<p>I was using the college board's EFC calculator and found my parents contribution, alone, to be around 4500 dollars. Yet, I'm from a family of 6, with my sister in college and a gross income just barely above 30K. How is it that my parents are expected to contribute so much. I know that this is just an estimation of the college board, but will this be the case for private colleges that meet full demonstrate need?</p>
<p>It can't be that high just based on $30,000 income. Do you have assets or income in your name? Students income is hit at 50% of anything over $3000 and 20% of assets. Also parents assets are hit at 5.6%. Could that be the reason? If not perhaps there is an error in the figures entered? Run the figures through the finaid calculator and double check you are entering all the information correctly.</p>
<p>Does owning the house that we live in count as an asset? If so, it seems rather unjust, because our parents have a large home equity because they got a good offer when they bought the house, but don't intend on selling it or anything of the sort. This was their dream house, and I don't see why their hard work in getting the house would be punished with such a high parental contribution.</p>
<p>For FAFSA the house you live in does not count as an asset and you do not include it as such. However if you are applying to schools that ask for profile they do consider your house.</p>
<p>So, if the Profile requests it, will all colleges take it into consideration, or only some? do you by any chance know the policy of Occidental or Pitzer?</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot: thanks for your response.</p>
<p>I'm sorry I don't know the policies of any individual schools. Our school only requires FAFSA so i am more familiar with that. Good luck.</p>
<p>When you file FAFSA- be sure to note that there will be 2 students in college.
Both Occidental and Pitzer require PROFILE as well- which identifies home equity.
Did you use the calculations for institutional aid?
IF you did, that would take into account the equity & parents are expected to borrow against that for college.
EFC, is not to be met out of income, it is met out of income, savings, and future earnings ( loans).
I believe both Oxy and Pitzer meet 100% of need.
However, this need will be met by grants, loans and work study.
Pitzer in particular has a reputation for using loans.
60% of grads have debt and average is $20,900.
by contrast Pomona has 53% of grads with debt and average amount is $11,225.
Claremont McKenna the average amount is even lower ( from US NEWS)
So you can see schools vary, and depending on their solvency and how much they want you, you may get more grants and fewer loans.
If your parents qualify for the simplified need test and can file the 1040A simple form, that is a better deal for aid.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Simplified Needs Test
If the parents have an adjusted gross income of less than $50,000 and every family member was eligible to file an IRS Form 1040A or 1040EZ (or wasn't required to file a Federal income tax return), the Federal Methodology ignores assets when computing the EFC. If you filed a 1040 but weren't required to do so, you may be eligible for the simplified needs test. Details on the eligibility requirements appear on the Simplified Needs Test Chart. (Please note that starting in 2004, the AGI threshold for IRS Form 1040A and IRS Form 1040EZ changed from $50,000 to $100,000. Nevertheless, a threshold of $50,000 is still used for the simplified needs test.)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The reason schools use PROFILE is that it personalizes questions according to the school you are submitting it to. Though most of these schools do take home equity into consideration, they have different rules as to how much and how to count it. In other words, it depends on the school, as so much will depend on the school as to what you actually get. </p>
<p>Your FAFSA EFC does not look right to me, etiher. You need to carefully go over it and see where you made a mistake., maybe work backwards on it.</p>