College Planning Specialists

Parent/Student Aid Facts

As professionals in the college planning process, we are often asked the million-dollar question, ‘how can my family & I qualify for aid?’ Being that every family’s situation is different both academically & financially, our answer is not universal. So we have collected some of the most recent statistics & figures to help you answer that question for your family and dispel the common myths that ‘college is too expensive for us’ or ‘my parents income is too high to qualify for aid.’ Hopefully you can identify a question that relates to you and your situation.

Over the past 2 years colleges' endowments have grown, allowing them to offer more aid (www.wikipedia.com).

Institution	Endowment (2005) billion USD	Endowment (2006) billion USD	Endowment (2007) billion USD
Amherst College	$ 1.155	$ 1.337[2]	$ 1.700
Brown University	$ 1.843	$ 2.166[5]	$ 2.800
California Institute of Technology	$ 1.781	$ 1.972[6]	$ 2.328[7]
Duke University	$ 3.826	$ 5.363[15]	$ 5.900
Emory University	$ 4.376	$ 4.870[1]	$ 5.600
Georgetown University	$ 0.741	$ 0.853[16]	$ 1.052[16]
Johns Hopkins University	$ 2.177	$ 2.350[1]	$ 2.800
Harvard University	$ 25.5	$ 28.915[18]	$ 34.900
Indiana University (system-wide)[19]	$ 1.107	$ 1.276[1]	$ 1.883
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	$ 6.712	$ 8.368[20]	$ 9.980
Michigan State University	$ 1.325	$ 1.483[21][22]	$ 1.631 [23]
Northwestern University	$ 4.215	$ 5.330[25][26]	$ 7.00
Princeton University	$ 11.207	$ 13.044[30]	$ 15.800
Rice University	$ 3.611	$ 3.986[1]	$ 4.665
Stanford University	$ 12.2	$ 14.084[35]	$ 17.200
Tufts University	$ 1.153	$ 1.215[1]	$ 1.6
University of California (system-wide)[19]	$ 5.221	$ 5.733[1]	$ 6.700[39]
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	$ 0.973	$ 1.149[1]	$ 2.2[45]
University of Southern California	$ 2.746	$ 3.065[1]	$ 3.7[53]
University of Virginia	$ 3.219	$ 3.618[55]	$ 5.061[56]
University of Washington	$ 1.489	$ 1.794[1]	$ 2.500
Vanderbilt University	$ 2.628	$ 2.946[1]	$ 3.400
Wake Forest University	$ 0.907	$ 1.042[1]	$ 1.15
Yale University	$ 15.2	$ 18.030[61]	$ 22.500

*What percentage of undergraduates received financial aid? (Award Year 2003-2004)

Two-Year Public Colleges 46.8%

Four-Year Public Colleges and Universities 68.6%

Four-Year Private Colleges and Universities 83.3%
Private, for Profit (proprietary) Institutions 89.9%
Total (All Institutional Types) 63.2%

Source: U.S. Dep. Of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, Undergraduate Data Analysis System, May 2005.

*What are the average estimated undergraduate budgets of a Four-Year Public versus a Private institution (national enrollment weighted) for 2007-2008?

PUBLIC	Resident	Off-Campus	Out of State	PRIVATE	Resident	Off-Campus
Tuition & Fees:	6,185	6,185	16,640	Tuition & Fees:	23,712	23,712
Room & Board:	7,404	7,419	7,404	Room & Board:	8,595	7,499
Books & Supplies:	988	988	988	Books & Supplies:	988	988
Transportation:	911	1,284	911	Transportation:	768	1,138
Other Expenses:	1,848	2,138	1,848	Other Expenses:	1,131	1,644
Total:	17,336	18,014	27,791	Total:	35,374	35,001

The College Board, Trends in College Pricing 2007, Table 2, pg. 7

*How much Federal funding is appropriated for Federal Financial Aid programs? (Full Year 2007)

Program                                Appropriated (in thousands of dollars)
Pell Grants                                                                                             $13,660,711
FSEOG                                                                                                         $770,933
Federal Work Study                                                                                   $980,354
Perkins Loans                                                                                              $42,000

Source: U.S. Dep. Of Education budget overview 2007

*How many undergraduate students receive financial aid?

In 2003-2004, the number of undergraduates (unduplicated) receiving aid was approximately 12.05 million.

Source: U.S. Dep. Of Education, 2004 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study

*What is the average percent borrowing by full-time dependent undergraduate students?

Two-Year Public Colleges 17%

Four-Year Public Colleges and Universities 47%

Four-Year Private Colleges and Universities 63%
Private, for Profit (proprietary) Institutions 74%

Source: The College Board, Trends in Student Financial Aid 2007, Figure 4b, pg. 13

2008 Record-Low Ivy League Admission Statistics

Harvard – 7.1%

Yale – 8.3%