<p>My parents have $800,000 saved in assets, which they will not touch except: </p>
<p>1) in case of emergency
2) for retirement
3) to pay expenses for family business</p>
<p>In other words, no college money. </p>
<p>The family business is doing badly, and we are taking out enough money to pay basic expenses (no vacations or new cars or anything).</p>
<p>But on financial aid forms, it looks like we have nearly a million dollars just sitting around, waiting to be used to pay tuition. I got into an Ivy League last year, but ended up going to a state school because the Ivy wouldn't give me any financial aid.</p>
<p>I'm applying for a transfer this year, but I'm worried our assets are going to keep me from going, even if I am lucky enough to get in. What do I do? Is there any way to legally make it look like we have less money or something?</p>
<p>Well, you can wait until you’re 24 and considered independent. Your parent’s assets will not be considered then. Other than that, having parents who can fund their dependent student’s education, but simply choose not to, is not a reason for colleges to consider you for need-based aid. I’m sure your stats were high enough for you to garner significant merit aid at many schools…did you pursue that route at all?</p>
<p>Your parents would be expected to give 5.6% or so of their $800,000 for one year of your college costs. That is $44,800. There would STILL be $755200 in their account and that is assuming that the account earns NO interest.</p>
<p>If you are attending an instate public university, your costs are likely more in the $30K range. I’m sorry…but with $800,000 in non-retirement savings accounts, you will not get need based financial aid at many places.</p>
<p>How are you paying for your state school? how much are those costs?</p>
<p>There’s no way to avoid those assets unless you wait til you’re 24.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter that your family is using that money to make ends meet while business is bad. Your parents have enough to do that AND pay for college. If business doesn’t pick up, then your family will have to do what everyone else does, do something else for a living.</p>
<p>LitGuy: if colleges saw the world that way, I wouldn’t have a problem, since I don’t make much money and I’d get a lot of financial aid. But they don’t. They see my parents money as my money. That’s the problem. And saving up while working as an usher at a movie theater is not going to earn me $200,000. Think before you insult, it’ll make you look less idiotic.</p>
<p>Unless you pursue merit aid, I don’t think you’re going to find a college with more generous need-based policies than some of the ivies have. You’re not “screwed”, as there are other good choices, but you will have to adjust your plans.</p>
<p>What type of state university are you attending? Looks like your stuck there, if you plan to attend graduate school see if your parents will continue to help.</p>
<p>If you can manage to get a Plus loan and your parents are sure to be in a better financial situation where they can pay it off before it’s due, look into… though not sure if it could be worth the price.</p>
That is how the financial aid process works for everybody until they reach a certain age (24). Until then a student is considered a dependent of their parents for FA purposes. No school is going to ignore $800,000 in assets just because your parents don’t want to spend any of it on your education.</p>
<p>If your parents don’t want to contribute to your education that iis unfortunate for you. The good thing is that if you have the stats to get into a school that would cost $200k, you should have been eligible for some good merit aid at other schools. Hopefully that is the case at the school you are in now. You probably still won’t qualify for need based aid. Unfortunately most schools do not offer good merit aid for transfer students. Usually the high merit aid is to attract freshmen. So if you have merit aid where you are now, it is unlikely that you will be able to match that elsewhere as a transfer.</p>
<p>Unfortunate that your parents aren’t doing more for you with their assets…Not going to question their believe of having a ‘reserve’ for unforeseen emergencies/retirement
BUT they have much more then many parents who struggle to pay for college for their children
.</p>
<p>This student is already in college, so merit aid is going to be harder to get. </p>
<p>It’s unfortunate because this kid had ivy stats and therefore could have gotten huge merit offers last year if he/she had applied to some of those schools. </p>
<p>Since this student was accepted to an ivy last year and rec’d no aid, then it’s very likely what he/she is saying is correct…and the money isn’t in some kind of protected retirement acct. And, since the parents are scared that they will need the money to live on, that also strongly suggests that the money isn’t in a protected retirement acct.</p>
<p>Aranyria…how much are your parents paying now for all of your state school costs? If they are paying $20k per year or so, then you might be able to transfer somewhere that gives merit for transfer students. however, look into that because some schools only give transfer money to CC transfers…so you might have to go to a CC now and then transfer.</p>
<p>I believe schools like Smith give aid to transfers. There are others that do so as well. BUIT this is need based aid…and this student doesn’t qualify for need based aid.</p>
<p>As another poster mentioned, whatever portion of the assets are in a qualified retirement account won’t be counted under FAFSA. Also, you mentioned that your parents own a family business. FAFSA is very kind to small business owners. The assets of many family businesses are not counted if there are fewer than 100 employees and it is owned by family members. Did you include business assets in that $800,000? </p>
<p>Profile colleges generally do look at small business assets, though.</p>
<p>If the business is doing very badly, and the living funds are just coming out of savings AND the earnings on the funds are earning relatively low rates of return – might the family qualify for the simplified needs tests? Money market funds may only be earning 1-2% at the moment, so even with 800K in assets, earnings on those assets could pretty reasonably be in the under $20K range.</p>
<p>Probably not. It is unlikely they are eligible to file a 1040a or 1040ez or meet any of the other criteria (such as receiving means tested benefits) for being eligible for simplified needs.</p>
<p>In addition, AGI would have to be under $50k per year.</p>
<p>I don’t see any way this student would get any need based aid, plain and simple. You need to understand that reality and work within it. Your options are a low cost public school, a private that offers transfer merit money (assuming it’s guaranteed), and borrowing a bunch of money (not a good idea).</p>
<p>“Is there any way to legally make it look like we have less money or something?” No, because you DO have the money. Need based aid is for those who do not have money available to them.</p>