What money is fair game for financial aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, if I were to refi my house and spend the funds on something responsible, like necessary home improvements (HVAC update, bathroom & plumbing improvements) will that shield the equity money?

And who determines my equity anyhow? Does the school run a report on the likely current value of my house, which has increased a lot over the past few years? Or are they looking at the house value when I purchased it and the balance remaining on the mortgage? I bought my house about 5 years ago and my neighbor recently sold her house for $300K more than what I paid.

Your equity is based on how much money your house is worth today minus the amount you owe on your mortgage. It's pretty simple.

You can surely protect that equity by refinancing and spending the funds on home improvement. But you'll have less cash available to you should you want a HELOC for some reason. And if your house gets reevaluated, it won't help at all.


Does it make a difference if someone has $500k equity in. $2 million house versus $100k equity in a $400k house? Either way do school expect you to liquidate or take out loans to cover that expected equity contribution?

Many schools look at the equity relative to your income (to take into account middle class people who bought in an area that gentrified quickly) and/or exclude equity up to certain amount. So, it depends.

Life is aboutt choices. The $400K family is the responsible family. If you can afford a $2 million dollar house, you don't need financial aid. You could have bought a million dollar house and used the other million for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2.5million in assets and close to retirement, you can say we have the money but it would be financially irresponsible to spend 40k for each of our 3 kids. However, the tops schools think we can afford to pay without aids based on our assets

You can "afford it" but you choose to have three kids and spend your money in other ways vs. saving. You should have considered this when you bought your house, vacations and all that stuff. So, your kids got to state school for take out loans. Or, other options. I don't get the three kid excuse. You should have stopped at two.

Why are you assuming people have big house and fancy vacations? We bought a 380k house, never spend more than $5000/year on vacation, driving 14 and 16 year old cars, rarely dined out and saved 2.5 million which includes retirements!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2.5million in assets and close to retirement, you can say we have the money but it would be financially irresponsible to spend 40k for each of our 3 kids. However, the tops schools think we can afford to pay without aids based on our assets

You can "afford it" but you choose to have three kids and spend your money in other ways vs. saving. You should have considered this when you bought your house, vacations and all that stuff. So, your kids got to state school for take out loans. Or, other options. I don't get the three kid excuse. You should have stopped at two.

Why are you assuming people have big house and fancy vacations? We bought a 380k house, never spend more than $5000/year on vacation, driving 14 and 16 year old cars, rarely dined out and saved 2.5 million which includes retirements!

So you bought the budget house and the budget cars, so now you can buy your kids the budget in state education. What’s the problem with that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2.5million in assets and close to retirement, you can say we have the money but it would be financially irresponsible to spend 40k for each of our 3 kids. However, the tops schools think we can afford to pay without aids based on our assets

You can "afford it" but you choose to have three kids and spend your money in other ways vs. saving. You should have considered this when you bought your house, vacations and all that stuff. So, your kids got to state school for take out loans. Or, other options. I don't get the three kid excuse. You should have stopped at two.

Why are you assuming people have big house and fancy vacations? We bought a 380k house, never spend more than $5000/year on vacation, driving 14 and 16 year old cars, rarely dined out and saved 2.5 million which includes retirements!

Ok, so then were is all your money going? We have a house about that price and we have plenty saved for a state school, room and board and a year or two of graduate school. Why should you just save for retirement and not college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
CSS schools can consider home equity and retirement accounts, the logic being that if you paid into both aggressively while not saving for school, that is a choice you made and you shouldn't be rewarded.

i agree that paying for college sucks, but financial aid is not for people with expensive houses and big retirement accounts. save for college or choose a less expensive way to get a college degree, i.e. dual credit, CC and then transfer to a local or nearby public U.

Sorry, but no. Whose high stats kid wants to go to CC??

This is an inhumane suggestion, like putting a gifted kid into a special needs classroom. Who would do that?

Poor high stats kids do it all the time, no big deal. Maybe not CC, but being a commuter student at the nearest state school is pretty common. This is what my brother and I did way back when.

Actually, poor high stars kids qualify for need based aid at elite schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the above math is off, elite colleges are 75/80k per year, not 40k so 3 kids would cost PP $960k right?

I assume their income is not super high, but they have significant assets, so the college calculators showed them paying $40K/year per kid net. Possibly that also includes some overlap where 2 kids attend college at the same time.

FWIW, we had about $250K HHI, and when we only had one kid in school we got nothing. However, when we had two in college, one of the top schools gave us $20K financial aid in grants, not loans. The younger kid is attending in-state, so our total costs were almost the same between one and two in college. That's why I don't believe in donut hole BS, there is no such thing for top schools.

NP- my kids are still young but I am trying to understand this.
For family with HHI 200-250K, one kid in top private college is 80K/yr, but say when younger kid also starts at an equally expensive private, then another 60K/yr (with 20k aid.) So total of 140K/yr for the overlapping years?

This approach of taking multiple siblings in college at the same time for FA purposes is being eliminated.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, should have said,


This approach of taking into account that there are multiple siblings in college at the same time for FA purposes is being eliminated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2.5million in assets and close to retirement, you can say we have the money but it would be financially irresponsible to spend 40k for each of our 3 kids. However, the tops schools think we can afford to pay without aids based on our assets

You can "afford it" but you choose to have three kids and spend your money in other ways vs. saving. You should have considered this when you bought your house, vacations and all that stuff. So, your kids got to state school for take out loans. Or, other options. I don't get the three kid excuse. You should have stopped at two.

Why are you assuming people have big house and fancy vacations? We bought a 380k house, never spend more than $5000/year on vacation, driving 14 and 16 year old cars, rarely dined out and saved 2.5 million which includes retirements!

Didn't your financial planner tell you to save for college 20 years ago? Didn't they tell you to open a 529?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, should have said,


This approach of taking into account that there are multiple siblings in college at the same time for FA purposes is being eliminated.

Not exactly true. It is eliminated for FAFSA considerations. For schools that rely on CSS profile or their own form, it’s up to individual schools. Most top schools do not rely on FAFSA for determining the need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, should have said,


This approach of taking into account that there are multiple siblings in college at the same time for FA purposes is being eliminated.

Yes the FAFSA change is coming but the CSS which is required for many private, higher-cost colleges hasn’t changed yet. It’s unclear if will change its approach to stay in step with the FAFSA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2.5million in assets and close to retirement, you can say we have the money but it would be financially irresponsible to spend 40k for each of our 3 kids. However, the tops schools think we can afford to pay without aids based on our assets

You can "afford it" but you choose to have three kids and spend your money in other ways vs. saving. You should have considered this when you bought your house, vacations and all that stuff. So, your kids got to state school for take out loans. Or, other options. I don't get the three kid excuse. You should have stopped at two.

Why are you assuming people have big house and fancy vacations? We bought a 380k house, never spend more than $5000/year on vacation, driving 14 and 16 year old cars, rarely dined out and saved 2.5 million which includes retirements!

Didn't your financial planner tell you to save for college 20 years ago? Didn't they tell you to open a 529?

When did I ever say We saved nothing? We have saved for can afford in-state 30k per/year/kid. But definitely not the 80k top colleges dispute what the EFC says

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2.5million in assets and close to retirement, you can say we have the money but it would be financially irresponsible to spend 40k for each of our 3 kids. However, the tops schools think we can afford to pay without aids based on our assets

You can "afford it" but you choose to have three kids and spend your money in other ways vs. saving. You should have considered this when you bought your house, vacations and all that stuff. So, your kids got to state school for take out loans. Or, other options. I don't get the three kid excuse. You should have stopped at two.

Why are you assuming people have big house and fancy vacations? We bought a 380k house, never spend more than $5000/year on vacation, driving 14 and 16 year old cars, rarely dined out and saved 2.5 million which includes retirements!

Didn't your financial planner tell you to save for college 20 years ago? Didn't they tell you to open a 529?

When did I ever say We saved nothing? We have saved for can afford in-state 30k per/year/kid. But definitely not the 80k top colleges dispute what the EFC says

So, many of us cannot pay for privates. The degree is important. But, you can afford more and choose not to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have 2.5million in assets and close to retirement, you can say we have the money but it would be financially irresponsible to spend 40k for each of our 3 kids. However, the tops schools think we can afford to pay without aids based on our assets

You can "afford it" but you choose to have three kids and spend your money in other ways vs. saving. You should have considered this when you bought your house, vacations and all that stuff. So, your kids got to state school for take out loans. Or, other options. I don't get the three kid excuse. You should have stopped at two.

Why are you assuming people have big house and fancy vacations? We bought a 380k house, never spend more than $5000/year on vacation, driving 14 and 16 year old cars, rarely dined out and saved 2.5 million which includes retirements!

OP, are you saying that you are not willing to use part of that 2.5 million to pay for college for your 3 kids! Do you plan to pay for at least a public university? I don’t understand how you expect to get aid or feel entitled to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, should have said,


This approach of taking into account that there are multiple siblings in college at the same time for FA purposes is being eliminated.

Yes the FAFSA change is coming but the CSS which is required for many private, higher-cost colleges hasn’t changed yet. It’s unclear if will change its approach to stay in step with the FAFSA.

PSA: unlike FAFSA, CSS does not calculate the need. It collects information and passes it on to colleges which then calculate the need based on their own formulas. There are several instances currently where CSS and FAFSA approaches diverge (home equity, non-custodial parent income, private K-12 schools for siblings), so there is no reason to think that colleges will decide to stay in step with FAFSA. Besides, the FAFSA change was due to the pressure from a specific senator, this was the cost of his vote for the overall bill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
CSS schools can consider home equity and retirement accounts, the logic being that if you paid into both aggressively while not saving for school, that is a choice you made and you shouldn't be rewarded.

i agree that paying for college sucks, but financial aid is not for people with expensive houses and big retirement accounts. save for college or choose a less expensive way to get a college degree, i.e. dual credit, CC and then transfer to a local or nearby public U.

Sorry, but no. Whose high stats kid wants to go to CC??

This is an inhumane suggestion, like putting a gifted kid into a special needs classroom. Who would do that?

Poor high stats kids do it all the time, no big deal. Maybe not CC, but being a commuter student at the nearest state school is pretty common. This is what my brother and I did way back when.

Actually, poor high stars kids qualify for need based aid at elite schools.

1. Not in my time. 2. There are other financial considerations for low income families that the need based aid does not address, so living at home it is.