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Obviously there's no way a college can attract a couple thousand well-qualified applicants who can afford to dish out 30K a year. So what does it take to get the grants/aid/scholarships to afford such a thing.
A school I'm thinking about in particular is the University of Richmond (among many others). Colleges don't seriously expect you to pay this, do they? Or do you have to be extremely well-qualified, and in effect, attend a college a step down from what you've gotten accepted to in order to get the aid needed to attend?
How do you people afford this? With 2 other brothers in college, do they care whether or not I can pay that?

By Emeraldkity4 (Emeraldkity4) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 12:40 pm: Edit

Obviously there's no way a college can attract a couple thousand well-
OK I'll bite

Obviously there's no way a college can attract a couple thousand well qualified applicants who can afford to dish out 30K a year.

The application rate would sure belie that.

So what does it take to get the grants/aid/scholarships to afford such a thing.

Most of the top schools are need based aid only, they assume that everyone accepted is academically capable. However there are outside merit based scholarships that you can hunt for.

A school I'm thinking about in particular is the University of Richmond (among many others). Colleges don't seriously expect you to pay this, do they? Or do you have to be extremely well-qualified, and in effect, attend a college a step down from what you've gotten accepted to in order to get the aid needed to attend?

I dont know about U of R, but when aid is a concern, applying to several colleges is advised so you can compare offers.
My daughters school tops $40,000 including room and board and yes there are some who pay full tuition, it is called planning ahead (or rich grandma)

How do you people afford this? With 2 other brothers in college, do they care whether or not I can pay that?

FAFSA does take into consideration other siblings in college.
However some also plan their families precisely with expenses in mind.
Kids are expensive and I feel for those who have twins going through school at the same time. We however had our girls 8 years apart and when I had an urge for another baby , I got a labrador instead! Didn't require such an outlay of paraphrenlia, but harder on the furniture.

By Boysmom (Boysmom) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 03:02 pm: Edit

Don't tell me that you're one of those people who actually believes that people should PLAN for their kids and not have them if they can't afford to raise them the way they want to!

By Emeraldkity4 (Emeraldkity4) on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 03:53 pm: Edit

Hard to imagine I know, but how can we expect our children to exhibit responsible behavior, if we act like our decisions don't have consequences?

By Mike (Mike) on Friday, July 11, 2003 - 04:55 pm: Edit

I am not sure our Dog is a much cheaper keeper then our son but Doggy school was only $45 and the cheapast college appears to be $16,000 a year.

Mike's Dad

By Boysmom (Boysmom) on Friday, July 11, 2003 - 05:33 pm: Edit

Mike's Dad: What state do you live in? While it's true that the good State schools would come to $16,000/yr, there are very decent smaller state schools that can be had in the state of Michigan for about $12,000 including room and board. Now if you're lucky enough to live close enough to one to attend while living at home, the cost can come down to below $6,000. Community colleges would be way below that. Anybody should be able to afford a college education these days. Unless they insist in HYP.

By Mike (Mike) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 12:11 am: Edit

Oregon and the tuition and fees are going up in double digets. Cheap is 14800 this year Tuition, Fees, books room and board. With an increase of 5-10 per year for the next 5 years. We live too far to commute and our local CC is not good. I don't begrudge him an on campus experience and have saved to make it happen. I went the cheap way and am very glad Mike doesn't have too. I really didn't want to trade my Subaru for a Lexus anyway.

Mike's Dad

By Lhomme (Lhomme) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 10:58 am: Edit

JustPlayin:

Most colleges offer need-based aid. Depending on your FAFSA results and the school's own financial aid form if they have one, they decide how much your family and you can realistically afford to pay (they wont make it easy for you however, expect to scrimp). This need-based aid will include federal/state/city grants you qualify for, as well as federal loans that may or may not have its interest subsidized until you graduate. The school itself may offer you need based grants of its own, depending on the school's financial capabilities and whether or not they promise to meet 100% of an applicants need. Need based aid depends on your financial situation and DOES include siblings in college.

The other, rarer aid is merit aid. This, if it is offered at all is offered to the top x% of the applicant pool and most likely have specific requirements. This aid generally has no relation to your need and generally comes in the form of an award or a title (XXXXX Scholar for example). These awards can range anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a full scholarship. So in regards to your question, since you have to be in the top x% you will probably have gotten into better colleges.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions, feel free.

By Mike (Mike) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 12:44 pm: Edit

You can get a guess at your chances for merit money at US News rankings website individual schools on the cost page give the % of students recieving Merit Money. Runs from 0 to over 50% depending on school. Last year DePauw's web site had a calculator that if you put in your SAT or ACT, GPA, and class Rank they would tell you what your scholorship would be if admitted.


Mike's Dad

By Justplayin104 (Justplayin104) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 04:31 pm: Edit

You must have the premium edition.. i dont see a cost page.

By Mike (Mike) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 08:52 pm: Edit

I do have the Premium. It also includes a list of the highest loan load and lowest loan schools which may also tell you the school that give the lest grant/scholorship money.

I don't think US News is the end all of college research but it is another useful tool if you don't get locked into the top 3,10, 25, stuff

Mike's Dad

By Medusa2003 (Medusa2003) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 12:22 pm: Edit

Our daughter applied to several $30,000 schools which we did not think we could afford. First year financing ended up as follows:

School-sponsored scholarships $17,000
Outside scholarship 1,500
Student Loans 5,500
Student Summer Job 2,000
Parent Contribution 4,000

I would recommend applying to a variety of schools that you are interested in attending with varying degrees of selectivity. Next spring you can sort through the financial aid offers. Most of the $30,000 schools offered similar aid packages but we were surprised to find that it would have cost more to attend a lower ranked out-of-state state university than the private college she wanted to attend.

Most schools offer both merit and need based aid. Granted, your chances for merit aid are better at schools where you are near the top of the applicant pool. Theoretically, if you are getting only need-based the net cost will be the same at every school if your Expected Family Contribution is less than the cost of the lowest priced school you are considering. If your EFC is $5,000 then you would get $10,000 in aid at a $15,000 school and $25,000 in aid at a $30,000 school.

I wouldn't rule out a school initially because of sticker price but I would apply to a few financial aid safety schools.

By Magicdragonfly (Magicdragonfly) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 05:36 pm: Edit

funny thing..tuition isn't the most expensive part..you still have to manage to pay for books..room and board...the classes..food..

By Mike (Mike) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 07:19 pm: Edit

Never mind the food the kid was going to eat any way.

Mike's Dad

By Justplayin104 (Justplayin104) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 08:31 pm: Edit

Medusa2003 ,

When you say that if your EFC is $5000 and the college is $20,000 that you will get $15000 in aid -- that you were talking about a college who is "committed to meet full demonstrated financial need"?

So is it safe to say that your advice is to go for the $30,000 schools that say this (such as boston college) over the ones that aren't dedicated to such a committment?

By Medusa2003 (Medusa2003) on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 07:33 pm: Edit

I was speaking in general theoretical terms. In actuality a school which is not committed to meet full demonstrated need of all students MAY meet or exceed the demonstrated need of some students with particularly strong academic records or special skills in music, art, athletics, leadership, etc. Also there may be some variation in how a school meets need - the mixture of grants, work study, and loans.

But you are correct in your clarification that my example assumes that a school is "committed to meet full demonstrated financial need."

There is also variation in how schools calculate demonstrated financial aid. Even among schools that are committed to meet your full demonstrated financial need, their calculation of what that need is may vary.

By Nealp (Nealp) on Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - 12:47 am: Edit

yeah for planned parenthood! overpopulation may be a myth (accoridng to objectivist economists and free-market activists) but it does exist to an extent and we can all feel it. how insignificant we feel when we can trace back millions of years and judge locations of space ojects for millions of years into the future AND be among 6 billlion people! jeez