“I don’t know anything!”
“I’m so confused, I don’t even know what I don’t know.”
“Where should I start?”
We hear this over and over again from parents of high school students as they begin realizing the magnitude of college costs and the complexity of the college admissions process.
The process of applying to college has changed significantly since most parents applied and attended and college costs have skyrocketed, increasing over 225% over the last 30 years.1
If you give yourself some time to prepare for what you need to know, it will really alleviate (some of) the stress factor.
What’s the Average Amount Parents Pay for College?
The average amount parents pay for college in 2023 varies for families with students attending public vs. private colleges and universities, as well as if students are in-state or out-of-state for public universities. According to Education Data Initiative, the
Average out-of-state cost of attendance for four-year public colleges – $45,708
Average in-state cost of attendance for four-year public colleges – $27,146
According to SoFi, just 29% of parents plan to fully cover their kids’ college costs. This number is trending downwards: according to the same report, in 2016, 43% of parents planned to pay for the entirety of their child’s university costs.
To help families new to the process, here’s a summary of the most essential topics to know about as your family navigates admissions and paying for college.
What Parents Need to Know About Admissions and Paying for College
FAFSA
The first thing to know is the FAFSA. It’s free, you fill it out online, and it uses a formula to create an SAI (student aid index) for your student.
The SAI is a number based on your income, assets, and the number of kids enrolled in college. FAFSA does not award any money; it’s a reporting tool. You select which colleges to send the information to.
Your FAFSA results are used primarily for two things:
1. To access federal student loans, also known as Stafford loans. The maximum Stafford Loan a first-year student can take without a co-signer is $5500. Depending on your SAI, some of the interest on these loans could be subsidized, meaning interest will not accrue on the subsidized loan amount until six months after a student leaves college or graduates.
2. To determine if your SAI is low enough to qualify for a Federal Pell Grant. This is money for college that does not have to be paid back. For the 2024-25 Award Year, the Pell Grant eligible SAI range is 0 to 6750. The amount of the award is determined by a sliding scale. The maximum award amount (for full-time students) is $7,500 per year, which is what an SAI of zero would receive. The minimum award amount is $750, which is what an SAI of 6750 would receive.
Many universities use the FAFSA information to determine eligibility for their own institutionally provided, need-based financial aid. The amount (and whether or not you’re eligible) varies greatly depending on the college. Some colleges offer very little need-based aid, while others provide enough grants and scholarships to meet the full financial needs of their enrolled students.
CSS Profile
The majority of elite, private, extremely selective, heavily endowed colleges will meet your full financial needs.
However, in addition to the results of the FAFSA, they determine actual need (and how much they will give you) based on their own interpretation of the results of the CSS form. (Unlike FAFSA, there is no “CSS number” created.)
The CSS takes a more in-depth look at your true finances than the FAFSA does, and there is an area to explain any special circumstances. The CSS form costs $25 to fill out, but it is free if the student has a College Board fee waiver.
Financial Aid Generosity
At some of the most generous colleges, even a family of four making $250,000 per year can qualify for need-based aid.
But be forewarned, the sticker price of many of these colleges can be almost $80,000 per year! There’s excellent news, however, for lower and middle-income students.
These very expensive, ultra-elite colleges are so generous with need aid that they are usually more affordable than state schools. Sometimes altogether free if your income and assets are low enough.
Keep in mind, there is a catch here…there’s always a catch!
The trouble is that colleges with those aid policies are inundated with highly qualified applicants every year, making acceptance extremely difficult to achieve.
These schools routinely receive over 30,000 applicants to fill as few as 1500 spots.
Which means well over 90% of applicants are denied admission. (No matter how good their grades and test scores are.)
But there’s still hope. Some affordable alternatives can work out just as well.
Good Stats Can Mean Good Merit Scholarships
Many colleges offer scholarships for academic merit. They typically base the scholarship on the student’s grade point average and SAT/ACT scores, not income or need.
Some colleges publish the criteria for their merit awards and the dollar amounts on their websites. But even if they don’t, you can usually get a good idea of how much a college may cost using the NPC (net price calculator.)
Just Google “{College name} + net price calculator” and enter your student’s information.
The NPCs that ask for GPA, test scores, state of residence, and financial information tend to be the most accurate as to what you must pay to go there.
The answers to those questions allow the NPC to estimate how much merit and need you qualify for and whether you are eligible for in-state or neighboring state pricing.
Best Family Practices
Checking the NPC needs to be one of the first things you do. Even before you visit, apply, or get your heart set on any particular college. Check and see how much this school will cost you.
If it will be somewhat affordable, the next thing to do is check the admitted students stats.
(What are the average high school GPAs and average test scores, and what percentage of applicants are accepted at this college?)
This is the time to find out if this college will be a good fit, academically and financially.
Safety Schools
This should be considered a safety school if your stats are well above the school’s average.
(A safety school is somewhere that you’re likely to get accepted and also likely to qualify for their top merit scholarships.)
Target Schools
If your stats are within a school’s average, this should be considered a target or “match” school.
One that you are qualified for, but depending on their acceptance rate, it cannot be considered a sure thing for acceptance nor a definite for additional merit scholarships.
Reach Schools
These are schools with average admitted student stats that are above yours.
Or schools with such a low percentage of accepted applicants that they should be considered a reach for everyone.
(All Ivy League, elite schools, and colleges with single-digit acceptance rates should be considered reach schools, no matter how qualified the applicant is.)
Making Your College List
I suggest that those of you chasing merit aid make sure to apply to a good number of safety schools.
For those with high stats (and mid-to-lower income), this also makes sense—but also try for some of the elite schools that might actually work out to be close to free for you.
And for those in the middle (stats-wise and financially), be sure to include a good mix of safeties and target schools to ensure you wind up with choices you can actually afford.
The best advice is to keep your list financially balanced.
College Tours
Lastly, it’s always best to see these schools for yourself, but that is not always possible for many reasons.
Many colleges have virtual tours you can take on their websites.
Also some of their enrolled students may post their tours of their school on YouTube, so you can get an unofficial glimpse of what it’s like there from the comfort of your own home.
If both time and money are tight, you may need to physically visit any far away schools AFTER you’re already accepted and after you get your award letter so you know how much it will cost.
I scheduled my oldest son’s tours during the spring break of his junior year of high school.
And for my next daughter, our tours were throughout the summer before her senior year.
My middle kids only toured schools after they were accepted (from February through April of their senior year.)
So there is a lot of flexibility about this.
How Many Colleges to Apply to?
How many colleges are enough to apply to? This depends on the student.
The Common App limits students to keeping 20 applications open at a time in their profile.
And FAFSA allows you to send your information to ten schools simultaneously.
After the school receives them, you can delete schools and add more on the Common App and FAFSA.
My oldest applied to seven colleges. My next applied to (I think) 11.
My middle daughter applied to 15, and my middle son applied to 3. So the answer is…it depends.
And that’s up to you. But do ask for fee waivers from the admissions department at any school you apply to.
Many will offer a code that waives the application fee simply because you asked, which can save a lot of money.
As you can see, there is SO much to learn and know when it comes to the college admissions process.
Digest this for now because it isn’t even half of what you need to know.
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Use R2C Insights to help find merit aid and schools that fit the criteria most important to your student. You’ll not only save precious time, but your student will avoid the heartache of applying to schools they aren’t likely to get into or can’t afford to attend.
👉 Looking for expert help on the road to college? See our Preferred Partner List!
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1 https://research.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/trends-in-college-pricing-student-aid-2022.pdf
