<p>Let's have John and Dan. John is from Topeka, Kansas and Dan is from Brooklyn, NY. They BOTH have family incomes of 35,000. However, John's family spends 750 on rent for 4 family members, while Dan's family pays 1200 for rent, also for a family of 4. Thus, it may be potentially possible, that because John spends less money on living expenses, in comparison to Dan, that his family has more to contribute to his college education. This is sort of a silly example, but do the college admins, when it comes to financial aid, really consider the cost of living in your neighborhood/city/state ? I mean obviously, 40,000 may seem like good living in a random, Midwest city, but in an urban metropolis such as New York, that's so-so. So again, do the college admissions ppl realize the correlation between income and location of residence ?</p>
<p>yes, schools and the FAFSA take into consideration where you live and the cost of living in each state.</p>
<p>$35,000 to $40,000 income...anywhere in the US...will get you a free ride at Harvard, Stanford and others.</p>
<p>The bigger issue is income of $75,000 to $125,000 in high cost of living areas....where a family in a modest home may have taxes/utilities/mortgage of $3,000 per month versus $1000 per month in a lower cost area.</p>
<p>2boysima, you're absolutely right. It's sooooo great that at HYS, you can get a free ride with that income, but here's the principal question: before you get a free ride, can you even succeed at being admitted?</p>
<p>"The bigger issue is income of $75,000 to $125,000 in high cost of living areas....where a family in a modest home may have taxes/utilities/mortgage of $3,000 per month versus $1000 per month in a lower cost area"</p>
<p>Do they take this into consideration? My taxes are more like $6000, family of 6, etc, etc... when I did the Fafsa worksheet, I was very unhappy with the outcome... Was wondering the same thing.</p>
<p>Do you guys know how this all figures into divorced households? My mom has been divorced since I was 2 and my dad has never paid child support other than maybe once a year. He owes like $20k in back payments. Will they consider his income and such? I haven't seen him in roughly 10 years and he has a new family including at least 2 young children in a different state. My mother makes about $41,500 a year but we live in one house with my grandmother and great grandmother. I have no idea how to do a fee waiver but I don't know whether I would qualify anyway. Also, do they take into consideration things like hospital stays and bankrupcies? My grandmother is in the hospital now for a thrown blood clot and has been in telemetry for over a week. She supports herself only through Social Security. My mom will most likely have to help pay, but my mother just declared bankrupcy. This is her second time in less than 15 years. Will fafsa look at all the extenuating circumstances, because there isn't really a place for "Were there any extraordinary hospital visits made by a person living under your household, that isn't one of your offspring?"</p>
<p>1) Do the college admissions ppl realize the correlation between income and location of residence ?</p>
<p>The answer is it depends. As to FAFSA (not the Profile) and federal financial aid (Pell grants, Stafford loans, etc). First, FAFSA is a computer program. You file (preferably online) and the computer program (FAFSA) spits out a number, or EFC. FAFSA takes the sum of a percentage of four factors: parents income, students income, parents assets and student assets. FAFSA also calculates, or allows for various deductions. These deductions are standardized and automatically calculated by FAFSA depending on what info you have entered. As to parents income and depending on the number of dependents with FAFSA, there is a deduction called the Income Protection Allowance. Go to the following link (p. 18 Table A3)</p>
<p>As an example, for a family of 3, approx. the first 18K of parental income (AGI) is not included when your EFC was determined. Any parental income (AGI) over this amount will be assessed by FAFSA. (The numbers on this table will probably go up slightly for 2007/08). This 18K is what FAFSA believes a family of 3 needs to feed, house and clothe themselves for one year. It, to my knowledge, doesnt matter where you live. I know its sad, but to my knowledge, its the way FAFSA is programmed.</p>
<p>2) As to divorce situations: FAFSA will only look at the income of your custodial parent. Your dad, at least as to FAFSA and federal financial aid will be out of the picture. Again, keep in mind that FAFSA is just a computer program, not a person. Once you file and it calculates your EFC, you can then discuss any extenuating circumstances with an aid officer. Good luck.</p>
<p>The FAFSA (i.e., EFC formula) itself only takes location into account with respect to the state tax level. It does not adjust based on the cost of living in a given state / city.</p>
<p>Same problem here (funny, we live in Brooklyn). The FAFSA definitely doesn't take it into account, but usually you can talk to the FAO at the college and negotiate, at least a little and more if the college really wants you. At least this is what I'm hoping.</p>
<p>our experience was- despite living in a very high cost area- aid was equal to EFC & EFC did not take into account that our area, was more expensive than other areas in the state</p>