When to run EFC calculators

stepay
Mon, 24 Nov 2014 19:07:52 +0000

@artie1 - If your son has great grades, etc., then DO use those calculators and make sure you have him apply to colleges that typically give great financial aid based on need. See a list of 62 here that offer “full financial need” - http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2014/09/15/colleges-and-universities-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need

Some of those schools use College Board’s Net Price Calculator. Go here to see a list of participating colleges - Net Price Calculator (NPC) Participating Schools | Education Professionals – College Board;

Often, for top notch students, the better colleges offer the best value. In our case, though our daughter qualified automatically for full tuition at some state schools in our state (still having to pay room and board), we found that due to our income (which isn’t even low by the way; we’re just not rolling in it!), our total outlay at some of the more elite colleges was about the same (some less, some a bit more) than paying for room and board at those state schools. To us that was a no-brainer. Good luck in your search.