How wealthy is too wealthy for need-based aid?

[janedoe4]

Does anyone have a sense for at what point a med student's parent's income/assets would be too great for them to qualify for need-based aid (including loans only available to "needy" students)? FAFSA calculates EFC ignoring parent information for med students, but most schools take it into account somehow--the way they calculate parental contribution is just more opaque. Anyone have a ballpark figure for where the threshold of "parents' contribution=everything" lies?

The best indication I have so far is that the Stanford financial aid presentation mentioned that their "Middle Income Assistance Program" generally applied to families with household incomes of $150,000-$200,000, and that many of those students would receive no aid from other schools. Does that sound right?

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[Lesley]

Does anyone have a sense for at what point a med student's parent's income/assets would be too great for them to qualify for need-based aid (including loans only available to "needy" students)? FAFSA calculates EFC ignoring parent information for med students, but most schools take it into account somehow--the way they calculate parental contribution is just more opaque. Anyone have a ballpark figure for where the threshold of "parents' contribution=everything" lies?

The best indication I have so far is that the Stanford financial aid presentation mentioned that their "Middle Income Assistance Program" generally applied to families with household incomes of $150,000-$200,000, and that many of those students would receive no aid from other schools. Does that sound right?

Q: How much money would have to be available to me to disqualify me for financial aid?

A: Students who have access to resources (including both their own and their parents' contributions) equal to the entire annual budget
would not be eligible for financial aid.

?. I found this on one medical school's financial aid site. Although it does not list a figure, after taxes and some allowable living expenses, most financial aid calculation methods do seem to allow for a generous amount of income to be available for educational purposes. So, I would think that a household income of even lower than you have listed above could, possibly, put you out of the reach of "need" based financial aid. However, you would still be eligible to borrow the max in unsubsidized Stafford and GradPLUS loans, up to the cost of attendance. Good Luck.

 

[Twitch]

Does anyone have a sense for at what point a med student's parent's income/assets would be too great for them to qualify for need-based aid (including loans only available to "needy" students)? FAFSA calculates EFC ignoring parent information for med students, but most schools take it into account somehow--the way they calculate parental contribution is just more opaque. Anyone have a ballpark figure for where the threshold of "parents' contribution=everything" lies?

The best indication I have so far is that the Stanford financial aid presentation mentioned that their "Middle Income Assistance Program" generally applied to families with household incomes of $150,000-$200,000, and that many of those students would receive no aid from other schools. Does that sound right?

The schools that do take into account parental income cannot disqualify you from federal aid (stafford/perkins) as those programs have their own qualification requirements.

 

[Gabujabu]

Does anyone have a sense for at what point a med student's parent's income/assets would be too great for them to qualify for need-based aid (including loans only available to "needy" students)? FAFSA calculates EFC ignoring parent information for med students, but most schools take it into account somehow--the way they calculate parental contribution is just more opaque. Anyone have a ballpark figure for where the threshold of "parents' contribution=everything" lies?

The best indication I have so far is that the Stanford financial aid presentation mentioned that their "Middle Income Assistance Program" generally applied to families with household incomes of $150,000-$200,000, and that many of those students would receive no aid from other schools. Does that sound right?

I'm very interested in this financial aid program at Stanford as well. Is the $150,000-$200,000 figure for 2 children in college or just 1?

 

[Noeljan]

Let's put it this way, it is a LOT lower than most people assume. It is VERY difficult (or so it seems) to get need based aid. we shall see....hopefully i get some

 

[AnEyeLikeMars]

Let's put it this way, it is a LOT lower than most people assume. It is VERY difficult (or so it seems) to get need based aid. we shall see....hopefully i get some

A lot lower. I was very unpleasantly surprised. I would have guessed that my parents could afford $10K, though they're not actually giving me anything. Apparently they can afford to pay the whole COA ($64K), so I'm covering the whole thing in federal loans. So it goes...

 

[nike292]

I know it has been a while since anyone posted in this thread, but what sort of financial aid can one expect if their parent's income is around $300,000 with no kids in college?

 

[MT Headed]

You will get the full 40K-ish unsubsidized stafford loans, and you'll most likely qualify for the less attractive GradPLUS loans as well to make up any difference between Stafford and the COA.

It is debatable at this point if unsubsidized staffords at 6.8% are "aid" or simply loan sharking.