<p>While I'm happy that I don't have to do the Profile (again), I'm not happy that my home equity loan will NOT be taken into consideration for DD's finaid renewal for next year. The reality is that this year, with both kids in college, we DID use that home equity for some college expenses (and one other large expense) and it would have helped, I think, if the colleges saw that our equity in our home has been reduced, and our mortgage debt increased. The basis for DD's freshman aid was made using both the Profile and the FAFSA. AND I understand the Profile also deals with graduate school sibs while the FAFSA does not. So...whine whine whine....I'm glad I don't have to do the stinking form, but I do think it is going to have a very negative impact on DD's meager finaid award.</p>
<p>Is this one of the schools that only requires Profile the first year and not for renewals? I don't understand the logic of that. I get to do one every year. It seems that if that info was important to the school for year 1 it would be important in years 2 and forward.</p>
<p>Yes...this is a school that requires only the FAFSA only for ALL finaid renewals but required the Profile for entering freshmen. I can understand this reasoning for merit aid...they might want to see if a student qualified for any "free" federal money first. But for folks like me, I think it's just a way to justify reduced finaid the subsequent years (not taking as much into consideration). I do wish the colleges took into consideration that some folks (like me) are spending every nickel of their income on college expenses and have done so for four years for DS and this year for DD as well. It seems like they should realize that saving for subsequent years is impossible and that dipping into home equity can be a reality.Honestly, we've been very lucky and have very little new debt...but you know what I mean...we have NO new savings...NONE. And that won't be happening until DD graduates.</p>