<p>Some people reading this thread may find this long publication of interest: </p>
<p>I make about $120K and we filed an FAFSA last year. EFC was way over what any college charges. I didn't bother filing one this year. Our son got a merit scholarship for next year due to his grades this year.</p>
<p>Most of the people where I work told me to forget about any financial aid. They were certainly correct. My wife has never worked outside the home so what I make is what we make.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>In his opinion having an AGI of $160K will provide much more FA than having AGI > $200K.>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>Ah but having an income that is $40,000 more will PAY for your child's college education. And as others have pointed out...your likelihood of getting need based aid with either of the above incomes is small as your EFC will exceed the cost of attendance at most schools.</p>
<p>Those few schools who are awarding financial aid to students with incomes in the $150,000 range (I haven't heard of any that award need based aid for higher than that)...are HIGHLY competitive schools accepting about 10% of those who apply (translation...about 90% do not get accepted). The first and biggest hurdle is getting accepted.</p>
<p>With an income of even $160,000 per year, why does your husband feel he should be awarded need based aid? This income is over 3 times the average annual income for a family of four in this country.</p>
<p>ArpMom, wait a minute... you can make at least $36,000 teaching. Worst case tax scenerio you loose 39%, so you still add to your household by $22,000. Run the calculators but chances are small that you will reduce your EFC by anywhere near that amount.<br>
You may be hearing that "lots of people do..." whatever it is that you want to try to hide assets or income. If lots of people do it, the colleges have probably learned. I was surprised by how much more detailed the Profile and school's own forms have become since the first time we did this.</p>