College Financial Aid

Keller Dad: Went through this with our daughter at USC, and also have a Senior baseball player like you. First, the counselor is correct - they will take any trust fund for your kid, then look at your savings (but not your house or car) HOWEVER, there are ways to "shelter" this money. You MUST go see a CPA now is adept in this area. Make sure you look at the FAFSA website also. Hope it works out.

KD - pm.

KD - edited pm at ~ 5:00 p.m. Re-read it if you have already checked it.

KellerDad, I will tell you myexperience with the fafsa for this year. And the nuts and bolts of it is that with an adjusted gross income of $32255 w/4 exemptions claimed, results in an Expected Family Contribution of 1506. No financial aid.

I know each school can do with this EFC what they want, but from what I have been able to find out it is almost always in the range of "you make enough money to pay for your kid to go to college without the help of the federal government".

You may not be as close to the borderline as you think. I like that Jiffy mix cornbread the best.

You can afford cornbread?
I'm living off my Fat reserve's.

Let's all start a Club, (The I'm in Debt Club).
Know problem with Recruiting that I see. EH

The first thing you do is get hold of the book "Financial Aid for Dummies". Then you go onto finaid.com. Finaid has a calculator where you plug numbers from your tax return and your assets. Play with the numbers to see if there are changes you can make. Many schools (most public)only use the Federal Methodology. I believe that it has a $40,000 asset allowance that is sheltered.That does not count your house as an asset. Some schools have their own forms that you have to fill out that do not leave much out of the picture. Every school is different. Just apply and see what they come up with. Some schools (Dartmouth was one) have a financial aid calculator on their web-site! Sometimes coaches, if they aren't offering you a full ride, can get a financial aid read for you.

My husband is self-employed (this can work for or against you) and I'm an accountant.We have 4 sons. Our oldest (23yo) was a football player. He had a couple of offers from D-1 schools. All football offers are full-ride, not including personal items and transportation. The Ivy's came calling. Ivy's are non-scholarship. The coaches asked us to turn in the paperwork and they would see what they could come up with. He ended up at Columbia. Their aid is figured by taking the total budget for one year, subtract the EFC, subtract subsidized loans (stafford and perkins), subtract work-study, subtract $1500-$2000 for summer job income, and the rest was a grant. Our EFC was $2500/year (cheaper than keeping a lineman at home) and son would graduate with about $25,000 in student loans and a degree from Columbia.

Son #2 is a 3rd year baseball player/engineering major at USD (a catholic college). We just TODAY got his aid package for this year! Thankfully his scholarship money has stayed the same. Nothing else has. I have yet to figure out where their numbers come from. Last year tuition went up and grants went up to match. This year tuition went up another $1800. His grants went down $1400, loans went up $3000. I have no idea what they do with the EFC!

Son #3 is a HS Senior this year. He's decided to go to a JC to start. Thank you Lord!!

Son #4 is 12yo. I'm getting a offensive lineman deja vu feeling. The football full-ride is looking very good.

quote:

Originally posted by theEH:
You can afford cornbread?
I'm living off my Fat reserve's.

Let's all start a Club, (The I'm in Debt Club).
Know problem with Recruiting that I see. EH

We're in!

"Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me?"

_ _ _ _ _ _ must be the E H!

Keller Dad,

I shouldn't answer your question because I am not one of the smart people here. However, I do have some experience with financial aid. Sometimes it pays to be poor!

There are two financial aid reports: the FAFSA-- the federal one, and the CSS/Financial Aid Profile--from the College Board. The CSS/Financial Aid profile is much more in-depth than the FAFSA. They take into consideration all of your assets--including equity in your home. FAFSA does not. Financial aid also is determined based on the number of people in your family and their ages, and any other college students, medical expenses not reimbursed, etc.

My experience is that colleges want you to spend some of your money, but not all of it.

The FAFSA is required for just about all college financial aid awards. Your income tax return from the prior year is required to complete it. Not all colleges require the College Board one, it seems like the "highly selective" schools do. Colleges have their own financial aid resources, and if you have a "hardship" that is not reportable or if it has just occurred, they may subtract from whatever the FAFSA states is your "estimated family contribution". Hardship could include medical issues, loss of job, etc. My experience is that the colleges are willing to work through the hardship.

Hope this helps. Feel free to pm me if I can help confuse you more...by the way, the former governor is in the news again....

quote:

Originally posted by MOM X 4:
I believe that it has a $40,000 asset allowance that is sheltered.That does not count your house as an asset.

This sounds about right but I was think the number was more of a variable based on the EFC....no?