@privateID UMich needs profile and FAFSA for freshmen, and then only FAFSA afterward. It is mainly for assessing the assets protected in FAFSA for their grant distribution. They said if there is no drastic change based on FAFSA, the aids will remain at similar level. Number of kids in college is on FAFSA.
Yes to @InigoMontoya and #19.
Youngest - more expensive housing for junior/senior BUT because student apartments have kitchens, smaller meal plans are allowed (but still required).
Oldest - nursing major. Fees for lab, clinical, testing, mandatory background checks, etc. as she got into her major. Easily added an extra $1000 each semester to the bill.
@mommdc Re home equity: Some schools only require the CSS the first year. We only filled it out for entering freshman year. After that, just Fafsa. Also, if you have a 30-year mortgage, the equity accounted for won’t rise THAT much. Your equity could also go down if the housing market tanks or if you access your equity and take a cash-out mortgage to pay the EFC or other expenses.
@privateID They assume assets will be similar year over year. At least that they won’t change enough to materially affect aid. In a very large university, I think it’s just too much for them to sift through the CSS every year.
You can always payoff part of the mortgage to lower visible asset and increase equity if you want.
My D’s full tuition scholarship increased as tuition increased for all 4 years. So I say that’s a good question to ask if you have a merit scholarship.
My pups only applied to schools that met full need. I had several conversations with FA depts. before they made their final decisions. All of them told us we’d have to re-file an updated CSS Profile every year, as the need is re-calculated based on how many siblings in school, changes in family assets, etc.
We found that our S’s FA at Columbia increased materially in his senior year when DD was also in college at the same time. But from Freshman to Sophomore and to Junior year, his FA increased along with the COA - and our family contribution also increased a couple hundred bucks, while our family income increased by a couple grand.
I had asked the FA dept how they treat different type of assets - and found something interesting. It became clear that since they capped home equity, and our equity was below the line where they capped, we were better off paying off a chunk of our mortgage rather than having any cash in our bank account.
Everybody’s financial situation is different. But the schools that meet full need (as they define it) really do want to help families out, and while they do not give financial advice, they will happily answer lots of “what if” questions so families can have the information to make the appropriate decisions
No.
While a tuition increase might be covered by a ‘full tuition’ or ‘half tuition’ scholarship, it most likely won’t be covered by a flat sum scholarship. Also, there are other costs that might increase, like room and board, fees, insurance.
It’s hard to know which costs you’ll still be paying in the future. One of my kids lived in the dorms for 2 years, and her sophomore meal plan was much cheaper than her freshman one ($1000 because of course sophomores eat less than freshmen). The housing went up a little, her fees have never increased in the 4 years. Now she lives off campus and it is cheaper than the dorms.
Her school had changed scholarships almost every year too, but the student stays with the plan she entered under. For my daughter, it was a flat sum for a merit scholarship, but I think now it is a percentage as it says on the website ‘may cover 1/2 of tuition.’
My other daughter has a flat sum, and she gets the same amount each year even though those entering after her get a lot (LOT) more as they’ve increase the amount.