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But the only real solution that worked for me, once I had exceeded the self-help amount in scholarships, was explaining the situation to people and asking for the check to be made out to me personally, rather than the college. This usually only works with local groups or people that you know, but it's worth a try.
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<p>This only works if the "people you know" are prepared to lie about the scholarships. While there won't be any penalties for them, the same won't be true for a student who fails to disclose ALL financial aid and lies on his or her financial aid applications. </p>
<p>The situation is extremely clear: all scholarships and outside funding need to be reported. The fact that a check is made out directly to a student is totally irrelevant. The student still needs to report it. Not doing so, is a bit more than immoral!</p>
<p>As far as reducing college grants, it's good to remember that a tenet of finaid is that the total of your EFC and aid can never exceed the total COA and that outside scholarships can never reduce your EFC if there are need-based federal or private grants offered. Only in the case of full merit (non-need based) can an additional scholarship reduce the EFC.</p>
<p>A bigger problem is that they look at your FAFSA and expect your parents to take out a second mortgage...or presume the bank will increase an existing second mortgage, or that you should liquidate assets in the stock market. But they dont figure in the capital gains taxes. Further, if you have 2 or 3 kids behind the one going to college it often falls on deaf ears. Oh, they mouth the words, "we have figured all of that into the equation." Meanwhile they sit on huge endowments..and I am not just talking about Ivy League Schools. Its not an entitlement to be sure and yes, most kids could go to the local/regional state school a heck of a lot cheaper, but its discouraging how FA works sometimes. Middle class families just get hammered. The rich dont care and simply write the checks (often their hook for admission anyway) and the folks with family income below 60k have money thrown at them. But those in the quagmire of 75k to 150k a year get hammered. And if you think 150k a year is a lot, consider the tax bracket, insurance expenses, etc. and that there are more kids in the family wanting to go to college. Its like they expect you to spend it all on child number one and that is simply not fair. </p>
<p>Colleges are struggling with increasing salaries, power expenses, and normal medical expense increases. But their tuitions have doubled in the last four to five years for precisely the same quality education. Our salaries have NOT doubled, I can assure you of that. Its scary.</p>
<p>I totally agree with algorescousin here. I am currently devastated by the funding offered to my daughter at a private school. We have two at very expensive schools and one of the schools at least meets the need from the FAFSA... the other school isn't even doing THAT. We are in the middle ground and we are expected to come up with more than $50K this year. I ask you, if you are making $150K (taking home, what, about half that?) how in the name of heaven are you supposed to pay $50K for school? </p>
<p>I am just sick about this. And I have a third child who will probably want to go to college one day too, I imagine... ha.</p>
<p>And due to the real estate market, and a series of moves we had to make for jobs, we have virtually NO equity. We are making the decent income but no assets.</p>
<p>Is it advantageous to "edit" the FAFSA to reflect that we no longer own property? We had already reported that our value in that property was pretty low, but now it's non-existent. Will the schools even care if the FAFSA number changes?</p>