The College Generosity Gap
- Posted by admin
- on
- in College Pete
The biggest mistake families make when choosing colleges has nothing to do with admissions per se.
It has to do with price.
Most parents begin with this simple (albeit, false) assumption:
“We probably won’t qualify for financial aid.”
Usually what they mean is that they make too good of a living to get anything from a good university… but not enough of a living to pay the full price.
Now here’s the part most of these families don’t realize. Across American higher education today, fewer than 3% of families have ‘enough’ to pay the ‘asking price’ at most colleges. And… wait for it… the colleges know this.
Which means something surprising.
Most families do not pay anything close to the published price.
In fact, much like when flying today (where two passengers heading to the same exact destination rarely pay the same ticket price to get there), two students can attend the same university, sit in the same classroom, graduate with the same degree…yet their families may pay very different prices.
Why?
Because college pricing is driven by a formula most families never see (and fewer understand).
The Formula That Determines Financial Aid
Cost of Attendance
– Student Aid Index
= Financial Need
The Cost of Attendance includes tuition, housing, meals, books, and personal expenses.
At many private universities today, that number exceeds $90,000 per year.
Your Student Aid Index (SAI) — calculated from the FAFSA (and sometimes the CSS Profile) — estimates what your family can contribute.
Subtract the SAI from the Cost of Attendance and you get demonstrated financial need.
Simple enough.
But here’s where things get interesting.
Not every college meets that need.
Some universities cover 100% of demonstrated need. Others cover 70%… 60%… sometimes less.
And when a school doesn’t meet your full need, the remaining gap becomes your responsibility.
Which means something many families overlook when building a college list:
Some colleges are simply far more generous than others.
And the difference can be enormous.
Two schools with identical tuition can produce financial aid packages that differ by tens of thousands of dollars per year.
Which brings us to one of my favorite March traditions.
Nearly twenty years ago we created something we call the University Generosity Index.
It’s a way of identifying which colleges consistently deliver the strongest institutional grants.
And every March — mostly for sh*ts and giggles — we do something fun with it.
While everyone else is filling out NCAA basketball brackets based on who they think will win the games…
We select teams based on University Generosity.
Hence, University Generosity Bracketology.
Instead of advancing schools based on basketball talent, we advance them based on something far more relevant to families:
financial aid generosity.
Next week, we’ll break down the matchups and highlight colleges among the field of 68 that deliver the strongest combination of:
- opportunity
• affordability
• and long-term value
Because when it comes to paying for college…
choosing generous schools can make all the difference.
So, if you the parent of a high school student navigating this process, look out for our pre tip-off university generosity bracketology analysis (coming next week). And if you have a friend or relative also struggling to understand the complex world of college admissions and funding, please feel free to pass this along. They’ll thank you for it!
One final thought.
Most families spend years preparing for admission.
Very few spend the same time understanding how colleges actually price themselves.
But when it comes to college affordability…
that difference can change the cost of a degree by tens of thousands of dollars per year.
When it comes to college costs, the sticker price tells you very little.
But the generosity of the college you choose can change everything.
If you have any questions about this or any other college related process, please feel free to reach out to me with your question at info@yourcollegeconcierge.com.
P.S. If you are the parent of a 9-11th grader specifically, our March 25 Summer Planning webinar is filling up! We will cover how the right summer activities can bolster your student’s college application. Click here to learn more and reserve your seat.
