Financial Planner for college tuition advice

Seeing as how colleges don't care how much we pay in property taxes or what the cost of living is here - only how much we make and have in home equity - we are not eligible for financial aid for our child's college tuition. Any references for someone to advise us on the best way to pull this off?

Harry Houdini, CFA

Definitely who we need!

http://www.fastweb.com/financial-aid/articles/federal-financial-aid-and-the-independent-student

http://www.fastweb.com/financial-aid/articles/how-to-deal-if-your-parents-won-t-pay

http://www.finaid.org/scholarships

http://todaysmilitary.com/training/rotc?source-id=ROTC_Exact&content-id=r.o.t.c&medium-id=Exact&campaign-id=Todays_Military_Responsive

The above articles might be of interest.

This also might be of interest, from a poster called Bob K, on this ABC piece on paying for college without aid:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/top-10-ways-finance-degree-broke/story?id=21382902

"If you are short of funds, and your kid does not have access to a deep pockets relative (or promises of big scholarships, etc.), spend the first two years at a community college (the kid must get a 3.0 GPA to transfer to a good university). There are lots of excellent instructors at community colleges. That will save you ~$15,000/yr or more vs. a private university and ~$8,000 or more vs. a public university. For those final two years, transfer to a public university and that will save another $5,000 to $8,000 vs. a private university. If the kid is going to attend graduate school (MS/PhD) or get a professional degree (MD, JD, MBA, etc.) - the bigger the name/reputation of the university, the greater the benefits; so, if possible, get that degree at top name public or private universities. FYI, 95%+ of the students in the biological and physical sciences and engineering that get their MS/PhD, receive a tuition waiver (they pay $0 in tuition) PLUS a small salary/stipend ($750 to $2000/month). Their thesis research will be on a subject selected by their professor, who has gotten research funding to complete a project/solve a problem/develop a process/etc. (with funding from NIH, NSF, DOD, DOE, or a company, etc.) and that will include a tuition waiver and a small salary for the students that work on the project."

Good luck!!!

Thanks, pdg. In our case, the child was accepted at a very selective, private school that gives no merit awards. The school has an excellent reputation for grads getting jobs and great return on investment, so we have vowed to figure out a way to make this happen.
I feel like we need a real person who knows the ins and outs to sit down with us and look at our particular circumstances and tell us our best options. The financial aid office of the college has already determined what we would be eligible for (or not) from federal sources.

I'm probably being naïve, but did you try calling the school and discussing the situation. You said there are no merit awards but perhaps there are other scholarships which may be available.

Bootsie, congratulations to your child. What wonderful news! Your student should already be applying for outside scholarships, it is easy to research options through fastweb. Also check out if the private college has a number of scholarships which are not needs based ( you would be surprised at the quite idiosyncratic scholarships that are available based on religion, family background, leadership qualities etc)

Every year people find themselves in this situation which is why it is really important to apply to several financial safeties that students feel they would be happy attending. Last year, quite a number of very top students at CHS made that decision, often they scored very big scholarships which made university not just affordable but also offered them considerable research opportunities. I'm not saying that your student needs to do this, every family makes the decision for themselves, however, I would encourage families and students to really research the financial situation before they apply to college. Every year, kids are disappointed because they get into highly competitive schools but ultimately cannot make the numbers work. I hope everything works out...your kid should apply for as many outside scholarships as possible. Many kids do this, they spend more time applying for scholarships than they do on the actual applications.

@bootsie - What I meant by Merit Aid was all aid/scholarships possible that do not rely on income.

I've seen thick books at Barnes & Noble that seem to be chock full of scholarships students can apply to, and many have nothing to do with need, and sometimes don't even need stellar grades. Some are for specific majors, some are meant to promote gender/race/religious groups (ie, girls who want to study science or math).

Here's one on Amazon. I haven't used them yet, but expect to. I paid for most of my own college education at a private university and strongly believe that my kids should apply for any scholarship they qualify for even though we likely also won't qualify for any need-based aid.

http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Scholarship-Book-2015-Scholarships/dp/1617600458/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1424453275&sr=1-1&keywords=scholarships

In fact, I'm buying that book right now. My daughter is a sophomore and may be able to get started on some, since apparently some awards are able to be earned even in middle school!

We used John Nettleton at College Financial Network. http://www.collegefinancialnetwork.com/Home_Page.html Website is a little hokey but he was knowledgeable and helpful.

Here's another that looks good for those with students younger than seniors who plan to fill out the FAFSA.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804125481/ref=pd_luc_rh_bxgy_02_04_t_img_lh?ie=UTF8&psc=1

@deborahg, did you use either of the books I linked to, or do you know of other, better books?

I didn't use books. I went with a person because I felt it was worth it to have my individual situation analyzed. Was extremely pleased with the results; definitely worth the fee. I will use him again for my next one.

Thanks all. We will definitely explore outside scholarship options, work-study, etc. But still would like an adviser to help us make the wisest choices for financing the remainder.
Yahooyahoo, the school gives only need-based aid.

Deborah, thanks so much. That's how we feel as well.

You can take out money penalty-free from your 401k for educational expenses (but you still have to pay the taxes).
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch09.html

Also, the schools expect you to stop contributing to your 401k (to help fund college, if need be) during the college years. Meaning they count that money as money that is available to you when they are making financial aid determinations (at CSS schools, which I suspect yours is). So there's that money too.

Then there's the Stafford loan.
http://www.staffordloan.com/stafford-loan-info/undergraduate-stafford-loan.php

I find those outside-scholarship lists unhelpful. I am sure many people get money from them. But most are for small amounts like $500 or $2,000. Of course every bit helps. But the student would have to invest an inordinate amount of time applying for dozens or hundreds of small scholarships that they are unlikely to get. And they have to do it in addition to applying to colleges. The kids get to a breaking point.

@deborahg, when did you see him? Before or after your daughter was applying? (Junior or senior year?) your daughter's school is one that is on my kid's radar so I'm especially curious how he helped you make it work.

deborahg said:

We used John Nettleton at College Financial Network. http://www.collegefinancialnetwork.com/Home_Page.html Website is a little hokey but he was knowledgeable and helpful.

Bootsie congratulations to your son. Even the very selective private schools that have moved away from merit aid and focus on need do it based on the families EFC on the FAFSA and the CSS . You said you got a determination regarding federal sources of financial (which by the way is usually around $5,500 per year). There is also need based aid from the college in which they determine your family contribution-- have you gotten that yet?

@shh, I spoke with him before she applied; part of his service is helping identify schools that would make sense financially for your kid based on their wishlist, but in the end my daughter applied early decision so that wasn't relevant. Where he earned his keep (and more) was in helping me fill out the CSS, which is insanely difficult, in a way that made her eligible for the most possible aid. Then, when she had the offer (which again based on the way we'd filled out the CSS included a very healthy scholarship), he told me how/when to use the money we'd saved vs. how much/which aid to accept.

I'm going to look into it. How does he charge?

$500 flat fee I believe.

John Nettleton charges $775 for help with the FAFSA and the CSS. He gave me this price about one month ago.

Okay thanks..we did it a few years ago.

Ok, I had a nice convo with him. He told me $250 to fill out the questionnaire and then I think $150 an hour after that to analyze, etc.

So I sent him an email telling him we discussed and spoke with our daughter and decided we want to wait a few weeks to get her SAT scores and have her speak to her guidance counselor (check naviance, etc.) and he sent me a really canned, direct mail sounding hard sell of a letter that's a real turn off.

I worked in marketing, I know a hard sell and I don't like it. I don't think there is anything wrong with US Analyzing our daughters scores first and figuring things out a little bit. He made it out like if we didn't start NOW it MAY be TOO LATE!

(Btw, I researched merit scholarships a little bit so I have a few ideas of places besides her top $$$ choices we can look into, I'm not an idiot. But there is plenty of financial stuff we could use assistance with...but I'm not sure if we will work with him now.)

The thing about the outside scholarships is that they are used by the colleges to reduce their aid to the student. The scholarships do not generally reduce the family's expected contribution.

But if we wouldn't get any aid schools that give merit scholarships could help us.
And that's all besides the point...I am looking for help, but I also want to know my daughter's scores before we start looking seriously...and he sent a dramatic letter that was really unwarranted, because I told him we'd touch base in a few weeks after we got the results.

(And I still may use him, I think he would be helpful. But I will let him know I did not appreciate his letter!)

Many colleges have a fairly clear formula for how much they give in merit aid. Some even publicize it. The best example I have seen that you can use for reference is on the Ole Miss website that clearly delineated which SAT scores and GPA you needed to get X dollars.

I have found a couple things so far. We have gotten quite a few very nice merit packages. Although we did complete the FAFSA and CSS, none of the offers have mentioned that the need was "aid based", which I assume means I would not have to complete the FAFSA again, and that the school would award the money each year based on grades, not income.

There also seems to be a pretty equivalent awarding of merit aid. Private schools are awarding as much as it would cost to attend an out of state public university, and the state schools are discounting their tuition so that it is mid- way between their published out of state tuition and what your cost would be at Rutgers. For example, Rutgers is about 28k, Delaware says its 42k out of state, but give you a merit grant of 8k.

I have no idea what a "need based" award would be described as, but I assume it could fluctuate yearly based on income. I think there is also an important difference in subsidized vs non subsidized loans, but I don't know how schools administer them.

As far as it "being to late", anecdotally I have heard that after awards are sent out, there is certainly wiggle room to write an appeal letter, and often those appeals might net you a few extra dollars if your child is committed to attending. And yes, outside scholarships offset the schools offer, so it's rarely worth it to have your child spend hours researching and applying for these, as they are deducted from what the schools give you.

What a racket. Next thing you know, they'll start taking airline points.

campbell29 said:

Many colleges have a fairly clear formula for how much they give in merit aid. Some even publicize it. The best example I have seen that you can use for reference is on the Ole Miss website that clearly delineated which SAT scores and GPA you needed to get X dollars.

I have found a couple things so far. We have gotten quite a few very nice merit packages. Although we did complete the FAFSA and CSS, none of the offers have mentioned that the need was "aid based", which I assume means I would not have to complete the FAFSA again, and that the school would award the money each year based on grades, not income.

There also seems to be a pretty equivalent awarding of merit aid. Private schools are awarding as much as it would cost to attend an out of state public university, and the state schools are discounting their tuition so that it is mid- way between their published out of state tuition and what your cost would be at Rutgers. For example, Rutgers is about 28k, Delaware says its 42k out of state, but give you a merit grant of 8k.

I have no idea what a "need based" award would be described as, but I assume it could fluctuate yearly based on income. I think there is also an important difference in subsidized vs non subsidized loans, but I don't know how schools administer them.

As far as it "being to late", anecdotally I have heard that after awards are sent out, there is certainly wiggle room to write an appeal letter, and often those appeals might net you a few extra dollars if your child is committed to attending. And yes, outside scholarships offset the schools offer, so it's rarely worth it to have your child spend hours researching and applying for these, as they are deducted from what the schools give you.

@campbell29, did you research which schools were more likely to give Merit aid? Any specific sources for information?

It's not too late for us at all, my daughter is only a junior.