Financial assistance from private universities--how do you know if it is even worth it to apply?

[cintinative]

My title is pretty poor, but I am not sure how to word it.

I have been told more than once that I should not totally disregard private universities because they can be quite generous with aid.  For us, quite generous with aid would have to be about equivalent to our public U without aid. 

I believe I have seen several times on here that you should not visit a university you cannot afford.   I guess my question is--is it ever worth applying? How do you evaluate that?

From a federal aid standpoint, based on the calculators I have run, we won't get much at all. We really don't want to take on big loans.  Small loans are a possibility.

At the moment, I am heavily leaning toward our oldest son commuting, because we only have about enough to cover tuition for four years for a state school, and I still have my other son to think about. Plus my oldest has food issues (Celiac) that make the whole eating on campus thing more intimidating.  

I guess I just don't quite get how we are supposed to know if we should go ahead and try a private university in hopes that they will be super generous with aid and merit?  On the surface, they seem totally unaffordable. 

Is there some sort of "back of envelope" type evaluation we can do to assess this? For example, if we would need them to come down 75%, we rule it out?

 

[Ethel Mertz]

I went to a private college eons ago. (Over 40 years ago.) I got a lot of state and federal aid as well as aid from the college. 
 

Our son is beginning his sophomore year at a small private college. He got a generous tuition grant from the music department and other generous aid from the college as a whole. Plus we took out a $5K loan and he has a part-time job. So don’t rule out private colleges.

[kokotg]

Have you run net price calculators at different schools yet? If by federal aid you just mean that you're not eligible for a pell grant, that definitely doesn't mean you won't qualify for aid at private colleges (my son just got an e-mail from Rice yesterday, for example, that told him that anyone with incomes up to $200,000 would benefit from whatever they're calling their latest need based aid program). Net price calculators will give you a good idea of need based aid, but often don't include merit aid at all. But the sticker price is virtually meaningless at most schools; few people pay it (there are definitely exceptions for highly selective schools that can get a lot of full pay students and often only give out need based aid). But in general private colleges know they're competing with publics and will discount accordingly to attract the students they want. 

ETA: lots of people recommend the book The Price You Pay for College to understand all this stuff; I haven't read (most of) it yet

Edited August 18, 2022 by kokotg

[Arcadia]

54 minutes ago, cintinative said:

 

Is there some sort of "back of envelope" type evaluation we can do to assess this? For example, if we would need them to come down 75%, we rule it out?

What I did was look at college confidential for the past two years and see what families with similar income in my region get for institutional aid from the college. A good friend’s son was also accepted into the college so she was willing to tell me ballpark figures for herself and her son’s friends who were also accepted. So we kind of have a good idea of the upper limit we would end up paying.

Both my teens would be applying as transfers so we are not budgeting for four years of private, more of three years. 

DS17 did apply to state universities that we didn’t get a chance to visit. Our criteria is that he is willing to go there if accepted. To us the $70 application fee is not an issue. He didn’t apply for the local private last year because my husband isn’t willing to pay for private unless he gets rejected by the state universities. So in our case it was cost savings rather than not being financially viable. My parents did gave a significant amount for college expenses so that’s something I can fall back on if kids need to take more than 3 years to graduate for whatever reasons. I was sick the final year of engineering and took an extra year to finish. 

[cintinative]

7 minutes ago, kokotg said:

Have you run net price calculators at different schools yet?

Just for the state schools. Not the privates.

[kokotg]

Just now, cintinative said:

Just for the state schools. Not the privates.

I'd try a few at schools that meet demonstrated need to get a baseline of whether you'll qualify for any need based aid at those sorts of schools (which, again, you can be well into six digits, income-wise and still get aid at these schools)...and then you'll know whether need based aid is something to consider or if you'll just be looking at merit. 

[teachermom2834]

In our experience, and it has been a few years, the net price calculators were very much in the ballpark and we didn't get any big surprises as far as private schools coming through with big aid we didn't anticipate from calculators and posted scholarships. 

We were in the EFC range where we weren't going to get any federal aid besides loans but we really couldn't afford to pay for school either. My kids didn't apply to any schools that claimed to meet need but regular private schools, even those where they were in the top 5-10% of applicants in test scores, did not meet need. It was generally the kind of thing where the schools were $50,000-$60,000 and they took off $20-$30000 in scholarships and grants.

The thing that made the private school my oldest went to more affordable than our state school was that they allowed him to stack a large outside scholarship without reducing their aid. He then won additonal scholarships from the school in later years and they left his financial aid in place while awarding the additional scholarships. This is rare and what made his private school come in so low. He applied to, I think, 7 other private schools and none would have been cheaper than our public university. 

My third ds, as my highest stat kid, couldn't have afforded private school because now our income is higher than with our oldest kids and we have fewer dependents so I knew there wouldn't be enough financial aid available to him to go to private school. My dd will not be able to consider private schools either because it really looks like we don't need aid (because there is no credit for the trauma of getting three prior kids launched 😉)

So my advice is to run the calculators and see how that looks. I've been around awhile and through this three times and while I have heard plenty that private school can be cheaper I think that is rarely the case. I think often it is when the public universities in a state are very expensive or when the child would qualify for alot of aid. I think it is rarely the case for regular middle class folks that private comes in way cheaper than expected. Definitely it will be discounted $20,000-$30,000 off the sticker price but whether or not that is cheap is going to be a matter of perspective. 

 

 

[8filltheheart]

Agree....run the NPC's for each individual school.  Don't confuse FAFSA (federal aid) with institutional aid.  Private schools tend to offer institutional grants.  The NPC should get you to a general ballpark # if you fill it correctly with accurate numbers.  Sometimes privates will offer really competitive scholarships that MIGHT bring down your costs, but equally, sometimes they offer competitive scholarships that simply replace need based aid.  (Like TM2834 pointed out above, stacking $$ is not typical amg privates.)  What that means is that they switch out merit aid for need-based aid bc the merit aid reduces your need.

Whether or not aid will bring your costs down to your public institutions is going to depend on the school, whether they meet need, and your need.

FWIW, our experience is that we could not get any private to come close to the affordability of publics bc of the scholarships my kids got from the publics.  (Publics don't typically offer institutional grants, but merit scholarships.....and they typically allow stacking of scholarships.)

[Farrar]

2 hours ago, cintinative said:

Just for the state schools. Not the privates.

Oh. Then it's like everyone is saying. You don't know anything yet. It's a whole other ballgame. Run those.

Yeah, it's annoying to run them at every school, but figure out a couple of things... First, if there's a sort of school, a major, a region that limits the choices, then that's useful. Start there. Alternately, if you know what sort of aid you need more - need or merit - then you can look at metrics like what percentage of need the school covers on average, what percent of non-need students are receiving aid, and what's the average award.

[teachermom2834]

Also- The private/public and costs thing really breaks down because people are just coming from such vastly different perspectives. Person A says they got tons of aid from a private school because the $60,000 sticker price came down to $25,000. Person B gets the same deal and throws the offer letter in the trash because there is no way they are paying $25,000 a year for college. 

Person A isn't wrong...that is a huge discount and could very well be cheaper than their state school. But if you have affordable state schools and a $15,000 budget then that doesn't sound like great aid. 

And that is why no one can really answer the question for you and you just need to run the calculators. I swear I've run hundreds of them over the years (some many times for different kids or manipulating the info to see what I could figure out about their system). It does seem so mysterious at first but if you put in a little time with the calculators you will start to understand it more. Sometimes it is surprising that one school will be more generous than others. Usually for me it was just depressing but super useful in narrowing our focus!

[8filltheheart]

1 hour ago, teachermom2834 said:

Also- The private/public and costs thing really breaks down because people are just coming from such vastly different perspectives. Person A says they got tons of aid from a private school because the $60,000 sticker price came down to $25,000. Person B gets the same deal and throws the offer letter in the trash because there is no way they are paying $25,000 a year for college. 

Person A isn't wrong...that is a huge discount and could very well be cheaper than their state school. But if you have affordable state schools and a $15,000 budget then that doesn't sound like great aid. 

And that is why no one can really answer the question for you and you just need to run the calculators. I swear I've run hundreds of them over the years (some many times for different kids or manipulating the info to see what I could figure out about their system). It does seem so mysterious at first but if you put in a little time with the calculators you will start to understand it more. Sometimes it is surprising that one school will be more generous than others. Usually for me it was just depressing but super useful in narrowing our focus!

Exactly.  Dd could have attended Fordham for room and board which worked out to about $20K.  For some people, that would be amazing.  For us it was beyond what we were willing to pay.  USC for close to free was far more our price range.  

[cintinative]

2 hours ago, teachermom2834 said:

Person B gets the same deal and throws the offer letter in the trash because there is no way they are paying $25,000 a year for college. 

 

28 minutes ago, 8filltheheart said:

Exactly.  Dd could have attended Fordham for room and board which worked out to about $20K.  For some people, that would be amazing.  For us it was beyond what we were willing to pay.  USC for close to free was far more our price range.  

Yes, this is our situation.

I remember at one point some people at a local private school were saying that we should consider it because they "work with you" and I said that they would have to work their $17K tuition down to $2K for me to consider it and that pretty much ended the discussion.  

I guess that is why sometimes I wonder if it is even worth it to look. I guess we can see how his ACT scores pan out this year and go from there.  I just don't see a private coming in under $15K a year including room and board unless he gets a full ride or something. 

[teachermom2834]

15 minutes ago, cintinative said:

 

Yes, this is our situation.

I remember at one point some people at a local private school were saying that we should consider it because they "work with you" and I said that they would have to work their $17K tuition down to $2K for me to consider it and that pretty much ended the discussion.  

I guess that is why sometimes I wonder if it is even worth it to look. I guess we can see how his ACT scores pan out this year and go from there.  I just don't see a private coming in under $15K a year including room and board unless he gets a full ride or something. 

It may not be worth really looking at private schools for your kids but it is definitely worth running the calculators so you have some idea.  Personal finances are so...personal 😉  What was kind of on the table for my oldest kids is completely off the table for my youngest kids even though our personal budget doesn't feel much different. Actually knowing the options are narrow is helpful in alot of ways. 

As far as if it is ever worth applying- my oldest applied to so many because he used the common app and many of his extras were "just to see" and free applications without any extra essays or work. I did have to pay to send his test scores but that was a pretty minimal investment to throw an application out there and see if any private school came through with anything unexpected. They didn't. So, I wouldn't say never apply. If you can apply without a big emotional or financial investment you could throw some applications out there. 

But spending some time running the calculators might be enough to set your mind at ease that you aren't missing anything. I had a "leave no stone unturned" attitude chasing down opportunites for my oldest ds and he did kind of end up at a random school I found that way and it worked out for him. I did so much research that I don't feel like he or any of my other kids could have gone some place better than they did but I just didn't investigate enough. I felt like I couldn't pay much for college but I could help them find the best place they could afford. So if you feel that way at all you could just spend some time running the numbers so you don't have regret at some point that you just didn't investigate enough. 

[kokotg]

28 minutes ago, cintinative said:

 

I guess that is why sometimes I wonder if it is even worth it to look. I guess we can see how his ACT scores pan out this year and go from there.  I just don't see a private coming in under $15K a year including room and board unless he gets a full ride or something. 

I mean, we pay well under that for our kids' private colleges, but that's because of need based aid. And of course no one knows your financial situation but you. Some people are surprised to find out that they're eligible for need based aid at generous private colleges and others are astounded that they're expected to pay as much as they are. There are so many variables related to your personal finances. 

[Farrar]

In terms of the cost... if you're full pay across the board, assuming you have a state school that's acceptable to you, then you're unlikely to find a better option in terms of sheer cost than a second tier state school. 

But... if you're willing to go up a little, there might be privates that can come close to matching cost for your state flagship. And maybe do a little better. Depends on the private, the flagship, and the kid's stats.

If you're more in the middle, where you wouldn't get aid at a state school, but you'd probably get some at most privates, then it's a crapshoot. Depends a bit. For us, we didn't have any in state schools at all. So... OOS public was best cost, but we opted to go a little higher at a private. It's not that much higher, but enough that it would be a big deal to some. But generally, those lower cost in state schools are still your best bet for sheer cost.

If you're low income, a private that meets full need or comes close is probably your cheapest option. If your EFC is like $5k or less, then your kid will almost certainly do better in terms of aid that way... if they can get in, which they might not be able to do. Though, this can really depend on the state - some state schools really do right by their low income kids (California...) some states couldn't care less about them (Virginia...).

[teachermom2834]

There is also a difference in if you are dealing with schools that say they meet demonstrated need or not. While their definitions of that vary, those schools are much harder to get into and my oldest two kids did not have the stats to apply to those schools so that is not what my experience was based on. 
 

My third kid was a candidate for those kind of schools and I suspect my 9th grade dd might turn out to be. However, our EFC is now higher so our finances are no longer candidates for those schools. So when I had the EFC to make them viable I didn’t have the students and when I had the students I didn’t have the demonstrated need. Lol. But it is all ok! Because they all did/will do just fine with where they were able to go. 

Run the calculators and then come back and ask more questions 😊

 

[cintinative]

I ran a couple based on some recommendations and the lowest was $90K for four years which was really a great reduction in that school's overall cost (Bradley) and was based on merit and financial aid. But, $90K is still too much for us.  

University of Cincinnati is commuting distance for us, as is Miami of Ohio. Both are good choices. So we could be worse off than commuting to one of those if we don't get some awesome offer from a private. 

[kokotg]

52 minutes ago, cintinative said:

I ran a couple based on some recommendations and the lowest was $90K for four years which was really a great reduction in that school's overall cost (Bradley) and was based on merit and financial aid. But, $90K is still too much for us.  

University of Cincinnati is commuting distance for us, as is Miami of Ohio. Both are good choices. So we could be worse off than commuting to one of those if we don't get some awesome offer from a private. 

Bradley isn't a school that claims to meet need, so you'll likely get better NPC results from those schools. Of course, whether some of those schools are a good match for your kid is a different issue, but they're the ones that will be most generous with need based aid. Also keep in mind that with schools that give merit aid, the NPC might well not tell the whole story. If the NPC gets you at all close to your target price at a school your kid is very interested in, there's a good chance there will be ways to close the gap (a lot of times just asking for more money will get you a better package). ETA: I have no idea what type of school is a good fit, but just tossing out there that Kenyon and Oberlin are both Ohio schools that meet demonstrated need (and maybe Denison? Not sure). Edited again to add that I just reread and saw that the 90,000 was merit + need based, so it won't necessarily come out better at a needs met school. but maybe.

Edited August 18, 2022 by kokotg

[fourisenough]

In my experience with my high-stats kid, exactly zero schools came through with any surprise, miracle financial offers. The net price calculators were, for the most part, very accurate at predicting what sort of aid she would receive. A couple of the highly-selective schools to which she was accepted were ridiculously, absurdly expensive when final numbers were in. She ended up choosing an in-state public flagship with generous merit scholarship and a program that fit her needs very well. I kind of wish I could have all the time and energy back that we spent applying to private schools that ended up not being financial possibilities. So, in a nutshell, run the NPC’s and trust that it won’t get too much better than that (and maybe not even that good— Boston College, I’m looking at you 🙁).

[mlktwins]

Please don't quote:

Question - I was just trying a net price calculator for a college of interest (public in this case).  Merit aid was about $10K based on stats.  I went onto the financial aid piece of it and that is what my question pertains to.  It was asking for 2020 1040 numbers and my DH was still working at the time.  Last year income dropped from that 2020 number significantly.  This year will be A LOT less.  

For fall 2023, will they be looking at 2020 numbers specifically?  If so, this will not benefit us even though our income is now much lower.  We are not taking any of DH's retirement or anything either.  But we have savings, etc.  Should we just be focusing on merit aid at this point?  Can this change each year as we will be able to show income has decreased?  We have 2 going at once 😱!

Edited August 19, 2022 by mlktwins

[8filltheheart]

FA is yr prior prior in Oct.  So for filling out FA for the 23/24 school yr, you will use 2021's taxes.    Do you not have your tax information from 2021? 

Edited August 19, 2022 by 8filltheheart

[mlktwins]

43 minutes ago, 8filltheheart said:

FA is yr prior prior in Oct.  So for filling out FA for the 23/24 school yr, you will use 2021's taxes.    Do you not have your tax information from 2021? 

I do.  The NPC I did for that school was asking for 2020 info.  Maybe it just hasn't been updated to 2021.  

[8filltheheart]

It asked for 2020 bc that is for this yr's students. You are putting in info for next year's students. (2020 taxes are used for students through July of 2023.)

Edited August 19, 2022 by 8filltheheart

[NittanyJen]

Many private colleges do publish their merit scholarships, so you can see what they could potentially get. Those scholarships will give you a decent indicator of what kind of aid you are likely to get as well, at least in our limited experience. My kids earned top level scholarships at several private colleges. They were offered limited financial aid— and we sound like you— in-state university is about right, price-wise, not interested in taking big loans. The private colleges thought it would be reasonable for us to pay upwards of $120k for four years AFTER netting top-tier scholarships. My kids are happy at the in-state U, where they will graduate debt-free.

 

[ScoutTN]

Do the NPCs take competitive scholarships into account? Not just scores-based, automatic merit aid? Seems like that would be hard to predict. 
 

 

[teachermom2834]

47 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

Do the NPCs take competitive scholarships into account? Not just scores-based, automatic merit aid? Seems like that would be hard to predict. 
 

 

No. Only what they would be likely to get based on their stats. But competitive is very competitive in my experience. My kids applied nearly all places they were in the very top of stats and only one came up with anything competitive and that was a last minute thing he was an alternate. 
 

The kicker is the one that came up with the competitive scholarship is a full ride plus scholarship (all expenses paid plus he just had study abroad trip and bought a $2000 laptop with discretionary funds). So he was an alternate on a major premier full ride scholarship- yet until the kid before him declined he was getting nothing besides the $5000 automatic scholarship. I say all that just to point out how competitive competitive scholarships can be. He was obviously a strong candidate but was very close to getting almost nothing. 
 

So yes there are competitive scholarships out there and plenty on this board can tell of their kids getting them and they are awesome! But I think we also skew it a little and make it sound a little easier to get them than it is. 

[Miguelsmom]

I didn't run the NPC. I ran current tuition +4% every year  and the dorm and meal plan multiplied that by years he'd be in college. I added my own amount for books, travel, mis. based on location. (I didn't count those because he would have to pay that when he moved out anyway.) Our state you can get a bachelors degree  through our CC's. So I gave my son the task of applying for scholarships from every college to get his fee's down to that. One school wanted us to take 16k year out on top of his loans and work study so that was out. He eventually got a full ride scholarship from our "local-ish" state school. He was planning on taking a job to pay the 16k a year but decided to go to state university. He actually was able to get it changed so they paid his off campus expenses.  I would say give the child a budget and see what magic they can work. The school my son went to was the highest cost one he was looking at. Even on his HS graduation announcements it said he was going to a different school for the major there. 

As a budget for us it was how much monthly we could cash flow, what he could earn and the 5,500 loan. We continue(d) to pay for his phone and food plus gave him monthly the amount we were planning on paying. Looking back we should have put that money in a 529 because he went on to grad school. We plan to continue to give him what we can cash flow a month to pay school expenses. So if they're a little stretch for your family then try. We also made sure if he lost his scholarship he would still be able to go to that college if he worked. We were very concerned over the fact he could loose the scholarship and not be able to finish or his credits wouldn't fully transfer.

[Eos]

wrong thread

Edited August 22, 2022 by Eos

[catz]

I haven't read all the responses, but we are very similar in that considering private schools would need to put it in the price range of our public options (which are really good options IMO).  The calculators really do not work for some financial situations and that is true of ours.  An independant financial advisor recommended we spend a fraction of what our EFC is to be safe with COL, retirement, etc.  We have a college senior this fall and have a younger applying to colleges now.  

I wouldn't waste much time with apps that are over about 5-10% over your target price via the net price calculator.  Honestly, that pretty much rules out any need only schools that don't have merit for us.  What gets hard is applying for schools where there is some competitive merit.  My daughter is applying for music programs which is kind of challenging to figure out as well. 

If your student has the time and energy to apply to some programs wtih competitive merit that might put them in range, I think that is great.  Sometimes you can google around and get a sense of odds.  But it's good for the student to understand that the bottom line on final pricing matters a great deal.  Minimizing loans as much as possible is ideal.  But I wouldn't allow my kids to take more than federal student loans.  That is all they can take on their own anyway.  Anything over that you need to take out or sign for at a minimum and is a really big risk both for the signer and the student.  I do think federal loan levels are fairly reasonable for an undergrad degree, though if a student is considering grad school, less is better on that too.  

What my oldest did was we prioritized applications.  He just went down his list until he was sick of it and then he was done.  He did end up at one of the first 4 on the priority list.  And it is a public flagship.  He did get an unsually large scholarship, our bottom line is considerably less than we thought it would be going in.  He had stats to apply anywhere.  He did get competitive offers from 2 private schools, he really clicked with the music teacher at this large school though.  He is a music/comp sci major.

My oldest had to turn down several fancier $$$ schools for this more affordable option.  But he is actually going to graduate debt free and is having a GREAT experience now post covid.  Some of his college offers were 2 and 3 times more than we are paying.  

Edited August 22, 2022 by catz

[ByGrace3]

This has been our struggle recently as well. My dd has it narrowed down to one private school and one local uni. I ran the NPC and was presently surprised at the private school -- though even though I was pleased, it didn't compare to the $7 the local uni had me paying. I still don't think that was right but the comparison is true either way, lol 

[easypeasy]

I didn't read through all the replies because I will just tell you what we did:

If a school was a good fit for my kid, and they wanted to bother writing the essays, etc for the school... they applied there. I think the most schools any of mine applied to was 14, so we obviously had a limit and the school had to really be a "fit."

What we found was that there were TONS of scholarships (merit) that were available that weren't on their websites (or, at least, weren't clearly outlined on the website). All of mine had excellent luck with merit scholarships at private universities. Three of mine have wound up at private universities (and the kid who wound up at a public uni, their second choice was a private that was another full ride).

If your kid has good stats and has a genuine interest in the program, then apply and see what happens. My kids all knew that finances were a huge part of the decision, so they were aware that if 'dream school' came back with a lousy financial aid offer, then we'd obviously not be sending them there.

Merit scholarships are wacky in how varied they can be from school to school. If your kid is applying for any talent scholarships, it's even crazier. My DD received talent scholarships that ranged from full ride plus to $800 at a local public uni (that one made us laugh and laugh and laugh. She is wildly talented and the professor obviously knew she probably wouldn't be attending there, but $800? What even is that? lololol).

If your kid is applying to private universities who don't GIVE merit-based scholarships (Ivies, for instance), then their financial calculators are pretty darn spot-on in our experience with what their final offers will be.

Good luck!!

[ScoutTN]

Well, we are just walking through this for the first time this year, so definitely not the voice of experience here. We have few financial resources and borrowing is not an option. Dd has good, but not amazing stats, loads of leadership, service, work, and good EC’s.

My Dd will apply to 2 regional publics that are very affordable. Their applications are short and they have generous merit aid, plus our in-state, lottery-funded scholarship. Merit plus the HOPE = tuition and most fees paid for. Both schools have respectable programs in Dd’s intended major, study abroad, and other specifics that she would like. She could be very happy at either one.

However, Dd’s first choice is a smaller, Christian college. She will apply to that one and two others.  All have substantial and unpredictable “university grants”, competitive scholarships, in addition to automatic merit and FA.  Like the two publics, she could be happy at any of them.

With the two public options as safeties, I am happy for her to apply to the privates and see what happens. No way to know if it will have been “worth it” until we see the results.

Even the Wise cannot see all ends. ~ Gandalf

We have purposefully been cultivating a “bloom where you’re planted” mindset regarding college. We are trying to help her see that every school has strengths and weaknesses, and that she can choose to be happy and make the most of her opportunities at any of the schools she’s applying to. 

Edited August 24, 2022 by ScoutTN

[East Coast Sue]

My kids have had the experience that our state school is more than twice the price tag of out of state, private, highly selective schools. So, my older two ended up going to private colleges/universities. We knew that we’d never afford the tuition so we focused our visits on private schools that meet 100% of need, although the final prices ranged from $5-$25k per year. They each picked the school that was the best fit for them and thankfully it was the least expensive. In total we pay $11k a year for both kids, yeah we’re needy but our kids are exceptional. If that fits for your family and your kid wants to go to an Ivy League school, let them apply and see what happens. Our back up plan was state school (loads of merit $ but still expensive) while living at home. 

[Ann.without.an.e]

 

@cintinative

 

We aren't low income so we didn't get great aid to state schools but we also aren't wealthy enough to afford private school. DD's cheapest schools were private colleges. The most expensive school she applied to ended up paying her to go there (literally paying her in stipends so that she left with over 20k in savings, not kidding). Our most expensive schools were state schools (and we aren't in a state where state schools are high). 

I think it is totally worth it to apply to a few private schools that give good scholarships/aid. Every year I got an invoice for $79,000 but my cost was $0. If we had listened to the advice you're stating, DD would've never applied to Duke. Her next cheapest schools were Davidson, Emory, and Rice. Chapel Hill wasn't bad because she got a nice scholarship there. You really don't know until you apply. DD was on a full ride merit scholarship (not financial need) but think about it with this perspective...to NC State, we made too much money and we were full ticket but to Duke, think about their normal parent salaries??? We are poor in comparison to them. So even before she was awarded the full ride, they weren't our cheapest option but they were still cheaper than State (I want to say State was 22k for us and Duke at the time would've been 10k).

Edited August 30, 2022 by Ann.without.an.e

[Rachel_Tucker]

Hi! This is a great topic of discussion really. It seems to me that universities should allow students to work at least a few days a week so that they simply have a livelihood and money for other expenses besides providing themselves with food, shelter and other essentials. If they offer payments from the university, it is a great opportunity, but I don't think it covers all the expenses. Is it worth struggling for an increase in this payment or for the right to work and earn as much as you can? By the way thank you for the topic!

[Farrar]

Considering the cost of college now, students simply can't work enough to offset the cost that most in most cases. But if a family is interested, look at Berea. It's an incredible school. It's free because of the work program. Warren Wilson is another work college that has a really good price tag because of the work study aspect.

[bibiche]

2 hours ago, Farrar said:

Considering the cost of college now, students simply can't work enough to offset the cost that most in most cases. But if a family is interested, look at Berea. It's an incredible school. It's free because of the work program. Warren Wilson is another work college that has a really good price tag because of the work study aspect.

Deep Springs is another.

[Farrar]

19 minutes ago, bibiche said:

Deep Springs is another.

Heh. On a whole other level though! My high school boyfriend was a Deep Springer.

[bibiche]

3 hours ago, Farrar said:

Heh. On a whole other level though! My high school boyfriend was a Deep Springer.

He’s part of an illustrious group. We took it off the list of potential schools some time ago for a variety or reasons, but it is still free. And coed now. 👍🏼 

[Sunshine State Sue]

On 8/18/2022 at 1:25 PM, teachermom2834 said:

even those where they were in the top 5-10% of applicants in test scores

Would you please explain to me how you can tell if your student is in the top 5-10% of applicants in test scores?  I knew how to do this 10 years ago when ds applied, but dgd is applying now and I've forgotten.  Thanks!

ETA: What do the numbers 1040 and 1250 represent in the the SAT range below?

Edited September 12, 2022 by Sunshine State Sue

[ScoutTN]

I think most colleges publish the middle 50% of the scores of their applicants (or accepted students?). 

[Sunshine State Sue]

23 minutes ago, ScoutTN said:

I think most colleges publish the middle 50% of the scores of their applicants (or accepted students?). 

Yes, I think that's what 1040-1250 represents at the college board website. The middle 50% of the scores of their accepted students. So, that makes me wonder how to determine the top 5-10% of test scores.

[teachermom2834]

1 hour ago, Sunshine State Sue said:

Would you please explain to me how you can tell if your student is in the top 5-10% of applicants in test scores?  I knew how to do this 10 years ago when ds applied, but dgd is applying now and I've forgotten.  Thanks!

ETA: What do the numbers 1040 and 1250 represent in the the SAT range below?

It has been awhile so I am not up to date but I believe I found this info from the common data set. I think i just searched the name of the college and “common data set” and found most of this info. I remember seeing a breakdown of test scores that was more specific than just the middle 50%.

I also used to use the College Board Big Future site I think it was called? I remember having a couple sources I would dig around for this info. The one I did the most of this for was a 2016 high school grad so it has been awhile. My most recent grad was a very high scorer applying to more average schools so I had a pretty good “feel” for where he was in there based on past research and common knowledge.

[8filltheheart]

2 hours ago, Sunshine State Sue said:

Would you please explain to me how you can tell if your student is in the top 5-10% of applicants in test scores?  I knew how to do this 10 years ago when ds applied, but dgd is applying now and I've forgotten.  Thanks!

ETA: What do the numbers 1040 and 1250 represent in the the SAT range below?

Here is their IPEDS data:

College Navigator - The University of Texas at Arlington (ed.gov)

Based on that link, the 1000-1220 represent their 25%-75% score range.  I'm not sure what yrs are being represented, but I'd assume that is what those numbers represent.  Also, based on that link, scores are probably skewed bc it says scores considered but not required.

[Sunshine State Sue]

7 hours ago, teachermom2834 said:

It has been awhile so I am not up to date but I believe I found this info from the common data set. I think i just searched the name of the college and “common data set” and found most of this info. I remember seeing a breakdown of test scores that was more specific than just the middle 50%.

Thanks. I thought of the common data set last night, but couldn't remember what it was called.  It does give somewhat more specific info.