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A comment on Ask HN: Going to College with NIL Family Support?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: Going to College with NIL Family Support? by chris11 on Thursday February 05, 2009 @10:35PM (#469307)
Actually the Ivy League might be an incredibly attractive option for him. Harvard states that for families whose parents make less than 60k, the family will be expected to pay nothing at all. And MIT seems to be very generous with financial aid too. They will make sure that all of the financial need is met. They define financial need to be expected expenses minus EFC. They cover the rest with an expectation that you will work some (earn 2850 a year) and then will cover the rest in grants. Most elite colleges seem to be making a serious effort to make sure every family can afford their college. Of course the problem is in the details. But it sounds like these schools would all be willing to make sure that he could afford college.

Harvard Financial Aid:http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu/fact_sheet.htm

MIT Financial Aid:http://web.mit.edu/sfs/financial_aid/index.html

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Re:Ask HN: Going to College with NIL Family Support? by tokenadult on Friday February 06, 2009 @12:20AM (#469403)
Agreed that Harvard (and Ivy League colleges in general) can offer great financial aid. But the offer is based on demonstrated need, or, as one old Harvard document said, "ability to pay, not willingness to pay." That's why a student whose parents don't agree to step up (the situation I am asking about) is hosed. Families with low incomes and assets, who apply, are likely to be bowled over by the generosity of the financial aid offer. See the Princeton online estimator

http://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/estimator/

or Dartmouth's cost estimator

http://www.dartmouth.edu/apply/financialaid/calculator/index...

for examples. But please note that if the parents have some estimated family contribution above zero but are unwilling to pay that, the student is stuck. I'm asking about the plan B in such situations here, on behalf of a friend and similarly situated young people.

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