Date: December 2024

Dear Parent(s),

For high school seniors, December is an especially busy time. Not only do many schools have their final exams, but there are also college applications and essays to finish. December also brings Early Decision acceptances right around the 15th.

If a student is accepted by their first-choice college and that college uses the College Board’s CSS Profile, a financial aid offer will be made around that same time. Due to the delay on the new and improved FAFSA any state and federal aid included in the offer would only be estimate.

At the more competitive colleges and universities January 1st is also a major admission application deadline. So, your student might contribute to the stress of the holidays as he or she makes their big push.

Speaking of stress around the holidays, why are the holidays so notoriously stressful?

As children, we looked forward to the holidays year-round. What changed between then and adulthood to make November through December so pressured and trying?

The American Psychological Association found that more people in the United States find their stress increases rather than decreases during the holiday season for a variety of reasons. Lack of money for gifts, lack of time to shop and cook, and the overwhelming commercialism and hype of the holiday season can all increase the amount of stress felt during the holidays.

For many, day-to-day responsibilities (such as caring for children or aging parents, working to provide for the family, etc.) also don’t stop during the holiday season. Adding on shopping for gifts, planning holiday get-togethers, and hosting family that’s in town, all while feeling pressure to please and keep everyone jovial and satisfied can cause many people to reach a breaking point.

One shift in expectations can make all the difference. Letting go of any expectations you have that cause stress. Gift shopping? Who really needs more ‘stuff’? Entertaining? Keep it simple. Some hummus and chips, pistachios and cashews in a bowl, some olives and cheese and crackers. A bottle of white, a bottle of red, perhaps a bottle of rosé instead (credit to Billy Joel).

And this drives a lot of over the edge: Cooking for relatives and friends with food allergies, sensitivities, dislikes, etc. adds so much to the workload of having people over. Instead, as those folks bring a dish they can eat so you don’t have to worry about five different kinds of foods. You don’t have that much room on the table for all of that anyway!

OK, back to business.

Will Early Decision Really Cost Me?

I don’t want to get too deep into the weeds on this subject, so perhaps the mile high view will be good enough.

The rule of thumb is if a student applies and is accepted to an Early Decision college, they lose the opportunity to compare the financial aid offer with others. While this is true, most of the colleges offering Early Decision are the more to most selective (colleges with selectivity rates below 35% a/k/a the Ivies and Elites) and meet a higher percentage of financial need but less likely to offer merit aid.

Financial need is determined by a complex formula that tells you the least amount of money you pay at any college. This is known as the Student Aid Index or SAI for short.

With a few noteworthy exceptions, the SAI is like the old Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and works like this:

Cost of the college	$85,000
SAI	– 40,000
Financial Need	= 45,000
Grants and Loans	– 30,000
Remaining Need or GAP	= 15,000
SAI	+ 40,000
Out-of-Pocket Cost	= $55,000

Grants and loans are then deducted from the Financial Need, and when added to the SAI giving you a Cost of Attendance.

Depending on a parent’s Adjusted Gross Income, elite institutions like Stanford, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, University of Chicago, Harvard College, MIT, Duke, UPenn, and Brown offer free tuition if you meet their income limits. If a student is applying to any of these schools, they most definitely want to file the FAFSA and CSS Profile aid forms.

What Is Fair?

By and large, colleges offering ED are likely to offer fair aid packages. Of course, fair is how the college defines it. Because income information submitted to the school is from two years prior to the start of the Fall semester, finances that have changed for the current year, or will the next year and are not accurately represented, should prompt a parent to write an appeal.

If a family’s financial need is low (income and assets being too high to qualify for need-based financial aid, like grants) applying ED causes the loss of being able to compare. Many Ivies and Elites don’t offer merit scholarships, so you could end up being what is known as a Full Pay. If you had the opportunity to compare offers, you could try to persuade the college to sweeten the pot (insider’s language) with more free money.

Given the extremely high sticker price of college, most parents paying for college do not want to pay full price. If your student doesn’t get accepted ED, you could count yourself lucky, because now you can be in a better position to pay less than you might otherwise.

What Is Up With The FAFSA

The FAFSA opened up earlier than December 1st. The rush is definitely on to get them filed and find out what kind of aid packages students will receive. I’m told by the Department of Education that the FAFSA offices haven’t finished hiring all the new people they need to assist students and parents through the system. That will take a few more weeks to get up to speed. From there I think the process will become smoother.

Here’s a thing: Colleges are reporting on their websites they won’t get the results of the FAFSA until the end of December. If you haven’t yet filed, don’t panic.

Many of our clients are receiving emails from colleges saying to file the FAFSA and if it’s a school that uses the CSS Profile, that form, too. These emails don’t say that your student HASN’T filed the FAFSA, just that they should if they haven’t.

We refer to these emails as “blanket emails”. It’s important to read the emails to determine if in fact, this is sent to everyone or just your child.

If you know for a fact and have proof that your student’s FAFSA has been filed, question these emails. Read them carefully. Believe me, you’ll know if it’s a financial aid officer sending it to your student because they will be addresses by name and have their student ID on it.

Each month, we provide you with tips on your best ways to pay for college regardless of your financial situation.

Many parents say that they are probably not eligible for aid and ask if they should complete the FAFSA?

Yes, they should.

Here are the Top 3 Reasons To Complete The FAFSA

1. 1. It’s Free! However long it takes you to complete the FAFSA application, the return on the investment of time is worth considering the amount of aid potentially at stake.

 

1. 1. It’s Required for Need-Based Aid. The purpose of the FAFSA is determine your student’s financial need and identify if they’re eligible for aid that doesn’t get paid back like scholarships, grants, and even federal work-study funds. Some private scholarships also require the FAFSA as part of their application process.

 

1. There’s real money at stake. Filing a FAFSA may be the single most important thing you can do to finance your student’s higher education goals. It’s the gateway to more than hundreds of billions in grants, work-study, and federal student loans as well as certain state-based aid.

And finally, parents aren’t always the best judges of whether they will qualify for aid. So do as every financial aid administer in the country suggests: File!

Saying Good-bye to 2024

This is our last issue of the year. We’ve enjoyed providing you with information that is both practical and effective. Many of our parents have been empowered to make better, more informed decisions about choosing colleges and paying for them all because of our newsletter.

College affordability is a problem even for those who you think can most afford it. It’s possible they may not be able to afford it without help. Who amongst us discusses money with friends? So please share this newsletter. I’m certain they will be highly appreciative.

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Bob Chitrathorn

P.S. If you find this newsletter helpful, please share it with other parents like yourself!