Tuesday, March 26, 2013

How to afford 'the right fit'?



It’s not even April and many Churchill seniors have already been accepted to college. I recently spoke with the mother of one of those seniors, who does not want her or her child’s name in this article due to privacy concerns. Her joy about her child’s acceptances is mixed with financial fears.

To optimize financial and academic odds, the senior applied to 15 colleges, some testing optional and other requiring SAT/ACT scores. After receiving acceptance letters from several top colleges with the right academic support, however, the family is concerned that a top college could be financially out of reach, even after factoring in merit aid and low cost student loans.

The family has experienced that the more competitive the college is, the less free funding its financial aid package will contain. While the student’s first choice did not offer any merit aid, other colleges are tempting with up to $35,000 of free funding based on academic accomplishments and other factors represented in the student’s applications.

The preference is to minimize costly loans and rely on merit aid, which requires the student to maintain a certain grade point average, but doesn’t need to be paid back. News stories about debt-laden college graduates who toil at unpaid internships or low wages are common and scary. “College can become a debt sentence,” says private finance adviser Suze Orman, who tells parents to entirely avoid private student loans.

Today, a private undergraduate degree can cost around $250,000 while a SUNY/CUNY degree is within reach for a fraction of that price. A private college, however, may offer merit aid that can make the price variation less dramatic. Applying early for financial aid can pay off because there is a first come/first serve aspect. The family submitted the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and CSS profile as soon as applications were accepted (January 2013). In addition, the student applied early action to several schools, which was a confidence booster.

Working with Churchill’s college guidance office, the family has also done a tremendous amount of independent research, which the mother thinks is typical for the Churchill parent body.

“Churchill parents are savvy, otherwise we would not have children at Churchill,” she says.

Additional financial aid links: