<p>Does Harvard take into account the value of the house?</p>
<p>In other words, yes. Basically, all financial aid offices take into consideration assets.</p>
<p>So basically they will take into account practically everything?</p>
<p>If my mom owns her house but still makes less than $60,000 a year, am I eligible for the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative?</p>
<p>is it true that a majority of the students get finaid? b/c i got nothing...</p>
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is it true that a majority of the students get finaid? b/c i got nothing...
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<p>How much do your parents make, if you don't mind telling us?</p>
<p>"If my mom owns her house but still makes less than $60,000 a year, am I eligible for the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative?"</p>
<p>^ same question... anyone know? I'm worried about how much they consider assets such as cars and houses</p>
<p>our house is worth $800,000 but my mom makes $21K. the house was only a measly $200,000 when we bought it about 12 years ago. i don't see why houses are considered as assets... it's not like you can SELL your house to pay for a college education. </p>
<p>i'm pretty sure that on the FAFSA and stuff, the house is not considered but all other property owned (like any other businesses, houses, apartments, etc.).</p>
<p>Anyone who owns a house free and clear has a financial asset, against which the person can borrow money for a variety of purposes, including paying college bills. </p>
<p>BTW, Princeton explicitly excludes the value of a family's principal residence from its calculation of available assets. But Harvard apparently still does things the more industry standard way, taking into account that money in a house is still money.</p>
<p>While Harvard calculates to some degree the value of the home, by and large they are quite generous when it comes to aid. My D's tour guide told her that "no one ever turns Harvard down over aid" and having gone through the aid process, I'm imagine that's nearly true.</p>
<p>does anybody know how generous harvard is with financial aid for transfer students?</p>
<p>It's the same formula for everyone, transfer or incoming freshmen.</p>
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Anyone who owns a house free and clear has a financial asset, against which the person can borrow money for a variety of purposes, including paying college bills.
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<p>What if they haven't completely paid for the house (my mom has only paid about 25% of the cost so far)? Thanks :)</p>
<p>Here is reading for the Harvard-bound: </p>
<p>to Fresh Elephant:</p>
<p>my parents make 500K+ a year, but we just bought a new house that is far too expensive to make it easy for my parents to pay my harvard tuition. not to mention that i have 2 other siblings at expensive private schools...</p>
<p>i know that i don't desperately need finaid. it would just be nice to have. especially since i though that the majority of the kids at H got financial aid.</p>
<p>If your parents make over 500K and your reason for needing Fin. Aid is that your parents bought a house they couldn't really afford at their salary of 500K+ a year, then Harvard gave you exactly what you need...nothing.</p>
<p>Most kids at Harvard get need based financial aid because they actually need it.</p>
<p>I agree with x3rose. I think it's unfair that they count the assets. The value of our house rose in value but our income is under 60k and my mom's a widow. Does Harvard look at each case within its context?</p>
<p>Why is it not fair to factor in a house's worth? If you live an overly expensive house then why should it not be factored into your assets? You can always move to a cheaper one. It's not an attractive opportunity but there's really no way to say it's unfair.</p>
<p>magicmonkey, like i said before, i was simply under the impression that most kids got finaid. i mean i know that my parents make a lot. but it's not like they can pay for Harvard out of their pocket. basically, the only reason my parents bought the house was so that they COULD afford for me to go to Harvard. before they bought the house, the government was taking almost 1/5 of my parent's income in taxes. buying a house that is more expensive than we can really afford means that the government takes less money in taxes. so basically, the house was necessary for my parents to be able to pay for school. but then i got no aid...</p>
<p>i guess i am sorta in the same boat as yahooo and x3rose (although vaguely). when taking into account the value of the house i don't need aid. but like someone said earlier, it's not like my parents can sell the house for me to go to college.</p>
<p>to address, your second post, magicmonkey: i think it is unfair to take into account the assets in the case of x3rose and yahooo. obviously their homes were not "overly expensive" when they were first bought. the value rose, so it's not like they ever actually had that money and just spent it unwisely. and you suggest moving into a cheaper house as if it is a simple option.</p>