No it doesn’t. Ours does not appear on our W-2s. There is a place on both the FAFSA and CSS Profile where you have to report these types of benefits. There’s a lot of information asked for on the CSS Profile that does not appear on the W-2.
Our situation is similar to NorthernMom61, in that the housing is paid directly by the USG and not reported on a W2. The cost is inflated for our location and far above what we would be paying at home in the USA. On the other hand our agency doesn’t pay locality or hardship or hazard pay so it isn’t as if we are otherwise compensated on the other hand.
NoCook, the pretax accounts cut your tax bill, but they show the college that you have the ability to pay since you’re able to save all that money.
It may be worth approaching the school about counting retirement contributions above the match, as mentioned by 3Puppies.
Well, then we’re in the same boat. Back home, making just over $20,000/year more in salary, we are squarely in the 100% meet need category. Thanks to this, it looks like we’re rolling in the dough – when we absolutely are not. Thank you for pointing this out now – saved me a lot of trouble. Now, I just need a stiff drink and we can get on with it.
On the flip side, I think my daughter’s overseas upbringing, the fact that she bacame fluent in the host nation’s language and wrote a really cool essay about what it is like to understand the language when the locals around her don’t realize she does until she speaks, were a couple things that contributed to the excellent merit award that she ended up being offered from the school she ended up attending. Well that among other things.
Now you can pour that drink and start studying how to help your child find merit.
^ Not in this situation but there is no way to talk to meet full needs schools and explain this? Do some type of analysis of what it costs you to be overseas?
I have kept out a couple CSS Profile/100% Meet Need schools – but only because they either have a “perfect” program (on paper, at least) for my son, or there are other factors (such as room & board with a relative or friend) which could help. Most of the CSS Profile/100% meet need schools do not offer Merit Aid, partly because they have so many qualified applicants. We (my son and I) have a limited amount of time to deal with applications and financial aid, so our time has to be weighed against the likelihood of exceptions being made. We aren’t applying to UC schools for similar reasons (minimal aid available for OOS). With (currently) 26 schools being on our further research list, and 20 schools still to do an initial investigation, I feel like my son has plenty of choices without extra hoops for financial aid (at the moment) We will be spending the next 11 months narrowing this list down through both internet research, departmental, administration and financial aid emails, final test scores/possible NMQ level and see where we land for some school visits next year. Just really thankful that my son is more wed to the idea of attending a school with a solid program for little to no debt than he is a particular school.