The OP needs to clarify when his kids will be in college. He clearly wrote “college in 2018”…and mentioned nothing about college costs before that time.
ETA…having more than one student in college at the same time does not necessarily mean this family will receive MORE need based aid. It just doesn’t. schools that don’t guarantee to meet full need might not give one more dime of institutional need based aid with two kids in college.
With two in college…and an AGI of $55,000, it’s possible that the students could qualify for at least a portion of the Pell Grant. But if they attend college at an expensive probate university or OOS public that doesn’t guarantee to meet full need for all…the $5800 full Pell won’t exactly cover the cost of attendance.
You might want to check out the rules for the “Simplified Needs Test”. If you can keep your income below a set point and meet the other requirements, your assets will not count for a FAFSA only school. This might also help you qualify for state aid.
As noted above, the schools that require the CCS Profile will look at all your assets and then use their own formula for determining your EFC. For those schools the equity in your house and maybe even your retirement accounts could be counted.
The reality is that most schools do not meet need and gap. So EFC really doesn’t mean much. The FAFSA EFC is really only useful for determing federal aid and maybe state aid.
Your best bet is to run the the Net Price Calculator for each school to get a better idea what your cost will be.
If all of their assets are home equity in primary residence…and balances in 401 K accounts…these would not be used in the fafsa formula anyway…so not sure what simplified needs would gain this family.
There is no “simplified needs test” for institutional need based aid purposes.
I believe the “she” in the OP’s homeschooling comment is his wife (and not his child) and may have been in response to someone asking if his wife works or will be retiring too.
Again…for the 2018-2019 academic year…this kids first year in college…the 2016 income will be used to determine need based aid. This family needs to plan for that…since it sounds like the family income will be dropping as of 2107.