<p>family of 5, both my brother and sister graduated college and live away from home, my parents adjusted gross income is $39000, value of the home is approx 950k and my parents owe about 200k in mortgage making the equity 750k, and liquid assets (savings/checkings) are around 8400</p>
<p>how did the EFC come out to be 31000 ??? with my parents income that is pretty much impossible to pay..with the federal methodology though the EFC comes out to be 0... i am confused like no other</p>
<p>btw i am currently filling out the CSS Profile and one of the blanks is
"Enter the amount your parents think they will be able to pay for your 2009-2010 college expenses."</p>
<p>Are you putting your info into an EFC calculator to get that figure? Your family size is 3 if you are the only child currently supported at least 50% by your parents, by the way. </p>
<p>The $750,000 equity in the house may have caused the high EFC for institutional methodology. I am not familiar enough with IM to know if this would be the case. It still seems high to me, but others may be able to provide more insight. </p>
<p>You may have entered some info incorrectly.</p>
<p>As for what your parents can pay, just put a number they think they can afford to pay next year. It really doesn't make much difference ... the school will let you know what they should pay, regardless of what you put on the Profile!</p>
<p>Thanks kels, on the Penn Financial Aid Supplement it also asks the estimated resources from my parents income/assets... based on the figures i mentioned above what would you say would be a reasonable amount that i should put down on both forms?</p>
<p>You say that under federal methodology, the EFC is 0. THe institutional methodology is taking into account the home equity and savings. You need to look for schools that either cap the home equity amounts or not take them into consideration. You also need to double check if that is indeed your home equity in this market. Also, what kind of aid did your siblings get when they applied to college?</p>
<p>I agree that you may need to concentrate on schools that are FAFSA only or ones that cap the home equity amount. Your family income is quite low, but many Profile schools will expect your parents to tap into their home equity to help pay for school. This may not even be something they could do if they wanted to in the current financial environment. </p>
<p>You honestly will not know what a particular Profile school will expect in terms of family contribution until you get their financial aid award letter. For this reason, I would suggest finding a couple FAFSA only and/or capped home equity Profile schools so that you will have some good financial options. Remember that even with a 0 EFC, schools may not meet your need (or if they do, there might be a lot of loans). Make sure you have a true financial safety! Go ahead & apply to Penn even if they don't cap home equity (RD only!) ... they may give you a good financial aid package. Just don't get your heart set on Penn or any other school just in case the financial aid offer isn't good enough.</p>
<p>Another thought: Make sure you do NOT check the box that says your parents are eligible to file a 1040A or 1040EZ on the FAFSA. They are not, if they owe $200,000 on the house & are writing off interest income. If you check this incorrectly, you will get an incorrect EFC, due to your parents' income (an alternate formula would be used, but you don't qualify if your parents filed a 1040).</p>
<p>kelsmom is right about applying to a range of schools, including FAFSA only schools, but definitely get your application into Penn too. They may well cap the equity in your parents' home at some percentage of their income. I don't know for certain what their policy on that is, but like kelsmom said, you won't really know until you get back an aid offer from them. The calulators available online are generic ones, and they aren't able to apply the specific policies of a given school.</p>
<p>Alternately, you could just call the Penn FA office and ask that question about the treatment of home equity for lower income families... if you want more information prior to applying.</p>
<p>As for the question on the CSS Profile about what your parents are willing to pay... I just used our federal methodology EFC. But it probably doesn't matter too much what you put, they'll come to their own figure by applying their own policies. (It's a strange question and is confusing to so many people every year!)</p>
<p>Are you sure the information is correct? Because I don't see how your parents can pay a mortgage of 200K plus property taxes on an income of 39K</p>
<p>"...on the Penn Financial Aid Supplement it also asks the estimated resources from my parents income/assets... based on the figures i mentioned above what would you say would be a reasonable amount that i should put down on both forms?"</p>
<p>You should ask your parents what THEY think they can pay! Don't just make up a figure that you think will look good. Get a number from them. They may not be in a position to shell out one single cent of their income/assets.</p>
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You need to look for schools that either cap the home equity amounts or not take them into consideration.
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<p>This is the solution. My son goes to a private college that uses FAFSA and does not consider home equity in awarding FA. The meet 100% of demonstrated need too. This would be ideal for your situation.</p>
<p>I know a lot of low income folks who got a low interest rate mortgage that they can afford. If the mortgage is adjustable and due for an increase, problems are on the way. That is part of the foreclosure problem we are now experiencing. My cousin qualified for a $400k mortgage several years ago on an income less than $39K. She bought a place for $200k, with low property taxes, but she is really struggling now to make the payments. Her son and his friend live in the house and pay rent that is not reported which does help out.</p>
<p>thanks for all the input guys, I definitely am considering schools that consider only the FAFSA (like SUNYs for example), but my question is.. since Penn and a bunch of other ivys (maybe other schools too that im not aware of) have that new program starting 2009-2010 where they eliminate loans and replace them with grants for low income families, could this help me a lot in terms of how much my parents have to pay per year?</p>
<p>nycexsteve...what does the above refer to? It looks like you are replying to my question about paying for a $200,000 mortgage on a <$40K income. Are you the OP posting under two names? Or am I missing something here.</p>
<p>Regardless..."unreported income" needs to be reported on the FAFSA and Profile. And it's supposed to be reported on your taxes too...unless it's something like babysitting money.</p>