) and an SAT I total of 1200 (ACT composite of 27): $15,000 per year, $60,000 over four years. Renewable with a 3.3 GPA on a scale of 4.0"</p>

<p>Niagara University:
"Competitive Full-Tuition NU Honors Scholarships: (four years)
Selected number of incoming freshmen who possess a 97 percent average and a cumulative score* of 1280 on the SAT or a score of 29 on the ACT are considered for this competitive award.</p>

<p>Niagara Trustees Scholarships: $10,500 per year for four years
Awarded to students who have high school records similar to these:* 95 percent average with an 1150 SAT total (26 ACT); or 91 percent average, 1210 SAT total (27 ACT)"</p>

<p>Russell Sage College
“Presidential Scholarship
To be considered for this award, students must have an “A” high school GPA in a challenging college preparatory program, achieve a minimum SAT I score of 1250 or a minimum ACT composite score of 28, and rank in the top 10% of their class.
($13,000- $14,000 per year:$56,000 total possible award)”</p>

<p>Hartwick College
"Full Tuition Scholarships/Charlotte Miller
Amount:* Full tuition, renewable up to four years
High School Criteria/Application Deadline:* Admissions staff members nominate candidates based on outstanding academic and extracurricular achievements. Complete admissions applications must be received by February 15.
Hartwick Renewal Criteria:* Minimum Hartwick GPA requirement of 3.0
Selection: Committee of faculty will select up to five winners. Scholarship interview required prior to December 15.</p>

<p>Academic Excellence Scholarships/Oyaron, Kellogg, Cooper
Amount:* $16,000 – $22,000, renewable up to four years
High School Criteria/Application Deadline:* Minimum 1250 SAT or 28 ACT* and rank in the top 15 percent** of high school class
Hartwick Renewal Criteria:* Minimum Hartwick GPA requirement of 3.0
Selection: *Competitive Award</p>

<p>President’s Scholarship
Amount: <em>$15,000, renewable up to four years
High School Criteria/Application Deadline:</em> Minimum 1150 SAT or 25 ACT* and rank in the top 15 percent** of high school class
Hartwick Renewal Criteria:* Minimum Hartwick GPA requirement of 2.5
Selection:*Automatic for admitted students meeting criteria</p>

<p>Nelson<em>Scholarship
Amount: $8,000 - $12,000, renewable up to four years
High School Criteria/Application Deadline:</em> Minimum 1100 SAT or 24 ACT and rank in the top 25 percent** of high school class
Hartwick Renewal Criteria:* Minimum Hartwick GPA requirement of 2.0
Selection:*Automatic for admitted students meeting criteria"</p>

5

<p>I would suggest running your numbers through a few of the financial aid calculators so that you can get some idea of what your EFC is going to be because it will vary at different schools. Use both the federal and the insitutional methodologies.</p>

<p>Barnard, Vassar and Wes- all offer need based financial aid</p>

<p>NYU- largest scholarship tops out at $25,000. They are extremely stingy with aid and give big loans.</p>

<p>BU- states that they give aid based on need and merit. the big bucks are for the top of the applicant pool. Other wise they are another school which can be heavy on loans.</p>

<p>Conn college is not need blind nor do they state that they will meet 100% of your demonstrated need… They state: Connecticut College determines a student’s eligibility for financial aid based on a detailed assessment of the income, assets, and special circumstances presented by his or her family. **It is not our intent to reward a student’s meritorious performance through the distribution of financial aid. **Rather it is our desire to open the doors of the College to highly qualified students from all economic backgrounds.</p>

<p>BC:
<a href=“http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/studentsofcolor/ahanaprocess/[/url]”>http://www.bc.edu/admission/undergrad/studentsofcolor/ahanaprocess/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>On the surface, paying for college can seem like an impossible goal for many. In reality, it is often far more attainable than students think. At Boston College, for example, the University is committed to providing funds to meet the full demonstrated need of every admitted student who has applied for financial aid. Because Boston College does not award merit or academic financial aid, the students who are in need receive our financial aid resources. There are, however, some things you should know about our financial aid process. </p>

<p>As mentioned, Boston College meets the full demonstrated need of all admitted students.</p>

<p>Boston College offers a variety of grants, loans and employment to assist students in financing a Boston College education. </p>

<p>All financial assistance, with the exception of the Presidential Scholars Program is awarded on the basis of need. </p>

<p>We are a need blind institution, an application for financial aid will in no way influence admission decisions.</p>

6

<p>You should definitely do some of those online FA calculators. I was really shocked at how high our EFC was (our income is a good bit lower than yours and our EFC was nearly $40K).</p>

7

<p>I find it hard to believe that many adcoms would be sympathetic to a family whose income is 3 times the national average. Plus if you sell your house, you’re going to have a major asset that will be included to determine your D’s awards. Sorry I don’t sound sympathetic, but there are many of us with much lower incomes and lack of assets who really need aid. Come on, $120,000 in yearly income and no assets, no savings? Yes, I know if you live in the Northeast, everything is so expensive - I live in the Northeast too. I know I’m in for a round of criticism here.</p>

8

<p>If you have equity in your home, it is frequently protected from the assets calculations. If you seel your home and rent and put that equity into the bank or other investments, it’ll be counted by most schools. I would be consider that choice very carefully, especially with more kids coming right behind. That being said, your income may be high enough that you do not qualify by need anyway.</p>

<p>If this is the case, look for those schools which offer merit aid. Another school which does this is Baylor, they offer up to $8-10/year depending on your SAT & class rank. Texas may be too far away, but it ismerely an example of the type of aid you can look for, a lesser know school giving you money each year can still be a great college experience for your daughter.</p>

9

<p>“what are families that make 120k yr but have no assets supposed to do?”</p>

<p>They’re generally expected to pay for college with a portion of that $120K. Or a portion of that 120K plus a home equity loan. Or a portion of that $120K plus a small portion of the proceeds from your home sale.</p>

<p>You’ve got lots of options-- certainly more than the typical candidate for financial aid. You’ll likely be one of the families whose taxes end up helping the needier candidates, not the other way around.</p>

<p>But do give the financial aid calculators a shot to confirm your likely EFC.</p>

10

<p>precollegemom— yes they do have much higher than average income, BUT you never know someone else’s personal story. my H makes approx. 70k, not alot but we live in an area where cost of living is a bit lower than other areas of the NE. so it would seem we do ok. but what those numbers DON’T tell you is that my H has been battling cancer for TEN years. our finances have gone up and down incredibly. there were times when it took everything we had just to keep our house, etc. so that now it seems like we should have lots of extra $$, it can take years to financially overcome certain debt and hardship.
these people need to do some serious homework regarding fin. aid, but they certainly don’t need anyone telling them that they should have saved, etc. when you simply don’t know the reasons behind their financial problems.</p>

11

<p>yes I imagine that schools will consider high medical expenses differently than debt that was incurred just trying to keep 4 teens in abercrombie.
We ended up having our two kids 8 years apart- so while our expenses have been low- we won’t have two in college at same time.
I hear that the EFC might be split between college students- so those who planned to have their kids in school at the same time- may have a big expense at time- but could also have their total expenditure lower</p>

12

<p>Please see my post in this financial aid forum from the other day, my circumstances have changed now…husband and I seperating. And other hardship details. The post is entitled " In the dark…please enlighten me"</p>

<p>Any info or counsel is sorely needed and will be appreciated!</p>