They think your family can take a loan against the home.
BTW…if that is how NEU has determined that it will “now meet need” then that is kind of gross considering that your family doesn’t have much in equity.
That said…maybe you made an error on CSS. Did you determine the correct value based on if you had to sell it today? Did you then subtract the mortgage to determine equity? You need to make sure that the equity is correctly reported.
You didn’t put the house as YOUR asset did you? It’s your parents’ asset, correct???
Yeah I entered everything exactly as my mom told me. But I’ll recheck.
The equity is the value of your house ($210,000). You would have also entered any outstanding loan ($170,000).
This should not be the issue if entered correctly.
Are your parents married?
As a note…please don’t diss NEU. It is more likely that there is an error on this Profile than that NEU is trying to stiff entering students in terms of meeting need.
This poster needs to check every line of that Profile. In addition to looking for any possible errors, she also needs to look at all entries for financials that are not on the fafsa…and see if those amounts are correct.
Also…was the FAFSA completed using actual numbers from the 2014 tax return?
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When my parents bought it, it was 240k and now it's value is 215k. They still owe 170k.
@thumper1 “The equity is the value of your house ($210,000). You would have also entered any outstanding loan ($170,000).”
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Thumper made a typo. The equity is not the value of the home. The equity is VALUE MINUS MORTGAGE.
So if the home is valued at
$215k value
$170k mortgage
$ 45k is the equity.
that equity is too low to make any real noticeable difference after asset protections.
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please don't diss NEU. It is more likely that there is an error on this Profile than that NEU is trying to stiff entering students in terms of meeting need.
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If the student indicated the wrong amounts giving NEU the impression that equity was over $45k, then it’s the OP’s fault and the CSS needs correcting.
BUT…if the numbers are correct, then NEU is playing games.
Yes…equity is value minus loan. I meant to put that.
NEU is not playing games…I think those comments are offensive and unnecessary.
Profile schools can choose any way to deal with home equity. Many do %age of income as a cap. Some expect homeowners to tap into home equity…some do not…in terms of supporting college costs.
Well I figured out the part of the problem. When I did the NPC for NEU, my mom gave me numbers that were a tad off. And by a tad off I mean she told me we owed 170k but actually we owe 142k and those were the number I was going off of. I redid the NPC and it’s a lot closer to my financial aid award that NEU gave. Sorry and thanks everyone for the help.
Thank you for clarifying sarbear.
Glad that you discovered the problem.
215
147
$78k
However, it’s a bit much for equity that is less than $80k to increase family contribution by that much.
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my family contribution is $20,000 but when I filed the FAFSA, the EFC was $7,900.
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Is there any asset protection??? Seems like a married couple should have at least $20k in asset protection. If so, then $60k in assets shouldn’t increase the family contribution by THAT much.
Asset protection is based on the age of the oldest parent for FAFSA only. Profile schools do not adhere to the same guidelines as the FAFSA…at all.
So even with this mistake it shouldn’t have increased by $12,000.
Sarbear…that the NPC and your award are ver close implies to me that your award is accurate.
However, you can contact NEU and inquire. They should be able to tell you something.
You mention the NPC…but what was your FAFSA EFC on your SAR? And was it based in actual 2014 tax numbers.
They were both based on last years taxes. My parents have yet to file the new one.
Nothing increase by $12k. There are two different numbers, the fafsa efc determined by one methodology and the expected contribution by the school determined by their own methodology. A $12k difference between the two isn’t unusual. The profile asks for more info than fafsa and that additional info can result in a difference. The fafsa EFC is only used for determining eligibility for federal and sometimes state aid.
@sarbear21 does the difference in family contribution change your ability to go to NEU? It would perhaps be helpful if there is an economic threshold that is preventing you from attending, that perhaps NEU will ‘find’ a way to help you be able to attend there. Or maybe not. Dialoging with the college perhaps will help clarify things - and if they lose you as a incoming student, that may be how the chips fall. Look at your options and decide what direction you need to take. You have some time to decide.
Okay. Thanks everyone for the input. I’ll have to wait for some more decisions from the the other colleges I applied to and weigh my options.
Write a letter to the head of financial aid and ask them to use “professional judgment” in reevaluating the award. Tell them you may have filled out the data incorrectly and remind them of the totality of your family financial situation.
Good luck. It’s gonna be a long couple of months for all of us.
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A $12k difference between the two isn’t unusual.
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yes it is if the only difference is modest home equity and there seems to be ZERO asset protection
@annoyingdad
@sarbear, do YOU have any assets or income? Perhaps NEU is counting those differently than they are counted on the FAFSA. That can make a big difference. Also, they may expect your parents to contribute a larger percentage of their assets or earnings. And some Profile schools have an expected student contribution, usually several thousand, that they add to the FAFSA EFC. IIRC, UC schools do this too, as do some Ivies. This is what they expect you to co tribute from summer or part-time earnings.
These are some of the ways that Profile schools’ methodologies differ from that used by the feds to arrive at your EFC.