How can I afford out of state tuition? Is anyone else looking at an out of state school?

Answered

Excellent question, and I'm know it's one that many students have each year. It's critical to remember that the vast majority of students don't pay full price to attend college and also that a school's sticker price itself is not always the best indicator for how much attending that school will ultimately cost you.

There are several ways to qualify for additional money to attend a school. The first is through need-based financial aid. If you want a good estimate of what your Expected Family Contribution will be in college, FAFSA has an online EFC estimator you can consult. Of course, only full-need-met schools will cover the rest of your tuition costs beyond your EFC. Other schools will only meet some fraction of your EFC resulting in a gap that you will need to make up for in other ways. (If you're curious about the list of full-need-met schools, check out the "Schools that Meet 100% of Demonstrated Financial Need" article on our blog!)

In addition to need-based financial aid, there is also merit-based aid. The very best schools in the country (Ivy League programs, for example), don't give out merit-based aid because they don't need to incentivize students to attend. However, the vast majority of schools (including extremely good and competitive ones) do give out large quantities of merit-based scholarship to applicants each year. In general, private schools give out more merit-based scholarships than public schools. This is one reason that attending a private school can often be more affordable for students than attending an out-of-state public school, even if the public school has a lower sticker price. Merit-based scholarship considerations are often relatively opaque at selective schools. To receive merit-based scholarships, you will need to be among the most qualified of the school's applicants. At more selective schools, the strength of your essays will play a large role in your merit-based scholarships determinations, while your test scores and GPA will matter more for less selective programs. Some less selective schools actually include the SAT/ACT and GPA requirements for merit-based scholarship on their web pages. At these schools, you'll automatically qualify for scholarships if you meet the stated thresholds. Finally, some schools have honors programs with merit-based scholarships and/or priority scholarships deadlines. You'll often have to write additional essays to qualify for these programs, but not always. For a list of the schools that offer the most merit-based aid, check out our article, "Which Colleges Give Out the Most Merit Aid? A List of the Top 50."

Finally, you can apply for external scholarships and/or take out loans. Obviously, it's best if you can avoid loans (no one is ever ecstatic about graduating from college in debt!), but many students do rely on them to afford to attend college. External scholarships are often competitive and usually only give small awards. In general, I'd recommend that you mostly avoid applying for these for now. Instead, consider adding some more safety and target schools to your list where you may qualify for large merit-based scholarships, and make sure to spend time refining and polishing your application essays. In general, you'll unlock far more money in merit-based scholarships this way than you could even by completing a ton of external scholarship applications.

For more information, check out our live-stream recordings and blog posts on paying for college and negotiating the financial aid process!

I have a college advisor who gave me this advice: always reach out to the financial aid office of the school you are planning on going to, because if you make a fuss they will often give you more money. Finanical Aid can be argued, it's like buying a car. Don't accept their first ofer. Schools want a high 'yeild', meaning they want all of the students they accept to go to there school. That means they are often more willing to give out more money if you simply ask!