<p>With the rising costs of college I've become increasingly nervous about paying for college. I'm the type of person who really hates when others (including my parents) spend copious amounts of money on me. College will probably be the single most expensive thing that they will put their money towards at one time (in terms of myself), especially since all of the schools I'm applying to are small LAC's where there really aren't any merit based scholarships.
My parents divorced a long time ago when my brother went to college (I split time at both houses), and for the most part my father has to finance both households. While he may have a high income, his house has an extremely high mortgage (he kept the same house to keep some stability in my life, but he had to buy it over again so that it would just be in his name) and he has to pay alimony every month. Both of my parents are interested in applying for financial aid but several of their friends apparently have said that it'd be unlikely that I'd receive any due to how much money my father makes (I have no actual idea how much it really is). I'm not sure if they know about his mortgage, etc. Do you think I'd receive any at all?</p>
<p>First, you should have a frank discussion soon with your parents about what they think they can and will contribute towards your college education. Once you have that information, you will be in a much better position to make decisions about college choices.</p>
<p>Re: financial aid. The cost of your mortgage (or any other consumer debt, for that matter) is not factored into the financial aid equation. Consumer debt of all kinds is considered a choice. So..that your dad has an extremely high mortgage payment will not be considered at all in the finaid calculations (the cost of an expensive car payment isn't considered either...or high credit card debt, or any other consumer debt). It sounds like you are applying to colleges that require both the FAFSA and the Profile for financial aid consideration. If that is the case, the Profile does require that all assets and income from both parents be reported. This would include income, savings, and home equity for both of your parents (and spouses, if they have spouses at this time). If both of your parent own homes, the home equity in those homes is also factored into the financial aid calculations for schools using the Profile.</p>
<p>Now...schools using only the FAFSA will only want the income and assets of your custodial parent (and spouse, if there is one), but not your non-custodial parent.</p>
<p>Re: your dad's refinancing in his own name...I don't know (nor do I want to know) his financial situation. BUT when you refinance to put a property in your own name, you do NOT have to take on additional mortgage debt...in other words, you are just taking a mortgage out for the balance of the "old" mortgage.</p>
<p>I do think the most important thing you can do is talk to your parents about college costs and their contribution for you. AND also, you should consider adding some financial safety schools to your list if you haven't already done so. These would be schools that you would be happy to attend, but are affordable for your family. Typically, these are instate public universities. BUT they could be smaller schools where you would be eligible for significant merit aid.</p>
<p>Also, it's really worth it for your parents to run some numbers. There are a variety of financial aid calculators <a href="http://www.finaid.org/calculators/%5B/url%5D">http://www.finaid.org/calculators/</a> that will estimate your efc (which is most important for schools that meet full need) and we found them to be pretty accurate.</p>