<p>I'm age 55, so this 20k supposedly isn't factored in for Aid, but if Financial sees it from FAFSA will he therefore give my child more loans instead of grants even if Expected Family Contribution(EFC) stays the same. I'm in the 80k salary range, so not poor, but my newest car is a 2001 Chrysler minivan with 90k miles. Now I don't want to be wasteful so I'm going to keep driving it. But as we know, all things mechanical do break down, which will probably be the days I send in FAFSA. Should I buy a new car now? Does it affect my aid at all...thanks</p>
<p>P.S. We're looking at public and Private college in Ohio, which only use FAFSA, no additional forms...</p>
<p>Additional info… My EFC is between 14-15K, so I could buy a used car if something happened, but we’re looking at schools where general cost is between 28K -42K. The money would not last long at that rate depending on financial aid. I think I can swing it, but would not leave any cushion for emergencies. The one child is a senior, and I have a junior right behind #1 child.</p>
<p>What schools did your child apply to? That may make the difference. </p>
<p>Your child applied to FAFSA-only schools. That may be a problem because many don’t meet need anyway (regardless of the $20k in the bank). State schools don’t typically meet need (except UVA and UNC). </p>
<p>$20k in the bank isn’t an outrageous amount, so if it’s already been part of the EFC equation, then I don’t think FA offices are going to change their aid based on that. More likely, they aren’t going to give much because they are FAFSA only schools (which often means that they don’t have much to give.)</p>
<p>I hope none of these schools are out-of-state publics. What schools did she apply to?</p>
<p>If you already submitted FAFSA, then the $20k is there.</p>
<p>If you’re the older parent and your age is 55, you will have an asset protection allowance of around $63,000. That means the first $63,000 of assets (cash and other investments excluding IRAs and 401k accounts) will be excluded from your EFC calculation. If your total assets are $20K, then they would not be factored into your EFC. Better to save it for emergencies than to buy a new car.</p>
<p>We’ve applied to Miami(Oxford,Oh), Bowling Green, Kent State, Muskingum, Ashland, University of Dayton, Wittenberg, Marietta. In Ohio, it seems from looking at the Peterson’s financial aid info that the private college just bring down their cost to meet state cost unless you have an Einstein, which I do not. She has an ACT of 23 and a GPA of 3.61. My question is 'Does the FAO see the 20k from the FAFSA or do they just have a summary that says I have zero amount above asset protection amount to be used for college?</p>
<p>Since these are FAFSA only schools, I think they are only concerned with the EFC amount. I don’t know if they see your asset details, I’m suspecting that they may not (but that’s just a guess.)</p>
<p>I know that you’re worried that they’re going to see that you have $20k in savings and expect you to spend it. You’re worried that they will give loans because of it. </p>
<p>I can pretty much tell you that they’re going to put loans in the FA package regardless. Those schools don’t have deep pockets to be able to not give loans. As you mentioned, your D’s stats aren’t high enough for merit. They’re also not high enough as an incentive for a college to give her more grants. A 23 ACT is about the 70th percentile, so that’s not high enough to encourage a great aid package. </p>
<p>I’m not even sure that the privates will bring the cost down to publics.</p>
<p>Your EFC is a bit low for your income. I’m surprised at that. Is that an estimate or is that from SAR. With an $80k income, I would expect your EFC to be about $18-20k.</p>
<p>Since you will have 2 in school very soon, I would advise against any school that would require you to take out Plus loans. You may find yourself over-extended in the future when trying to borrow for 2 kids at the same time.</p>
<p>If you can’t afford to pay for the entire cost to go to one of the publics, did your D apply to any schools where she can commute to?</p>
<p>Can you afford your EFC?</p>