I plan on living with my parents, but they make me pay rent. I noticed the University of Florida doesn’t include housing funding in the cost of attendance to those who live with their parents (I guess automatically assuming they don’t pay rent) so which is more accurate. Should I put off-campus or living with parents?
Please post this question in the financial aid forum. There are a few real experts there and a couple aid officers.
My feeling is that the COA is set for those situations and they will not change it. Your aid is based on the families income and assets and number in household and there is already a fixed expense for them to maintain their home, it doesn’t cost them more to maintain the home with you in it, they can’t remove a room and pay a lesser mortgage. It doesn’t matter that they want to charge you rent. I don’t think the school is going to award your family aid in order so you can pay yourselves. Aid is to help your family finance their kids college, not to line their pockets. You might look into cheap off campus housing and move if you are going to get the extra 5k aid for living off campus. Analyze it, run the numbers. Then if your parents need help paying the mortgage they can get a renter.
Do not put ‘off campus’ unless the financial aid office says you can because you may then be filing fraudulent aid papers.
Okay. … thanks!