CASE STUDY - "I don't think we can afford an out-of-state college."
The Morgan Family
We met with the Morgan family in September of 2013. The family had lived in Southern California for 15 years before moving to Austin, TX in August of 2012. Their son Max was really focused on returning to California to attend college and his initial list of schools included six in California. He was wanting a college environment where long boarding was part of the culture. Mom and Dad were concerned about the out of state costs at public colleges in California and that they made too much money to receive financial aid from colleges, period. They were also concerned about Max’s lack of major choice as both Mom and Dad graduated from the University of Michigan with business degrees.
Max worked on his career choices, test prep and was willing to look outside of California for college options. He applied to eight colleges total with a mix of public and private and was accepted to all eight schools. Mom and Dad took our advice on asset management and the results were better than they expected. Max ended up attending a college outside of California that was actually a better fit than what he originally expected.
Max (2015 Grad) - 3.2 GPA / 30 ACT Score
$116,669 - Adjusted Gross Income
$220,651 - Stocks & Mutual Funds
$11,380 - 529 Plan
$3000 - Money Market
Initial EFC – 43,366 / Final EFC – 26,074
RESULTS
University of Colorado, Boulder
$55,132 - Cost of Attendance
$11,750 - Grants / Scholarships
$43,382 - True Cost
Santa Clara University
$61,850 – Cost of Attendance
$11,700 – Scholarships / Grants
$50,150 – True Cost
University of Denver
$60,275 - Cost of Attendance
$26,500 - Grants / Scholarships
$33,775 - True Cost
Chapman University
$62,350 – Cost of Attendance
$32,398 – Grants / Scholarships
$29,952 – True Cost