<p>I have been reading the financial aid sections of several schools and i come across lines like this: "If your parents make $ 65,000 or less you are not expected to pay"</p>
<p>My question:** is this before or after taxes**, im an international student and my parents make way more than 65k USD before taxes however after taxes its below 65k.</p>
<p>I would assume they mean Adjusted Gross Income, so before taxes. But you could certainly email the schools and find out (and, of course, share your knowledge with others here)! Btw, make sure you’re looking at pages that apply to international students - most schools have a separate FA policy for those who aren’t US citizens/permanent residents.</p>
<p>On the financial aid forms that US citizens file they have to report they have to report before tax income. So I am guessing the answer to your question is before taxes. Also your assets are taken into account. It usually has something about people with $xxx income and normal assets.</p>
<p>As sk8rmom said, make sure you are looking at the info for international students, which is often different than that for US citizens and permanent residents.</p>