It asks for a “parent contribution in dollars,” but my parents don’t know how much they’ll be paying. What do I do?
Likewise, it asks for the value of the business my father owns, but I’m unsure of how to come up with that. Help?
Ask your parents to provide their best estimate.
Ask your father how much he thinks his business is worth.
They keep saying “whatever you don’t get in financial aid.” But they expect me to get at least a little bit. Should I just put down in state costs?
In terms of that business…make sure it is a reasonable value. Don’t make up some low number if that really isn’t the business value.
Have you asked your parents what you should put down as an answer for that question? They will have a much better idea than strangers on an internet forum. Show them the question and make sure they know that you need to answer with a specific dollar amount; you can’t just answer with “whatever I don’t get in financial aid.”
@BelknapPoint I’ve made that very clear to them, and they aren’t answering. They do not know. They have no estimate.
They need an estimate for you to complete this form…and it needs to be a decent one…especially the value of the business.
They want to know what your parents can pay each year, theoretically that number would be in the neighborhood of what the FAFSA EFC reports unless you have some exceptional medical expenses or such that aren’t really taken into account. Some of the top schools also give a bit of credit if you have siblings in private schools. If they think you can afford $50K and you put down that you can only pay $10K it’s not like they will only charge you $10K. They do seem to try and accomodate a reasonable estimate as long as it is backed up by the financial info you submit. The business value really probably needs to come from the accountant who does the business finances.
You do not have to put much of the “Good Will” part of the valuation into your parents business, what they are looking for the hard assets part of the business. The business income will be reflected in your parents personal returns.
Basically they will calculate the Affordability of your application and assign the “financial aid” part of the equation.
If you have much hard assets and a 529 account, do not expect much aid from the school.
I have a 2nd year at UChicago and we actually have a substantial amount in 529s for all 3 of our kids but since they are a parent asset they don’t penalize you too harshly for that. Business assets I have no idea how that will affect you. We also have a paid off house that has appreciated a lot but they didn’t seem to care about that much either. Every school does things a bit differently though.
The value of the primary resident does not count in the equation, no matter how valuable it is. But they will count all the other hard assets and income.
I realize this thread is older but I just completed the Worksheet for my S. I answered the questions using the instructions from the FAFSA as a guide. We have a family business that I had to address as well so I looked to the instructions for the FAFSA question #92 as a reference. I then called the College Aid office at the university to run my assumptions past them to make sure I was on the right track. I got through right away to a staff member and he couldn’t have been more helpful. I suggest you do the same, it may take some of the guess work out the process for you. Good luck!