<p>Some schools, usually ones that provided generous institutional aid, require additional information on top of FAFSA. They may require CSSprofile, a form developed by college board, that asks for a lot more info than FAFSA does - for instance it asks for the primary home equity, where FAFSA does not. Schools that use CSS will use the data differently according to their own policies.</p>
<p>CSS Profile – It is an in depth look at your finances that many private schools require in addition to the FAFSA. It is completed through College Board - The SAT folks.
For single/divorced parents - Schools that require the CSS also usually require the Non-Custodial Parent information.</p>
<p>That is the extent of my knowledge.</p>
<p>LadyD…</p>
<p>Most of the top/elite schools require students to also use CSS PROFILE forms in addition to FAFSA if they want financial aid. </p>
<p>Since these are the schools that often “meet need,” they want to make sure that they aren’t giving out any more money than they need to. So, CSS PROFILE looks at EVERYTHING…it’s like a full financial exam. Everything can be “on the table”…home equity, etc.</p>
<p>No new information here, but consider yourself lucky you find out now rather than after your D is accepted and you realize you can’t afford anything. I can name at least 5 kids who just applied without consideration for money and ended up dissappointed at the results. We also have a high EFC and kids in private school. For the most part S’s college choices were picked because they had a good dept in what he wanted to major in, he was in the top 25% of applicants, and the school offered good merit aid to those top 25%. He has applied to some expensive schools that will not offer him any money, because of his stats. If he chooses to attend one of those schools then there will be some serious belt buckling around here, but he will be able to attend. We would not let him apply otherwise.</p>
<p>Mizzou U has a very good Journalism program. When I thought my S was leaning in that direction I looked into it. Nice state school. We also found the Jesuit schools gave out nice merit money. There are bargains to be had out there with a little research. </p>
<p>Good luck to you and your D.</p>
<p>but consider yourself lucky you find out now rather than after your D is accepted and you realize you can’t afford anything. I can name at least 5 kids who just applied without consideration for money and ended up disappointed at the results.</p>
<p>It is heart-breaking when this happens. Every year we see it here on CC. I don’t understand how parents let their kids just randomly apply without any thought of funding…but it happens.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My mission since last spring has been to get my S’s Guidance Dept to start educating parents on the cost of college. It has all been to no avail. Drives me crazy that no one ever tells parents to calculate their EFC before they start looking at schools, it is always much higher than people think and do not assume the money side of things will work itself out.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I don’t know why some GC’s stubbornly cling to the idea that schools are going to make every school affordable. Don’t they hear the bad news every spring?</p>
<p>Some school using CSS/PROFILE will make “professional adjustments” for expenses a family pays for caring for elderly parents, private school tuition, a child with special needs, etc. OP, you may be able to make a case for some of those expenses, but I would not necessarily count on it. You’ll need to disclose this info to each school, and be prepared to back it up if requested. Each school will handle it differently.</p>
<p>I went back to work PT (over the protests of my doctor) after five years on unpaid medical leave to pay for college. Everything I make goes to college expenses.</p>
<p>There is no guarantee that colleges will give you free grant $$ as part of your FA package, so our feeling was that even if my income tips us into a higher EFC, we are at least not committing ourselves to more loans than we’d like or limiting our kids’ choices.</p>
<p>Our EFC exceeds the cost of one kid in college. We will have one year where both kids are in college and we might qualify for aid, though I doubt it. We are paying full freight at a private college for D1. Our kids go/went to public HS. We did spend a lot to buy a home in what we thought was a good school district, though budget cuts have really taken their toll. I did the math and concluded that living in a good public school district with 2 or more kids was more cost effective than living in a less expensive area and using private schools. For one kid, the opposite was true. We could not have afforded 4 yrs of both private high school and private college for 2 kids in any event. For day students private school is in the $35K range around the Boston Area. We made the cognizant choice that saving money for private universities was a better idea than sending the kids to private schools. I agree with mom2collegekids that you’ve elected to spend your resources on the private HS. For many that’s an enviable choice in and of itself. You would not be better off with a lower income. Count your blessings.</p>
<p>Adding another voice to the “all my income goes to pay for college” club. That is how we do it.</p>
<p>We are more or less in the OP’s demographic, though for different reasons (two working parents, and lots saved for college over the years). Our EFC came out high, and I could see why–especially because the FAFSA seems to assume that you are willing to spend all your savings on kid # 1, even if you have others coming down the pike. And truth be told, if it had seemed absolutely essential, we could have paid full freight at a $50K school for at least one of our kids if we had been willing to borrow a lot of money (or encourage our kid to borrow a lot of money) and/or scant our retirement savings. But we’re not. It’s a choice, like other consumer choices. For us, our flagship state school (UVA) is working out just fine. It’s full of bright kids and there’s plenty of intellectual challenge for those so inclined.</p>
<p>I’m in the same club as the OP. Jingle - you almost had an invitation to our club. I was with you all the way to “our flagship state school (UVA) is working out just fine.” Sorry, those of you having to choose between UVA and William & Mary or Berkeley and UCLA don’t feel our pain. :)</p>
<p>Seriously, it is a choice as Jingle says, and I feel VERY fortunate to live in a country and in a state that offers those choices. After all, we’re not talking about whether or not our kids will be able to go to college - we’re just talking about how they will go to college.</p>
<p>In our case, it’s particularly tough. One’s just out of undergrad and one’s a college junior at the same place. They went to as special a college and have had as special an experience as can possibly be had. Their brother is now an 11th grader and has similar credentials. But since his sisters went off to college, we’ve inherited real estate that has driven our EFC to just over $50,000. So what to do - cash in our retirement to give him the same opportunity as his sisters or encourage him to look at less costly options? Offer to give him a stake in the savings if he chooses the more budget-friendly route? We don’t yet know the answer.</p>
<p>We are very blessed to live in an area where cost of living is relatively low. And the real estate bubble did not hit hard here. So, our modest home (which we built 20 years ago in the NC woods) is not appraised at some astronomical sum. Thank God for small blessings, LOL.</p>
<p>So I guess the CSS Profile won’t do us in. FAFSA probably will, though.</p>
<p>“the FAFSA seems to assume that you are willing to spend all your savings on kid # 1, even if you have others coming down the pike.”</p>
<p>Oh great. Just what I wanted to hear, LOL.</p>
<p>“It’s a choice, like other consumer choices.” </p>
<p>Eggzackly.</p>
<p>Just to clarify…the 401(k) max on deferrals is $16,500 this year, with an additional $5500 in catch-up contribs if you are over 50. If both spouses can do that and pay for college, more power to you! Otherwise, the only way one could get $40k/yr into a retirement account and FAFSA/PROFILE would care is if one owns a business and is trying to max out contributions. (FAFSA/PROFILE do not care about money your employer contributes on your behalf, other than assessing how underfunded/overfunded you are for retirement.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The COLLEGES might expect you to spend all of your savings if they gap you in aid…but FAFSA assesses assets at 5.6 % (approximately). That is NOT all of your savings on kiddo number one…for four years it’s about 24% of your savings…and that’s if the account earns NO interest. Per FAFSA.</p>
<p>Assuming she’s an okay fit for a large in-state school, you have both UMinn and UWisconsin as options, since your neighbor to the north of you reciprocates with Minnesota in paying in-atate tuition fees for MN residents. Those are both really good state flagship schools.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This is a little OT but I’d like to respond. The high school guidance folks have a lot on their plates just dealing with the thousands of different admissions requirements. Each family’s finances are different AND quite frankly are of NO business to anyone at your high school.</p>
<p>Our guidance department has contracts with someone to do a financial aid presentation annually and they invite parents of 8th graders and up. This is well received and does tell parents the bare essentials of college costs. </p>
<p>BUT our guidance office itself does not offer advice or deal with financial aid at all.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if there is a compilation of non-profile schools (that require FAFSA only and not CSS)?</p>