I was looking at some school and one of them required a CSS profile along with the FAFSA.
My mom recently sold the apartment for around $360,000 and now we just have that sitting in her savings account. My family’s income is very low, not more than $23,000 a year. I know with so much money in the bank, I’m not going to receive great aid. Does anyone have any advice on what to do?
If your mother is planning to buy another property, do that before filing.
It the home purchase doesn’t happen until afte the FAFSA is filed, you can ask for professional judgment after the initial aid package comes out. Some places may be able to adjust your aid package to take into account the fact that money was there on day of filing, but disappeared shortly after for a home purchase.
^^ If that’s the case, I’d just wait to file the FAFSA.
Your assets won’t count at all if you are eligible for what’s called a simplified means test. Your parents’ income is less than $50k, so chances are you are. If you already get free or reduced-price lunch at school you are automatically eligible for the simplified means test. If your parents file their taxes on an IRS Form 1040A or 1040EZ you are eligible.
The FAFSA isn’t the issue IF this student also fulfill one of the following in addition to low income.
OR
OR
If the above apply, the assets would not be counted on the FAFSA…as the student would qualify for the simplified needs test.
BUT there is no simplified needs test for the CSS Profile and those assets will need to be reported.
Note that you would not be expected to use the entire amount toward college. You’d be expected to use about 5% of your parents’ assets per year. If I were in your position, I’d also ask for professional judgment. Your parent would have to write a letter explaining that the $360k is from the recent sale of a home, that you’ve always had difficult circumstances as a low-income family, and that you expect to purchase another home (if that’s true). It may or may not work.
Is professional judgement offered at Lehigh, Lafayette, or Northeastern?
Right now, my family is at a temporary residence (my grandparents’ home) waiting to find the right apartment for them.
Professional judgement is done on a case by case basis. You can contact the college to see what their procedure is.
Some schools will consider this…and some won’t. I believe all schools “can” do professional judgement…but since it is done on a case by case basis, there is no way to know if yours will be considered.
Here is the reality…you SAY you are looking to spend that money on a new place…but the reality is…you might never do that.
Is there any chance your family could look a little more quickly…the deadlines for completing your FAFSA are likely not until after the first of the year. That’s more than three months from now…
I don’t know the answer to this, but could living with grandparents work against this student? Of course the 2017 tax documents will be used for Fafsa. But for the question about who lives in the household, she’ll have to say she’s living with the grandparents, and therefore there’s more income available.
The grandparents are not her parents. Even living with them, the student does NOT report the grandparent income on the FAFSA or Profile forms.
We might be able to find an apartment, but usually doesn’t closing the apartment take a month or so?
Also, my grandparents are unemployed and they’re living off of benefits and retirement funds.
Finding an apartment/condo does usually take more than a month to close, but you can wait to file the FAFSA too. You do not HAVE to file on Oct. 1
Here is the FAFSA formula for 2019-2020. Print it out, and run the numbers with your mom so you can see what affect the apartment sale money has on your eligibility for federal aid.
https://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/1920EFCFormulaGuide.html