<p>What do colleges have in mind when they factor in the market value of your family's primary home? I don't see what a primary home can do to fund a college education besides act as collateral for an equity loan. Surely they don't expect us to sell our house? Reason I'm asking this is by EFC the difference between having my house and not having my house is $11,000/year in grant money, which is absolutely absurd. This is especially ridiculous since I live in New York and the housing bubble continues to blow the roof off market values all around the city's five boroughs.</p>
<p>I think you hit the nail on the head when you said equity loan. I believe that colleges see that you can use the equity on your home to apply for a mortgage.</p>
<p>cannednish, no you can't. Remember that you have to make payments on the equity loans. When my parents refinanced a couple years ago, for a lower interest rate, the bank (the same bank they were already paying higher payments to!) almost didn't approve them because their income was too low to make the payments. So in places like New York or Southern California, where prices have skyrocketed, we have lots of equity, you can't get the equity because you can't make the payment. Even if you were willing to sell and move, you can't usually get into a place for less than you are already paying, and rents are really high too. Simple economics. They know people can't get to that money, but it is just a game that is played. The people in the middle, with higher costs of living every year and little salary increases, but increased equity, are the ones who really suffer, because we can't afford to absorb the cost and can't get the equity. They really need to look at the area of the country you live in. I understand that a $400,000 house in some areas is huge, while in Southern California, if you could find one, it would be small or in a bad area, plus the average salary wouldn't qualify. My parents and I have discussed this plenty!</p>
<p>well our experience is yes- they certainly do expect you to tap some of that equity.
I imagine they think if you are so stretched that your house may be worth a mill, but you can't pay any more monthly than you are already paying, then perhaps you should move to a less expensive area?</p>
<p>We did take out an equity loan, and our EFC went down when our equity did.</p>
<p>pk-</p>
<p>Sorry for your situation, but that's the way the rules are written. Just because it doesn't work for you doesn't mean that isn't why they wrote the rules that way.</p>
<p>scottaa...I don't understand your last sentence...I understand that they figure that you should tap equity, but if you can't make the payment, you can't make the payment. Nonetheless, there are plenty of people in our same situation...the system simply should not touch the home your family lives in. It is unfair to my younger siblings to expect my parents to move so I can go to college. And emerald, you don't really understand. The fact is that homes in southern california have appreciated so much over the past few years that my family could no longer qualify to buy a home worth a lot less than where we live, AND if we were to move, the payment would be more than what we pay now. Apartments even rent for SO much here, if you can get one that would fit a family. And that is ALL areas...I would guess that in New York that would be a similar situation. Bottom line: families should be allowed to live in their home without worrying about trying to get equity money out of it. What is the average home price in Iowa/Illinois?</p>
<p>Yes actually I do understand
No one likes their EFC- but you either pay it or you find merit aid to reduce it or you save money by going to a community college for a couple years-
it is a waste of energy crabbing about it- because most people do have to reduce their expenses to send their kids to college-CA expenses from what I have heard aren't that bad- don't you have a cap on property taxes? for our 100 year old house we pay $4,000 in taxes every year. ( speaking of that is coming up soon)
Other parts of the country homes are depreciating and people are losing money - jobs are going elsewhere and the house they might have paid $150,000 for is now worth $80,000
consider yourself lucky- if you sold and moved your house would be snapped up and you could get more than what you have into it</p>
<p>Remember that the FAFSA doesn't consider home equity at all. So if you're applying to a school that doesn't require the Profile, just the FAFSA, your home equity won't hurt your EFC.</p>
<p>And 28 of the top colleges that require the Profile cap home value at 2.4 times income, and then deduct the mortage debt from that figure to get a home equity figure that's assessed. So there may be hope--</p>
<p>Can you list (or tell me where to find) these top 28 colleges you mentioned?</p>
<p>sblake,
What does this mean for those 28 schools? Does it mean, that if your income is 100,000 that your home equity of upto 240,000 (2.4 x100000) minus the mortage interest payments for the year, is counted (even if your home equity if over a million dollars)?</p>
<p>GOOGLE</p>
<p>the article on the 28 schools</p>
<p>Amherst College
Boston College
Bowdoin College
Claremont McKenna College
Columbia University
Cornell University
Davidson College
Duke University
Emory University
Georgetown University
Haverford College
Macalester College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Middlebury College
Northwestern University
Pomona College
Rice University
Stanford University
Swarthmore College
University of Chicago
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania
Vanderbilt University
Wake Forest University
Wellesley College
Wesleyan University
Williams College
Yale University</p>
<p>Emerald...kind of a snotty post, if you ask me. Be nice! From what my parents explained to me, there is a cap in increases in property tax, at least the base. But that does not stop every possible municipal group from wanting a bond or whatever they want to call it, that raises the taxes. There are people living in homes with no equity with taxes of $8000. per year here. Uhhhh, merit aid does not reduce your EFC, the way I understand it and the way it worked for my brother. Whoever told you CA expenses aren't that bad never lived here. Our gas is the most expensive in the country, and we have NO public transportation to speak of. Our expenses have been reduced already, just to get by. If, as you suggested, we sold our home and it were snapped up, we would have to come live with you. No, I think not, but believe me, it would cost more to find another place to live. But, if as you did, we took an equity loan, we wouldn't be able to make the payment and then would lose our house, and then would have an EFC of 0 but the rest of my family would be living on the street. Good idea! And, frankly, I haven't worked this hard to go to community college and even if I did, I wonder what I might take when I already have AP credit for so many classes.</p>
<p>Thanks for posting the list. Glad to see a few schools on it that my son is interested in (he and half the country haha). I recently learned that the state schools he likes also use the Profile - I had incorrectly believed all state schools just used FAFSA. Will have to keep searching for some financial safeties.</p>
<p>As for taxes, here where I live people regularly pay $8,000 - $12,000 in property taxes (per yr) and it appears that will be increasing as our governor announced he will be cutting state aid. We still live in the house we bought/moved into from our honeymoon (we haven't upgraded into one of those McMansions - can't even imagine the taxes on one of those). We do have an equity line of credit and will use it with our second kid about to enter college.</p>
<p>Our expenses have been reduced already, just to get by. If, as you suggested, we sold our home and it were snapped up, we would have to come live with you
Come on up!
We have lots of room!
of course unless you mind sharing our 970sqft 2bed/1bath home- but hay it is only worth$400,000 so you would be slumming it in any case ;)</p>
<p>If you read the article you will see that the group also considers housing costs in * Washington* as well as NY and CA.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Take into account the higher cost of living for families in certain areas, including Washington, New York, and California.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't think emerald's post was snobby at all . She was stating the realities. We are all in the same boat on cc. when it comes to aid . An EFC of 0 does not put one in the street but it does not guarantee full-need met at college either . It seems like all people do the loans and self-help and work - study and summer jobs and parent loans and home equities even . Frankly , most of the people I know with low income go to community college or the State school. </p>
<p>It's nice to see a student that knows it would be a hardship for the family if they took out home equity ; some kids don't care ( or understand ) crunching the numbers . </p>
<p>With those kind of taxes in CA., I hope they have some pretty decent State schools !</p>
<p>so I am confused two years ago you posted that you were deciding between UCLA and Cal- where did you decide to go pkamdp?</p>
<p>till can't make up my mind. Accepted to Honors at UCLA; I will get some money but still have work study and 30 hours/year for Alumni scholarship. I loved the UCLA campus, dorms, food, etc. Berkeley I got Regents & Chancellors, so won't have to work. Guaranteed housing both campuses, which is an important factor; I don't want to be stuck in one area or the other having to pay market rates for housing. But in general I didn't like the Berkeley area nearly as much as UCLA.</p>
<p>Emerald...you have waaaaaayyyy too much time on your hands if you have time to read old posts...you sound an awful like "Well, I did it, so it's good enough for you." To you and Easy: Society has an interest in making sure that talented students, including low and middle income, can get the quality education they have worked hard for and deserve; if they are competitive, they should not have to go to a community college, nor should they have to put their family home at risk. Maybe you should look at what U of Penn and Stanford are currently doing if you need an explanation for that....there is nothing wrong with pointing out problems in a system. Be nice.</p>
<p>No system will ever be fair.</p>
<p>I am troubled by the apparent belief on this thread that the only good educations are at Profile schools, schools that count your home equity.</p>
<p>Last time I checked, only a little over 300 colleges around the country utilize the CSS Profile. We can't seriously think that a student can only get a good education at only 1% of the colleges in this country.</p>
<p>it takes 2 seconds to use google to get context of responses- it helps me </p>
<p>Sorry that I exposed that you were already in school
I am merely pointing out that others are in identical boats and either manage or( not), but you are not the only one whose college considered equity.</p>
<p>You either pay your EFC and attend a school that meets 100% of need
Earn merit aid and attend a school that dearly wants you to attend, or attend a school you can afford.
Life isnt fair- but we all have choices, and we can make informed decisions about those choices.
You were very fortunate living in CA to have two of the top schools in the country offering you instate tuiton- we didn't have that circumstance, but were able to make it work anyway.</p>
<p>Perhaps illustrating that you already had made up your mind to attend an instate public school, making your comment about equity for the schools that use PROFILE spurious in relation to your own circumstances, wasn't "nice" but life isn't nice or "fair", but we do have choices and part of being a responsible adult is accepting and making the most of those choices.</p>
<p>These posts are a bit like the legacy parents who did not like their own children rejected from those legacy schools. Clearly, your home equity is part of your net worth --and those with more equity are de facto wealthier and that is taken into account. That is only fair. If you think it is impossible to unload a million dollar home and find a less-than-million-dollar home (or half a million dollar home) that is suitable for you and yours --well that is testament to life in a rarefied bubble of privilege, removed from normal troubles of the mundane world. It is possible to fall, and fall again, and lose your house entirely. It is possible to get sick, to get fired ---and what do those people do? Do they go from a million dollar home to homeless? I doubt it --their are endless gradations between. </p>
<p>You may not like it that home equity is considered part of your wealth --but it is, and its entry into the equation is only fair. If there are mitigating circumstances for you, you can always bring them to the attention of finaid.</p>