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approx. 100000 a year for 4 members of family...

no siblings in college

many accounts with money saved up ( around 450k, i think)

do u think i can still get some aid, at first glance???


note: that's one person making the 100k, does that make a difference???

By Thumper1 (Thumper1) on Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 10:37 am: Edit

When the time comes you will need to fill out the FAFSA form which determines need based aid. Someone else here can point you in the right direction...but I believe there is a FAFSA calculator you can use to estimate what the FAFSA would calculate. However, filling out the real FAFSA is the only way to know for sure. Also, some colleges require the CSS Profile form when determining need based aid. Re: income...it doesn't matter how many people earn your family's income...it's the total income that is considered.

By Altf4 (Altf4) on Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 12:34 pm: Edit

i know the FAFSA thing that we would have to do...

i just wanted to know ppl's opinion, at first glance, whether we would receive a decent amount of aid by the prelim. stats.

By Glamourbaby19 (Glamourbaby19) on Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 03:01 pm: Edit

well, just for comparison: both my parents work, earning a combined gross of about $100,000. I will be the first in college (my sister will follow in two years). We have no assets or liquid cash. Our FAFSA EFC was $24,000. From one school, I got $11,000 need-based grant, $2000 work/study, and $6000 loans (between my parents and myself). I think it was either Jamimom or Northstarmom that said that the FAFSA EFC was rougly 25% to 30% of parents' salary, plus 5% assets. It really depends where you are thinking about going. Lots of schools offer merit-based aid as well as need-based, but many school also do not meet 100% of need.

By Thumper1 (Thumper1) on Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 03:05 pm: Edit

If you want an opinion, I'll give it. You say your family has $450,000 in savings. If that is the case and this is not retirement money in your parent's names...it is unlikely that you will qualify for need based aid. Our adjusted gross income last year was about $100000 and we didn't have 10% of that in savings. Our EFC was $39,000 and DS didn't qualify for a nickel of need based aid.

By Altf4 (Altf4) on Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 04:30 pm: Edit

it's like close to 500k (new checkup), and that's the total of all the money in the world to our family i think, counting checkings, savings, money in other countries' banks..not counting extended family., in that sense, that total, i'm really not sure how much is going to retirement plans and stuff and how much is strictly savings...

i think i'll go public, maybe UC's if i get in, so that way, i can get a CAR!!!yeah!


***i believe we have to report our assets, all of it, does that count the value of the house???***

By Thumper1 (Thumper1) on Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 04:43 pm: Edit

In the thread "how much aid would I qualify for roughly?" someone posted the web address for the finaid calculator. Try that to figure out an estimate of finaid. To be honest, $450,000 in savings is quite a lot and could be tapped for college expenses. However, if that money is in retirement accounts such as 401K's or TSA, or IRA's that would be different as money already in those types of accounts are not considered. However, any annual contributions to such funds the year of your FAFSA filing would be considered as part of your family's income for that year. Also...the FAFSA does not take home equity into consideration. The CSS Profile does. Many schools also have forms of their own which look at other consumer debt and assets. We filled out one for a school where we listed our home values, and all of our cars, for example. I will say that if your family can afford to buy you a car, you are very fortunate. Families that qualify for need based aid are usually not in the situation where they are buying cars for dependent children. Some of those families can barely afford used cars for the adults in the households. Another thought...you really should be discussing your family's financial situation with your parents so that you will know how much they are willing to contribute to your college education. From what you have posted so far, that may be much more important in the long run than what need based aid you will qualify for.

By Cnquerern (Cnquerern) on Sunday, April 18, 2004 - 12:01 pm: Edit

Personally, I doubt you will get any aid, beyond a small loan ($1-2K): your investment assets are too high, and private colleges hammer you for such money. I don’t know too much about state institutions, but I hear they usually “gap” as well.

Williams, a small elite LAC, has a financial aid calculator that you may want to check out. The reason I suggest Williams is that it is part of the 568 group, which includes about 30 of the nation's best private schools who are seeking to standardize the way they give aid. (They are schools like Duke, Rice, half of the Ivies, etc.)

Williams’ calculator is also quite thorough, though it won't allow a place for special circumstances. If those were the type of colleges you were interested in, I would investigate it.