<p>If your home is payed for but your income is low (under 20k) how do the schools view equity? Can they expect you to take out a loan or do you have to sell the home? What if your credit will not allow the parents from being approved for an equity loan?</p>
<p>Nopoisonivy, FAFSA does not ask for home equity. Colleges using Profile do, but some of the schools do exempt amounts of home equity for the primary residence. So it depends on the school. The ones using FAFSA exculsively do not worry about the home equity regardless of income. There are colleges, however, that may include it and if you can't or won't borrow against it, that is your problem. Lack of parental credit is also a personal problem. Some schools do give students some more loans on their own heads, but these days because of so many deadbeats from previous college generations, it is difficult for a student to get a loan on their own credit.</p>
<p>Thanks Jamimon
I was specifically regarding schools which use the profile. I know that some schools cap equity ....</p>
<p>Do some schools that use the profile look at every situation or do they just go by the math?</p>
<p>Profile has a section where the filer can bring up salient points regarding the family financial situation. Depending on the desirability of the applicant, financial aid can be determined by Profile number or Fafsa numbers and with a great deal of flexibility when it comest to the school's own money. For government money it is strictly formula.</p>