Information Tables on Prices and Aid

To compare your prospects for financial aid with this recent group of students, you need to know your family income. You should look at the row corresponding to your family's income level in the tables for each type of college you are considering. As you now know, financial aid eligibility calculations consider other factors in addition to income. Family income, however, provides a good rule-of-thumb. But remember that the numbers reported here are not price quotes. They are the actual prices and aid amounts faced by people like you in a particular year (1995-96).

Before reading the tables, take a look at the next section About Percentages and Ranges.  This section will help you understand why student financial aid is different for people with similar incomes. 

About Percentages and Ranges

When you look up information based on your family's income, you will see that not all people in your income group got aid. The percentage for each group is listed in the second column under the heading "Percent of students who received any type of financial aid." In the example below, the figure was 76 percent.

Does this mean that everyone with family incomes between $20,000 and $40,000 has exactly a 76 percent chance of receiving aid, and that actually receiving aid is determined by chance? No. It means that within this income range, 76 out of 100 people got aid in a recent year. We can't be more exact without knowing more. That's because income is not the only thing taken into consideration when awarding financial aid.

The same is true for the amount of aid people get. The tables show a range for the amount of aid people got in a recent year. Figures are shown in the column labeled, "Most got between." In this example, the range is pretty wide, between $2,800 and $6,550. Again, to be more exact than this requires more information than just a family's income.

Additional Factors

To get a more precise idea if you are likely to get aid and if so, how much, see if the following factors apply to you and your family. If many of these factors describe your family's circumstances, then you are more likely to be among those who get aid. And if you get aid, you are more likely to be on the higher end of the range of awards.

• You are closer to the lower end of the income range in the table. In the example above, if your income were closer to $20,000 than it is to $40,000, you are more likely to get aid.

• You attend an expensive college. Generally, the more expensive your college, the more financial aid you can qualify for. In some cases, if you decide to go to a more expensive college, you may actually end up paying less. This is because many expensive colleges have more funds to help students. So don't automatically assume you can't afford the more expensive college.

• You have sisters or brothers in college at the same time. Here too, if circumstances make it harder for your family to pay, financial aid often helps make up the difference. For most families, putting two children through college simultaneously without more financial aid would be much harder.

• You come from a large family. If you have a large number of sisters or brothers who remain dependent on the family for support, the financial aid system will take that into account.

• You pay above average state or local taxes. Some places have higher taxes than others do. This too is taken into account when awarding aid.

• You have little accumulated wealth or savings. The financial aid system assumes that some of your savings ought to be used to pay for college. But if you have not managed to save much money or accumulate other assets (stocks and bonds for example), you may be more likely to qualify for aid or receive more aid.

• You have unusual expenses, such as medical bills. The financial aid system will take into account your increased need for aid if you have been faced with unusually large medical bills.

• You do not work while attending college. Students often find they can work part time when attending college full time. If you do, you will be expected to contribute some of your earnings to pay for college. But if you do not earn much money while in college, you may get some more financial aid to help you pay for college.

• You are willing to borrow. Loans are a big part of the financial aid package offered to many students. But you don't have to accept loans—you can substitute your own money for the loan amount you may be offered. The tables in this handbook show the amount actually borrowed, not the amount that could have been borrowed.

If many of these factors apply to you and your family, then your chances of getting aid are higher than average for your income group. And the amount of aid you get will either be like those people near the top of the range who got aid--in this example $6,550--or you may get even more than the top figure in the range. Remember that the ranges show the average award for the middle half of a recent group of families. About one-fourth of them got more than the stated range. About one-fourth got less.

If few of these factors apply to you and your family, the reverse is true--lower chances for aid and lower aid awards would be more typical.

List of Tables Showing College Prices and Aid 

• Public 4-year colleges in lower-priced states (under $2,100)

   

• Public 4-year colleges in medium-priced states (between $2,100 and $3,100)

   

• Public 4-year colleges in higher-priced states (over $3,100)

   

• Private 4-year colleges with lower tuition (under $10,000)

   

• Private 4-year colleges with medium tuition (between $10,000 and $15,000)

   

• Private 4-year colleges with higher tuition (over $15,000)

   

• Public 2-year colleges.