What money is fair game for financial aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"One reason home equity is included by many private schools is that it is not fair to renters not to include it. If Family A has $500,000 in a retirement account and Family B has the same amount PLUS $1million in equity in their home they really aren't in the same financial situation. When the kids finish college and parents finish working, Family A can sell their home. The renter doesn't have this capital for retirement."

You seem to not realize that many people own a house instead of maxing out their retirement because no matter what, they need a place to live. You can either pay a landlord or buy a house with a mortgage, in which case you might get lucky and build equity. But at least you're guaranteed that you won't get priced out with rent increases. My modest house in PG County is not going to ever have $1M in equity in this century, so let's get real. And I definitely don't have $500K sitting in a retirement account. Do you know of a cheaper place that PG County where I could live and still get to work downtown within an hour?! I'll wait for your answer.

That is their choice. You can live in cheaper housing in MoCo and get to downtown in 30 minutes - Kensington, Wheaton, Silver Spring. So, we choose to live in a cheaper house and save for retirement and college. You think because our house was $400K vs. your million dollar house you should get a free pass as you didn't save for retirement and choose to be house poor. No, if anything the aid should go to a family being financially responsible. You can sell your million dollar house and get a cheaper house to pay for college. You no longer need your "good" school district if kids are in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One reason home equity is included by many private schools is that it is not fair to renters not to include it. If Family A has $500,000 in a retirement account and Family B has the same amount PLUS $1million in equity in their home they really aren't in the same financial situation. When the kids finish college and parents finish working, Family A can sell their home.The renter doesn't have this capital for retirement.

Second, in my neighborhood, a divorcing couple--especially one with an only child-- does this: high earner H gives up all rights to the family home, which is usually worth well over $2 million. He may also agree to put other assets in W's name. In exchange, he pays no alimony.

Mother's income is lower than it would be if she received alimony. Kid receives financial aid. When the kid finishes college, mom sells the family home and now has a lot of money to support herself in retirement, usually as much as she would have gotten from alimony. Dad thinks it's better for him to give his wife assets than to agree to pay alimony plus his fair share of college costs.

College financial planning advisers actually were publicly recommending this strategy.

The problem is that most schools in the top 100 will ask for father's income tax return as well.

My husband never gave his financial information to the colleges for his kids. The kids demanded he send it to them and he said no, I'll send it to the school, provide me the information and they never did. So, his wasn't used. (he also was willing to help pay for college but insisted on paying the school directly vs. the kids or ex-wife)

Its not like schools double check so they probably just lied and said he didn't pay child support or alimony which were both lies and pretended he did not exist.

As someone who's been through this process, I find it hard to believe. Most likely the kids ended up in schools that did not require your husband's info. The ones that do, go after the non-custodial parent's money like hounds; it's pretty hard to avoid.

However, your husband was absolutely right about the process. He doesn't need to give any info to the kids. They provide him login info, he creates his own account and reports the information, but the kids can't see it.

We never heard from any of the schools the kids applied to. It was very easy to find my husband so who knows what lies they told to the schools. He is very easy to find. However, with his income back then (they have graduated), they still probably would have gotten aid as he had no savings/low income.

[Anonymous]

""One reason home equity is included by many private schools is that it is not fair to renters not to include it. If Family A has $500,000 in a retirement account and Family B has the same amount PLUS $1million in equity in their home they really aren't in the same financial situation. When the kids finish college and parents finish working, Family A can sell their home. The renter doesn't have this capital for retirement."

You seem to not realize that many people own a house instead of maxing out their retirement because no matter what, they need a place to live. You can either pay a landlord or buy a house with a mortgage, in which case you might get lucky and build equity. But at least you're guaranteed that you won't get priced out with rent increases. My modest house in PG County is not going to ever have $1M in equity in this century, so let's get real. And I definitely don't have $500K sitting in a retirement account. Do you know of a cheaper place that PG County where I could live and still get to work downtown within an hour?! I'll wait for your answer.


That is their choice. You can live in cheaper housing in MoCo and get to downtown in 30 minutes - Kensington, Wheaton, Silver Spring. So, we choose to live in a cheaper house and save for retirement and college. You think because our house was $400K vs. your million dollar house you should get a free pass as you didn't save for retirement and choose to be house poor. No, if anything the aid should go to a family being financially responsible. You can sell your million dollar house and get a cheaper house to pay for college. You no longer need your "good" school district if kids are in college."

So you're saying that MoCo is less expensive than PG County? Huh. I had no idea that was the case. I also didn't know there were many houses there worth $1M, much less full paid for. I also didn't know that PG County had "good" school districts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:""One reason home equity is included by many private schools is that it is not fair to renters not to include it. If Family A has $500,000 in a retirement account and Family B has the same amount PLUS $1million in equity in their home they really aren't in the same financial situation. When the kids finish college and parents finish working, Family A can sell their home. The renter doesn't have this capital for retirement."

You seem to not realize that many people own a house instead of maxing out their retirement because no matter what, they need a place to live. You can either pay a landlord or buy a house with a mortgage, in which case you might get lucky and build equity. But at least you're guaranteed that you won't get priced out with rent increases. My modest house in PG County is not going to ever have $1M in equity in this century, so let's get real. And I definitely don't have $500K sitting in a retirement account. Do you know of a cheaper place that PG County where I could live and still get to work downtown within an hour?! I'll wait for your answer.


That is their choice. You can live in cheaper housing in MoCo and get to downtown in 30 minutes - Kensington, Wheaton, Silver Spring. So, we choose to live in a cheaper house and save for retirement and college. You think because our house was $400K vs. your million dollar house you should get a free pass as you didn't save for retirement and choose to be house poor. No, if anything the aid should go to a family being financially responsible. You can sell your million dollar house and get a cheaper house to pay for college. You no longer need your "good" school district if kids are in college."

So you're saying that MoCo is less expensive than PG County? Huh. I had no idea that was the case. I also didn't know there were many houses there worth $1M, much less full paid for. I also didn't know that PG County had "good" school districts.

In some areas, yes, it is cheaper. And PG does have some good schools and good isn't always based off test scores. If you "need" a million dollar house and justify it by "good" school district, then that's fine but stop expecting someone else to fund your child's college. The funny thing is many of our kids will end up in the same colleges and professions without growing up in an overpriced million dollar house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all choose how we spend $$. If you want to put it towards a house (car/trip/whatever) then college choices are limited to what the family can manage. There is nothing special about housing choices. If contributing to college is not a priority, it is totally fine, but don't expect the college to handle it for you.

+1
College is so expensive and financial aid so common that people forget it is a form of charity, not an entitlement.

Omg! This is so true! The sense of entitlement in this country is just breathtaking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When people on DCUM say second-tier colleges/LACs that give a big merit scholarship, in general do you mean top 100-200 colleges? Or top 50-100?

PP here. My kid's school is ranked in the 40s by USNWR.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all choose how we spend $$. If you want to put it towards a house (car/trip/whatever) then college choices are limited to what the family can manage. There is nothing special about housing choices. If contributing to college is not a priority, it is totally fine, but don't expect the college to handle it for you.

+1
College is so expensive and financial aid so common that people forget it is a form of charity, not an entitlement.

Omg! This is so true! The sense of entitlement in this country is just breathtaking.

The widespread acceptance of outrageous college tuition in this country, and people's willingness to blame parents and not the screwed-up higher education system for people's inability to bear those costs is just breathtaking.

[Anonymous]

Wow. The person who pretty much immediately turned this thread into a flame war has been trashing doughnut-hole families for at least four years every time someone asks a question about financial aid. I really can't understand why someone would do this, especially since she/he wasn't even trying to afford private colleges.

[Anonymous]

Colleges cost money. It’s that simple. If we as a nation have decided not to provide adequate government funding for universities, and the universities can’t fundraiser the money to cover operational costs, then the cost is passed on to the consumers (students and parents).
A university education/degree is not a right the US provides its citizens. If you don’t like the system, the vote to change it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all choose how we spend $$. If you want to put it towards a house (car/trip/whatever) then college choices are limited to what the family can manage. There is nothing special about housing choices. If contributing to college is not a priority, it is totally fine, but don't expect the college to handle it for you.

+1
College is so expensive and financial aid so common that people forget it is a form of charity, not an entitlement.

Omg! This is so true! The sense of entitlement in this country is just breathtaking.

The widespread acceptance of outrageous college tuition in this country, and people's willingness to blame parents and not the screwed-up higher education system for people's inability to bear those costs is just breathtaking.

Not all schools are outrageous. 2 years of community college followed by 2 years in-state is still quite affordable. The problem is the DCUM class wants their kids to go to the most highly rated college the kid gets into. That’s not the deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We all choose how we spend $$. If you want to put it towards a house (car/trip/whatever) then college choices are limited to what the family can manage. There is nothing special about housing choices. If contributing to college is not a priority, it is totally fine, but don't expect the college to handle it for you.

+1
College is so expensive and financial aid so common that people forget it is a form of charity, not an entitlement.

I dont think its charity. Anyone go to the car dealer and expect/request to pay MSRP because you make a lot of money? Tesla doesn't need to lower prices to make a sale. Chevrolet does. Supply and demand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Colleges cost money. It’s that simple. If we as a nation have decided not to provide adequate government funding for universities, and the universities can’t fundraiser the money to cover operational costs, then the cost is passed on to the consumers (students and parents).
A university education/degree is not a right the US provides its citizens. If you don’t like the system, the vote to change it.

Right, and the result is that only consumers who can afford this luxury good will purchase it, and resulting in turn in a small educated minority and a large uneducated majority.

Is that what we want, as a society?

RE voting to change it: Uh uh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges cost money. It’s that simple. If we as a nation have decided not to provide adequate government funding for universities, and the universities can’t fundraiser the money to cover operational costs, then the cost is passed on to the consumers (students and parents).
A university education/degree is not a right the US provides its citizens. If you don’t like the system, the vote to change it.

Right, and the result is that only consumers who can afford this luxury good will purchase it, and resulting in turn in a small educated minority and a large uneducated majority.

Is that what we want, as a society?

RE voting to change it: Uh uh.

That's not true. Community College and need based financial aid is intended to bridge that gap .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges cost money. It’s that simple. If we as a nation have decided not to provide adequate government funding for universities, and the universities can’t fundraiser the money to cover operational costs, then the cost is passed on to the consumers (students and parents).
A university education/degree is not a right the US provides its citizens. If you don’t like the system, the vote to change it.

Right, and the result is that only consumers who can afford this luxury good will purchase it, and resulting in turn in a small educated minority and a large uneducated majority.

Is that what we want, as a society?

RE voting to change it: Uh uh.

That's not true. Community College and need based financial aid is intended to bridge that gap .

community college funding has already been removed from the bill. Need based financial aid is loans at most schools and includes loans with high interest rates and parent loans. The feds could easily cap tuition at any school that uses FAFSA and accepts ferderally backed student loans. The democrats have promised to do something about rising tuition for years now and have done exactly nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Colleges cost money. It’s that simple. If we as a nation have decided not to provide adequate government funding for universities, and the universities can’t fundraiser the money to cover operational costs, then the cost is passed on to the consumers (students and parents).
A university education/degree is not a right the US provides its citizens. If you don’t like the system, the vote to change it.

Right, and the result is that only consumers who can afford this luxury good will purchase it, and resulting in turn in a small educated minority and a large uneducated majority.

Is that what we want, as a society?

RE voting to change it: Uh uh.

That's not true. Community College and need based financial aid is intended to bridge that gap .

The initial Government supported Financial aid (Pell grant) was instead to bridge the gap; but this hasn’t adjusted to the inflation that college tuition has seen; therefore, it’s not really effective at addressing the problem for which it was created.