<p>Mom2 most colleges cap the principal residence home equity used in the financial aid calculation. Some schools don’t use any home equity in the primary residence at all (yes…even some Profile schools).</p>
<p>Not having a mortgage won’t matter at all…think of it this way…would a family with a $200 rental have a different financial aid calculation than one with a $2000 mortgage? No! The only difference is that when you have a mortgage, your taxable income is reduced between the interest and real estate taxes. But I don’t think this affects the AGI which is what is used for financial aid calculations.</p>
<p>It will also make a difference how “modest” your income is. You refer to it being under $100,000. To me, anywhere close to $100,000 is not modest, so that range combined with the high assets would probably make need based FA unlikely.</p>
<p>In the Federal calculation, the income range of $100k alone would be far to high for any Federal grant aid. The pell is for low income people earning probably less than half that for minimum Pell and less than that for full Pell.</p>
<p>Home equity loans for education…applaud you for not having a mortgage, but you have many means to pay for college.</p>
<p>My recurring and last comments to the OP:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Any need based FA will likely only come as Institutional aid from highly selective colleges.</p></li>
<li><p>Run the NPCs. All of our opinions are fine, but we don’t have your exact financial information. The calculators will give you the best idea of what you might receive and are free to run. So why not use them?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Apply to a variety of schools, some FAFSA, some Profile, see where your best deal it. Be sure to include merit aid schools both FAFSA & Profile. When the situation is complex, it is difficult to predict and you may see big differences in aid packages</p>
<p>@entomom, thanks for the link to Stanford defining ‘typical’ assets. I have never seen such clearly illustrated example.</p>