Many families wrongly assume they earn too much for college financial aid. The formula considers income plus assets, family size, and school cost, so six-figure earners often qualify, especially at expensive private schools. The only way to know is to apply.
There's no point filling out the form. Here's the thing nobody tells you: there is no income cutoff for financial aid. None. Zero. The formula determines your aid eligibility, and it considers your income, yes, but also your assets, the number of kids you have in college at the same time, the cost of the specific school, and a dozen other variables. I've seen families making well into the 6 figures qualify for meaningful aid at expensive private schools because the The sticker price was so high, even a wealthy family had real financial need relative to that number. And here's the part that really gets me. Some of the most generous financial aid comes from the most expensive schools because they have the biggest endowments. A family that assumes they're, quote, too rich for aid at a $50,000 a year school might actually get a better deal there than at the cheaper state school down the road because the expensive school has more money to give away. So here is the takeaway. The only way to know what you qualify for is to actually fill out the forms. Assuming your way out of financial aid is like assuming your way out of a job you never applied for.
