The colleges are going to take your annual income…and your assets (savings, checking, CD), and sometimes home equity, and they are going to determine how much THEY think you can pay.
Keep in mind…many…MANY colleges in this country do not meet full need for international students. Some don’t give ANY aid of any kind to international students. Some give limited aid. Some give the same aid regardless of country.
Cutting back on expenses will only work if you have $60,000 PLUS a year in discretionary spending.
Here is my suggestion…that’s about $6000 a month or so that you will need to fully find a private college education here. See if you can Bank $6000 a month for the next three or four months. Just try it. Can you really meet your expenses if you are putting that amount of money in a separate account for a few months? If yes…continue doing this and see how long it takes before you need to dip into that account.
If you find you can’t put $6000 a month aside NOW, then it’s unlikely you will be able to do so by tightening your belt when your kid is in college.
Also, what colleges are you talking about? You also need to understand that international student acceptances are in the very low %age for most colleges that meet full need. Your kid would need to be accepted to get that financial aid from the school.
To be honest, no one here knows if your kid is even a competitive applicant for admission…and that is the first hurdle the will need to clear.
ETA…read carefully each website for international student financial aid. You mention Holy Cross as a possibility for ED on another thread. This is what is on the HC website for international student financial aid:
Note…Holy Cross offers LIMITED funding for international students.