<p>Okay, I understand clearly that many private schools utilize CSS profile to determine my eligibility for institutional grants. However, it takes into consideration assets/business. My problem is that my mother makes about 45K every year but loses up to 17K in business losses. Not only that, but all her deductions on her taxes are from business losses. On paper, our gross income is ~28K. Will they really add back some or most of those losses back to her income? If so, I am royally ****** and need to be released from my early decision agreement ASAP. She tells me that currently she is in debt with her business because they have to pay so much for equipment. I luckily have not withdrawn my other applications/acceptances from other schools, so I DO have BACK UPS to fall on with plenty of free-ride opportunities.</p>
<p>I made a call while doing a SECOND financial aid package estimate, but the admission counselors gave me really horrible, VAGUE answers... I guess I will have to call again tomorrow. Any ideas? </p>
<p>Also, what else does CSS Profile consider? Currently, my mother definitely has no savings of any kind, currently attends community college, does not own a house and has to pay rent, still is paying off her car, and has to pay for my brother's private school also.</p>
<p>Well, don’t get in a panic just yet… even $45k is low total family income. Let’s back up and clear up some points. First, what are “business losses”? Do you mean business expenses that are deducted on her income tax? What business is she in? Many CSS profile schools do “add back” some business expenses and also may assign an asset value to the business. It all depends… Let’s assume they add back half of her expenses; that’s still just income in the high 30,s. Not a lot.</p>
<p>What about your father? Is he still living? If so, what’s his financial situation?</p>
<p>How can a school that accepted you ED have NOT given you your financial package yet? I guess some take a while. They must allow you to keep other applications open until such time as they provide financial aid figures to you. At any rate, I saw you posted about this in the CMU forum, so assuming your ED is CMU, I don’t think they promise meeting full need like some other very tough to get into colleges do. You lielky will have some financial trouble swinging CMU on that low salary with no savings. Make sure you keep up on your other options!</p>
<p>Good luck. I can’t imagine trying to work through this as a HS kid! It’s overwhelming for most parents.</p>
<p>Yes, these business losses are deducted on her taxes. She is currently part of a electrical computer/repair company. On her taxes, she has advertising, car & truck, office expense, supplies, travel, and other expenses. I remember two of them were “phone/internet service” deductions LOL… she made about 48K this year though because she got promoted, but she told me her business loss will be bigger. </p>
<p>My father is currently dead. She does NOT receive the SSI income…it all goes to my grandparents. CMU is stingy; however, they do meet full need as defined by our taxes/financial documents, but it is only for early decision admits. I did my first estimate, and it was good. But now I am a little worried. According to the ED “contract”, I am not required to withdraw my other apps if I am applying for financial aid. I totally can and WILL withdraw from my ED agreement if it is not doable.</p>
<p>I will definitely have about 6K-7K worth of savings however by August.</p>
<p>Does your mom receive SS survivors benefits? Do you? Were your parents married?</p>
<p>Submit the forms…and also have an application sent to your flagship university. When you receive your financial aid package (why don’t you have that yet???..was there an ED priority deadline that you missed), if the money isn’t sufficient for you to attend, you can back out of the ED admission agreement.</p>
<p>I just asked my grandparents about this since they take care of me, and they said the SS benefits are technically in her name…but I am not so sure about this. On her 2011 tax return, I see nothing under SS benefits at all. My grandparents took control of the account since she used the benefits for all the wrong reasons even though she did not attend his funeral. I tried to convince her to transfer custody to my grandparents when I was in 10th grade for purposes of financial aid, but she obviously refused.</p>
<p>They had divorced before my father died. I have not missed any ED priority deadlines regarding financial aid (FEB. 15TH), so I assume this part of CMU’s whack financial aid behavior. I have currently sent an estimate of my FAFSA to all my university choices because my mother cannot file until the 30th so she can do her “business losses” to lower the income (her problem, not mine). I have a feeling I can get away with this at FAFSA-only schools but not schools that require the CSS PROFILE. I am willing to suck up my pride and go to an in-state university for undergaduate for free though because I know I will work my hardest anywhere and take advantage of every opportunity/internship within reach.</p>
<p>(MaryMac15535’s mom here) As to the Parent’s Business portion of the CSS Profile, I had to complete that section in regard to my spouse’s sole proprietorship law firm. If your mom’s business is not incorporated or a partnership, the information you’ll need for that section should be on Schedule C of Form 1040. The CSS Profile asks for both gross receipts & gross expenses, as well as the market value of the business (in our case, the value of the building the law firm is located in) and the amount owed (on the law firm building, for us).
On the other hand, when you & your mom complete the FAFSA, assuming your mom’s business is family-owned & has less than 100 employees, you don’t have to report the business’ value at all!
There is help out there for completing the CSS Profile, so don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions (& have your mom ask questions, too). With your family’s income level, it sounds like you have an excellent chance of getting some great financial aid. Good luck!</p>
<p>Unfortunately, my mother refuses to help me in any way or even ask questions for my own good. She will provide the needed financial documents to get my federal and state aid only because my college attendance will increase her eligibility for financial aid/reduce her EFC. I guess, however, it is too late to even report anything relating to assets via FAFSA because we already have submitted an estimate to my state university. I believe my mother’s business will have a market value of 0 because it is definitely not for sale. Even if we are selected for verification, can FAFSA-only schools add those expenses back to **** me up like private universities or even assign a business value? I believe my mother does all of these tricks for her financial aid at community college and manages to get away with it.</p>
<p>So far it seems like a full ride at honors engineering program at state university for me.</p>
<p>Zeltion, they don’t sound like tricks. Businesses have legitimate expenses and they often include phone, travel, car expenses, etc. Even $45K is low and should get you pretty good aid at privates. </p>
<p>As far as social security for dependents… If you have no other income, I don’t believe it’s taxable so I don’t think it would show up on her tax return. It does not have to be listed on the FAFSA. I don’t know if the Profile has a question asking about untaxed social security. (Note that schools can add their own questions to the Profile for you to answer so it’s always hard to tell someone if a school has a certain question.)</p>
