<ul>
<li>Household income: $90,000 </li>
<li>House value is $420,000 </li>
<li>Have one sister in elementary school</li>
<li>Household of 4 people (grandparents will be coming soon so 6 I guess)</li>
<li>Live in NJ</li>
</ul>
<p>These are colleges that I will be applying to:
- Drexel University
- Rutgers University (New Brunswick)
- The College of New Jersey
- Stevens Institute of Technology (Private)
- Georgia Tech
- NJIT
- RPI</p>
<p>So my mom just started a job so I'm not sure if that will count for last years tax stuff. I guess you can add about 17K to the household income.</p>
<p>None of those schools meet full need, so the amount of aid you might get is highly variable. How much can your parents afford to contribute? Do you have competitive stats that might earn merit aid?</p>
<p>Your family income is high enough that just about all schools will expect a significant parental contribution.</p>
<p>This plus your mom’s $17K (assuming that is what she earns in 2011) will be the incomes considered for need based financial aid. You will not qualify for any need based FEDERALLY funded aid. And with a family income of $100K per year, you will not likely be eligible for institutional need based aid at the schools you listed.</p>
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<p>For schools that use the FAFSA only (and some on your list only use the FAFSA) your primary residence isn’t even mentioned. For schools that use the Profile OR a school form (some of your schools do this), the EQUITY in your home is what will be noted…not what your house cost. It would be the value of the house minus the outstanding mortgage. AND schools use varying %ages of home equity in the financial aid formula ranging from none to all.</p>
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<p>This will only matter in that your sister is counted as a member of your household.</p>
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<p>The only ones you can count as “members of your household” for financial aid purposes, are those your parents are providing more than 1/2 of financial support. If your grandparents receive social security or a pension…it is highly unlikely that they are dependents of your parents…and while they might LIVE with you…they would not count for financial aid purposes, I don’t believe.</p>
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<p>The OOS public universities on your list will most likely be very costly to you.</p>
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<p>None of these schools guarantee to meet full need. Are your SAT/GPA sufficiently high that you might be eligible for some merit aid? Your instate public universities might be your best “bargain” but I don’t see you getting need based aid from them with a family income in the $100K range.</p>
<p>RPI is a private school too!</p>
<p>Have you discussed college finances with your parents? It would be good for you to know how much they are able/willing to pay each year for your college education.</p>