It’s not useful. If I run the CB-based one for my kid’s school as married and divorced, the only difference is that an additional box appears asking for income for parent 2 if we’re married. (If it can derive that # in a divorced situation I can’t imagine why they can’t derive it from a married situation).
So let’s say parent 1 makes 25K per year and parent 2 makes 60K.
The total work income is 85K regardless.
As married, I put 85k total, then 25k for 1 and 60k for 2.
As divorced, I put 85k total, then 25k for 1 only.
Leaving everything else the same, it actually returns a higher net price for the divorced couple (about 25% higher in this example, 16k vs 12k). It also asks how much the NCP will pay but the net price doesn’t change based on the answer (I tried 0, 5k and 50k). What’s the point of THAT?
Since I did run this NPC last year and did get an actual FA package, I can say the actual numbers were very different.
…and yeah, remarried is a whole other level of NPC-is-worthless.
The net price calculator is not going to be accurate in your situation.
If you are renting out your home and not actually living there it is not your primary residence. In either case you must list put the rent collected each month as income on the fafsa and all other financial aid forms.
If this is not your primary residence, then you must also list it as an asset on both the fafsa and all other financial aid forms.t
I think he means that they are paying rent for their primary residence, not that they own a home that they are renting out to others and living elsewhere.
^ I agree. I read it as they rent the home they live in.
“I will mention that my parents DON’T have equity in a home, or real estate/businesses/substantial savings.”
The OP could have been more direct, instead of writing a roundabout declaration of what they dont have or own- a home or business.
i.e.they rent.
Sorry for not clarifying…we rent the home we live in. As in, we signed a lease to live here.
USC’s NPC has a glitch. Doesn’t work for 2+ in college/will show the same results as 1.
^^You may be right that it doesn’t work, but it may also be that having a second in college doesn’t change the results. If the student is getting the maximum aid, having 2 or 3 in college may not matter. Once you get the most you can get in aid from USC, there may be no more.
EFC [ estimated FAMILY contribution] is based on what the FAMILY can afford to pay each year, regardless of how many kids there are in college.
@twoinanddone I did receive more aid this year with 2 in college, and had a similar EFC to the OP. Neither of us is eligible for full COA = aid, so I don’t think that applies…
OP, I received about ~3.5k more in gift aid when my sibling entered college. Each circumstance is different, but just trying to give you an estimate that the calculator can’t. For an EFC of $7-8k, it was close enough to “0.6 * EFC” for 2 in college.