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<p>My understanding is that most schools using PROFILE do consider home equity as part of their “totality of the circumstances” assessment of what you can afford to pay. They’re not only looking for liquid assets, they’re looking at your net worth. And in fairness, a family with, say $200,000 in relatively liquid assets and another $1 million in home equity is in a much stronger financial condition than a family with $200,000 in relatively liquid assets and no home equity. Besides, until recently home equity loans and HELOCs were very easy to obtain, so the value of that equity was easy to get at and in that sense “liquid.” Many families used home equity as one of the principal assets they would tap to pay the tuition bill. I understand it’s harder to get home equity loans and HELOCs in the current market so that may change the calculation somewhat; but don’t assume your home equity is off-limits when a college using PROFILE is evaluating your financial condition, unless they expressly tell you so.</p>