<p>I have done net calculators for three schools so far, ones that are supposed to give good aid. Our family income is less than 90k.
Stanford: 29,080
Emory: 52,054
Princeton: 28,300</p>
<p>Is there a chance that when the college people actually calculate my financial aid, it will be less? I don't know why our EFC is so high. Should I even apply to these schools? </p>
<p>Is the above what those NPCs are saying that your family has to pay?</p>
<p>If so, then your family has a LOT of assets…or you made some mistakes.</p>
<p>Did you accidentally put your parents’ income or assets into YOUR (the student’s) section?</p>
<p>Tell us what you put in for:</p>
<p>Dad’s income
mom’s income
student’s income
parents’ savings/assets
student’s savings/assets</p>
<p>Do your parents own a business? Did you put a value on that?</p>
<p>Do your parents have a lot of equity in a home?</p>
<p>Do they own OTHER properties?</p>
<p>Yes! I’m glad somebody sees something unusual in those numbers. I was floored when all calculators gave me numbers like these. I put the assets in the correct category. I put 0’s for all the student’s income questions. How much in investment and savings is considered “normal”?</p>
<p>Those numbers aren’t “unusual,” depending on what data you entered. That’s why m2ck asked for what you put in, plus the other questions. Answer her specific questions, and you may get some good answers.</p>
<p>Your parent assets are assessed at about 5.6% of their value for FAFSA purposes. These schools are all Profile schools. Do you have significant primary home equity? That could be factoring into this as well. </p>
<p>If your family assets exceed $200,000, your EFC would increase by $11.200. Did you by any chance put retirement account balances in as assets?</p>
<p>Are your parents business owners? Do they own a restaurant or something else?</p>
<p>Do they own any other real estate besides their home?</p>
<p>is that income their “net income”? Is that the amount that they “draw” from their business to live on? </p>
<p>Or is that their AGI?</p>
<p>Something isn’t right.</p>
<p>Where did you put your college fund? What kind of fund is it?</p>
<p>I also suspect that maybe your parents have their “retirement” money in unprotected accounts.</p>
<p><<<
How much in investment and savings is considered “normal”?</p>
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<p>Well, for married parents, the protected amount is going to be around $45k. So anything more than that is going to start pushing up the family contribution.</p>
<p>Again, I suspect that your parents do not have their retirement money in protected accts.</p>
<p>Try the Harvard calculator. If it gives you about the same as Princeton then it’s probably right.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids
Parent 1’s income: 88k
Parent 2’s income: 0
student’s income:0
parents’ savings/assets: 150k (savings+checking. this does not include TOD, HSA and college funds)
student’s savings/assets:0</p>
<p>Do your parents own a business? Did you put a value on that?
No. My parents run no businesses. </p>
<p>Do your parents have a lot of equity in a home?
No. Nothing worth mentioning.</p>
<p>Do they own OTHER properties?
no. </p>
<p>Do they own any other real estate besides their home?
no.</p>
<p>Or is that their AGI?
It is their AGI. </p>
<p>Where did you put your college fund? What kind of fund is it?
529 plan. </p>
<p>I put 35k for for their untaxed income. This changed the EFC drastically… but it is what our tax forms say… maybe this is the problem? Harvard calculator gives me 10k/yr for EFC, which is way less. But it asks for less information. </p>
<p>@thumper1 I didn’t include any retirement money as assets. </p>
<p>The Harvard NPC will be right for Harvard. The Princeton NPC will be right for Princeton. And the net costs from those schools could be very different.</p>
<p>I believe Emory considers primary home equity more than the other two do. Also, Stanford and Pronceton have much more generous need based aid policies than does Emory. </p>
<p>Are your parents self employed? Do they own a business? Did you include TSA or IRA balances in your assets? Do you (the student) have any money in savings (regular savings, not a 529)? Any money YOU have is assessed at a much higher %age than parent savings…and there is no asset protection allowance for you.</p>
<p>What kind of untaxed income do your parents have?</p>
<p>@thumper1 they are not self-employed. The calculators didn’t ask for IRA balances I do not think.</p>
<p>They are tax-deferred pension plans under our tax forms. I asked my dad about this, because it would mean they save almost half their money to a pension. He says he needs to save lots of retirement right now but he’s not sure about the figure. Could this figure be a mistake?</p>
<p>How much in 529 savings?</p>
<p>@MiddKid86 35k</p>
<p><<<
parents’ savings/assets: 150k (savings+checking. this does not include TOD, HSA and college funds)</p>
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<p>What is the source for that 35k? is that from an inheritance from the TOD?</p>
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<p>What’s TOD? College funds, you said a 529 plan, need to be included in parent assets. Retirement funds, 401ks and IRAs etc,. are excluded.</p>
<p>TOD is Transfer on Death account…I think. </p>
<p>A TOD account allows for the assets remaining in the investment account when the account owner dies to pass to directly to the beneficiaries named by the account owner. </p>
<p>so, if that is viewed as like a Trust, and it is a substantial amount, then it will increase the EFC. It doesn’t matter if that money can’t yet be touched.</p>
<p>TOD is an additional 26k. </p>
<p>Once you add back the discretionary retirement contributions, you’re at $120k of wages and $135k of cash on hand. That’s close enough to the numbers I’ve plugged into NPCs myself that the EFC you’re getting sounds right to me. $120k wages + elective deferrals and $100k of cash on hand comes out to ~$40k at all but the most generous schools, where it’s more like $20k.</p>
<p>@allyphoe what do you mean by discretionary retirement contributions? </p>
<p>So they expect us to comfortably pay 40k/yr for my college education? </p>