<p>I'm in the process of selling our home and won't be buying another one until I move out of the area in several years. At the time my daughters will be applying for college, I'll have a lot of money in the bank (though I'm a single parent and my income is pretty average). Of course the plan for some of this money is college, though if I paid for college in full, I wouldn't have enough left for even a down payment on a house. Will my temporarily fat savings account hurt chances for aid? I was told if I still owned the house, no matter how valuable, this wouldn't be factored in when determining need.</p>
<p>For FAFSA purposes, your home equity will not count against you. For the profile, it will count against. Cash is guaranteed to count against either way.</p>