No @Artie. Unless something has changed…there are two separate questions on the Profile. YOU do not add these things together!
- What is the current value of your primary residence?
- What is the amount of the mortgage on your primary residence?
I’m quite sure they are not worded quite like that. Hoping someone who has completed the Profile recently can provide the exact wording for you.
@billcsho the FAFSA doesn’t have “supplemental questions”. Some colleges might have their own financial aid form…but the FAFSA itself does not ask about primary home value or equity. A school form might, and the Profile does.
@thumper1 Thanks for clarifying. I remember answering questions like that (credit card debt, etc) on school supplemental question, but I forgot if it is on FAFSA or profile. I guess it was the latter.
Credit card debt, interesting. Can you report that as “how much do your parents owe on their investments?”
Come to think of it, I’m not sure I ran into anything about consumer debts (car loans, personal loans, etc.) or credit card debt in the NPC’s, or at least not that I recognized. In what parameter/category do those reside?
The Net Price Calculators do NOT ask for consumer debt because the financial aid formulas do not consider consumer debt in the equation.
The Profile does ask for the purchase price of your cars (and I think when). But I personally do NOT recall any Profile questions about credit card debt, or personal loans…all of which are viewed as choices…and not considered in the financial aid equations.
There is a place for other info on the Profile…so if your CC debt or personal loans are because you were unemployed, or because of high I reimbursed medical expenses…you can explain there.
The CSS Profile does include “Supplemental Questions” (“SQ”) that some schools ask in addition to the regular profile questions.
CSS Profile SQ-211 (which was required to be answered by Northwestern University) asked, “Enter the current total of consumer and installment debt (money borrowed for cars, appliances, credit cards, etc.) owed by your parents. (Do not include mortgage debt or other debt already included in Sections BA, FA or PA.)” Only time I ever wished I had some debt, LOL.
I presume NU isn’t the only college requiring an answer to SQ-211, but idk. However, it appears that one or some colleges will take personal debt into consideration.
@prospect1
That the question is asked doesn’t mean that the info is used to calculate need based aid. In other words, even though the question is asked about consumer debt…does NOT mean the school uses that info to calculate your need based aid.
What @prospect1 said is exactly what I remember from a couple years ago. When a school ask for certain supplemental information, I guess it may serve a purpose somewhere, no matter how important or not it is.
Search previous threads for this, with posts by me- I have quoted multiple times the advice given on this question inn “Paying for College Without Going Broke” by Kalman Chaney (?sp -check via google)
others have quoted it too.
Some Net Price Calculators also ask what the original selling price was. In our case, our house is probably worth more than double what we paid for it.