Look I know there’s 8000 of this same thread but everyone’s situation is different. I’m really interested in USC and I the financial aid calculator a while ago to see what it would say and it gave me a pretty manageable number. It gave me an estimate of about 43k or so in gift aid. We had a FAFSA EFC of about 7500 last time I checked…and usually when running my numbers through the CSS my EFC about double that… so with an estimate 43k in grants and 60k COA thats a little over double so it all definitely adds up. I will mention that my parents don’t have equity in a home(we rent our home so I guess i’m lucky they can’t ask me to tap into our equity) or real estate/businesses/substantial savings. Our situation is as simple as it can get really. I’ve even ran our numbers in other schools that use the same methodology/have similar COA and the estimations were about the same. Some people seem to say these things are pretty accurate when comparing what their actual aid package is, and some people get a package that is way off. What have your experiences been with it?
Yes, if your financial situation is pretty simple and you entered the info correctly, it is probably pretty accurate. Keep track of all the FA dates from the website of each college you apply to, as what they want and when they want it can vary.
They are usually, UNLESS it is a Profile college, who usually require much more financial information, OR if your family has a farm, OR if your parents are self employed, OR if there is any additional income that comes from [unbreakable] trusts.
Ours was accurate- within $50. Our kid attends a school which required both the fafsa and profile.
We had no issues with Profile colleges. They did generally ask more questions in their calculators. FYI, my D2 has a trust that cannot be distributed before age 25 per the terms of the trust (from an estate). Her college took that trust out of consideration once they understood the terms. It isn’t a very large trust, but they upped her FA once the terms of the trust were explained. I would think a revocable trust might get a different reaction, though.
I think the removal of trusts from consideration varies by college.
Agree. But it is worth asking for a review if the trust terms state that it is not available for distribution, and the intent does not appear to be taking money off the table for college. In this case it is a testementary trust where all underage heirs have the 25 year old stipulation, and my kid’s portion is small (under $25K).
Nope…no farms or parents that are self employed or any substantial assets…unless they’re hiding something from me lol. I also hear some profile schools ask how much you have in checking/ savings which is understandable I guess, but wouldn’t it just be easier to put some low number so they don’t expect you to contribute as much or do they ask for a current bank statement? Also, say I did go to USC, lived off campus and my income went up a lot more(this would be due to the fact that the company I work for would pay me more in LA than where I live now)… would they consider the fact that I am an off campus student living in a city with a high cost of living for the next year’s financial aid…or do they just not care?
The FAFSA and the Profile ask for the balances in your bank accounts as of the date you file the forms.
No…you don’t put a lower number…that is called fraud. You put the actual number that you have…and it doesn’t have to be in your bank account…if you stuff your mattress, or keep all of your savings in a cookie jar, that has to be reported.
Your cost of living residence is a choice. The school will.not consider that.
With regard to your higher earnings…the 2016-2017 forms will use your 2015 tax year income. So will the 2017-2018 FAFSA. The following year…2018-2019…your increased income from the 2016 tax year will be used on those form.
Ok… i just found it interesting that they asked that knowing some people would lie…was just wondering how they went about that. Thanks for your help!
USC knows how much it costs to live in the area. If your income/locality pay goes up, it will be reflected in your next financial aid applications. If you are making a big enough salary to make locality pay make a big difference, you may not qualify for need based aid anyway.
Does anyone have experience with a net price calculator (specifically USC) being higher than their actual cost was? I’m middle class, but I have two other siblings in college, a parent going back to school, very high medical costs, a parent who is sixty-one, and we are still paying off the house and (parent’s) student debt. My sister was accepted to the University of Richmond (also uses the CSS profile) a while back and received an extremely generous grant package. How does USC fare in comparison?
Run the NPC on USC’s web site and see what it says.
@pterosprite I’ve noticed that sometimes colleges only ask something along the lines of “how many people in your household will be in college next year (only include siblings. do not include siblings in graduate school or parents)”. However, if you were to get a package from USC and you felt there was more info they needed to know you could always appeal. From what I’ve heard they seem to be understanding of people in complex situations like your own. It would definitely be worth it if you get a financial aid package that is just not manageable at all, considering you have a parent nearing the age of retirement, four people in one household attending college, debt/high medical bills. I could be wrong but I think medical costs can be considered income losses which the profile does ask. When there are siblings in college, the EFC is split too. I think you should run your numbers in the calculator. I was pleased with the numbers I received from USC’s calculator because I felt it was fair for me. Hope my real FA package is just as good and yours is too.
Run the NPC for each for your situation to compare no one can say what they will consider. You may also get a better offer than the NPC. But the CSS profile is meant to show the full financial picture/strength of your family. House payment and debt payments are not really considered but unusual medical expenses can be. The parent age is considered in the federal income and asset protections but those were lowered this year.
Not just CSS but FSFSA asks for bank balance and yes they can ask for proof, may students have to go through a detailed verification process. Putting an lower balance than you have is federal fraud.
Remember, if your parents are divorced, and the school uses the CSS Profile form (and does not specifically state that it excludes the non-custodial parent), then you must include both parents’ income and assets when using the net price calculator.
That doesn’t work at all. Colleges vary significantly in how they treat NCP income, nd I suspect they vary from student to student in that respect too, though I can’t know. But as a divorced parent I can say that the amount they expected my kids’ NCP to pay varied by a LOT from school to school and the NPCs didn’t predict those differences AT ALL.
Some NPCs suggest running it twice with each parent’s income/assets and adding the two but that’s not accurate, the combination of income/assets as if still married isn’t accurate either.
They really do not work well with divorced parents. IMO they should be designed so that divorced parent 1’s info and divorced parent 2’s info are inputted separately into one calculator. It doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult to do and that would make the NPCs functional for the large number of students from divorced families using them.
Some NPCs do explicitly ask if the parents are divorced – why wouldn’t these be more accurate?
If someone with divorced parents includes both parents’ income and assets (including that of new spouses if remarried) in the NPC run, will the estimate be pessimal (i.e. the actual offer is unlikely to be worse than that estimate) if there are no other complicating factors like small business, real estate, farm, etc. income? I.e. will any surprised be of the pleasant variety rather than the unpleasant variety?
Do you have a link to an NPC that takes each divorced parent’s info? I’d love to see one, none of D’s last year offered that option. They asked if divorced or not, but offered no other guidance other than something like Columbia U (which suggested filling it in separately for each parent). Her offers were all over the place but most clearly weighted my income more heavily than her father’s. If the NPC just asks for both incomes together, without differentiating between the NCP and the CP, the results in the end will likely be different.
If the NPC results are too pessimistic, one might cross the school off the list without applying. If they’re inaccurate, they aren’t very helpful, even if the surprise in April is a good one.
The College Board NPCs that many colleges use ask if the parents are divorced and ask for the parents’ income and the work earnings of parent 1. Looks like they can indirectly derive the work earnings of parent 2 from the information asked for. (Looks like they could be more clear in stating whether parent 1 is the custodial or non-custodial parent, and what to do if either parent is remarried.)