Over the past few years, I have seen a lot more parents with healthy annual incomes $200,000+ receive solid need based financial aid packages from the highest ranked universities. As a financial advisor and college funding consultant for 18 years, this trend is encouraging. Many of these colleges are getting much more lenient when it comes to counting retirement and real estate assets against you. Even families with annual earnings in the $250,000-$300,000 range may receive higher aid than they were originally expecting. Of course, each school has its own policy that may change from year to year. Generally speaking, the larger the endowment of the university, the more likely it is that you and your student will qualify for need based financial aid.
Keep in mind this is separate from merit scholarships. If you are dealing with an extremely bright kid, you could receive both need and merit aid from these top ranked schools. That said, just getting accepted is the greatest challenge for students. Please see a summary below of recent updates from the Ivy Leagues and other top ranked colleges. If you are in a divorce situation, there is a bonus list at the bottom of great colleges that you can specifically target as well that only count one spouse’s income (the custodial parent typically).
Referencing the current US News Rankings for the Top 15 Ranked Colleges (https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities?_sort=rank&_sortDirection=asc) These schools are 100% need blind and do not include loans in their aid packages.
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Princeton – $250k or less AGI, free tuition, does not count retirement assets or home equity; $150k or less AGI, 100% of COA covered
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MIT – $200k or less AGI free tuition, does not count retirement assets. Home equity may be counted but there is a cap where it may not hurt as significantly as other schools
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Harvard – $200k or less AGI free tuition, “typical assets” same as Princeton, does not count retirement assets or financial aid against you
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Stanford – does not count home equity or retirement accounts; $150,000 or less AGI, free tuition with “typical assets”
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Yale – counts both home equity and retirement accounts for aid; no official income cutoff published, only $75,000 or less AGI guaranteed free tuition
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Cal Tech – does not count home equity or retirement accounts against you; $200 or less AGI, usually 100% of tuition costs are covered; $100,000 or less then 100% of COA
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Duke – home equity included in aid eligibility but there’s a cap based on AGI; retirement assets do not count. For SC and NC, offers free tuition for AGI less than $150,000. There is no set limit for students outside those states – defaults to individual circumstances
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Johns Hopkins – does not count retirement accounts or home equity against you.Starting in 2024, free tuition for medical school for family incomes up to $300,000. 100% of COA for med school for incomes $175,000 or less
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Northwestern – counts home equity and some portion of retirement accounts against you; no “max” income qualification to get aid – case by case basis – default to CSS profile
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U Penn – does not count home equity or retirement accounts against you; Free tuition with $200,000 or less AGI and “typical assets”
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Cornell – home equity counts but only up to 1.5x family income; for a family with $400,000 in home equity and a $150,000 AGI, home equity contribution is capped at $225,000 (1.5 x $150,000); does not count retirement accounts; free tuition for AGI $75,000 or less – less generous than most of the Ivys
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University of Chicago – does not count home equity or retirement accounts; $125,000 or less income – free tuition; first generation college students – $20,000 per year scholarship and a guaranteed summer internship after their first year
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Brown – does not count home equity or retirement accounts against you. $125,000 or less income, free tuition
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Columbia – Does not count primary home equity but does count retirement accounts; free tuition for AGI of $150,000 or less
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Dartmouth – counts home equity and “some” retirement accounts; $125,000 or less AGI free tuition
Bonus Tip:
For divorced parents: Some highly ranked colleges do not count the non-custodial parent – this is extremely important to qualify for need based financial aid at these highly ranked schools:
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William & Mary
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Cornell – School of Law and College of Vet Medicine
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Drexel
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Elon
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GW Law School
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GT
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Harvard – Dental School
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Julliard
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UNC (Chapel Hill)
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Northwestern
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Stanford – School of Law
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U Penn – Dental School and School of Vet Medicine
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Vanderbilt incl. School of Law and Medicine
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University of Wisconsin (Madison)
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Yale – School of Medicine and PA School
In summary, do not think you are excluded from getting financial aid (separate from merit scholarships) if you make a good living. If your annual income is $350,000+, then it is dramatically less likely that you will qualify for need based aid, but it does not mean you will not receive anything. This is a much different landscape than what I saw 5-7 years ago pre-Covid.
Feel free to follow up with me on this topic:
Thank you!
Tim McFillin
(571-276-1215)