so five out of the seven schools my son applied to only ask basic questions in their NPCs. In/out of state, # in household, how many in college, income range, your age, living on/off campus, if you have dependents, if you’re married…think that’s it.
How accurate can they be then if they don’t take into account your assets, home equity and the other questions asked on the FAFSA? Which figures will be more accurate?
Oh I’m so confused…
The net price calculators give good estimates only.
The less they ask, the less accurate they might be…especially if you have significant assets.
The only real financial aid award is the one you actually receive from the college.
P.S. I’ve only checked a small number of NPCs and all of them included assets.
And fafsa doesn’t ask about home equity for your primary residence.
(This OP doesn’t have primary residence home equity).
Were these schools publics? If so, they may be just determining whether you’d get Pell, because that may be the only need based aid that is offered besides work study and loans.
Which schools were these?
Well…even the FAFSA uses assets in determining Pell eligibility. The OP has significant assets.
And the net price calculators are NOT accurate for folks who own real estate that is not their primary resicence.
I just wondered why they didn’t have more in depth calculators on their website…not to bring my own situation in the mix…that’s not why I posted this question. Co school of mines and GT come to mind…yes they are both public. Only private schools I have found ask for more detailed info, and I’ve only checked a few so far. I always thought too that privates were the only ones asking for CSS Profile, but I have also run across one public that asked for it too. Just trying to understand it all.
UVA, UNC-CH and UMich all use the Profile, I believe. They are all publics.
Ok so that’s evidently a myth I read somewhere in one of the many college books I read. Interesting.
There are about 300 schools that use the CSS Profile. The three above are the only publics which use it as well.
Good reason too. All three guarantee to meet full need for all accepted IN state students. UNC and UVA meet full need for all accepted OOS students as well. These very generous schools take a much more in depth look at family finances. I believe these are the only public universities that guarantee to meet full need for admitted students.
U Arizona is using CSS Profile on a case by case basis.
@Rdtsmith are you saying that those minimalist NPCs were not asking about savings/assets??
Well...even the FAFSA uses assets in determining Pell eligibility
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Absolutely…I would be surprised if these NPCs don’t ask about savings-assets.
Correct! They are what sent me on my wild goose chase!
And the FAFSA 4 caster doesn’t ask about assets either.
William & Mary also uses the Profile.
@Rdtsmith
FAFSA4Caster does include assets. Right after it asks for income, it gives an “assumed assets” based on that income that you can correct to what YOUR assets are…so yes, assets are used on FAFSA4caster.
How many people are in your parents’ household?
While you are in college, how many people in your parents’ household will be college students? (Include yourself)
Have your parents filed taxes recently?
Yes No
What was your parents’ adjusted gross income from the most recent tax return?
$120.000
We use asset information to estimate your eligibility. Based on the information you’ve entered, we have assumed the following amount for your parents’ asset net worth.
$58,000.
^^^^^ this is where you check the box so that you can put in the amount of your total assets (not including retirement or primary home equity)
Oh yes I see the box now. Was not showing up on my iPad for some reason so went on the desktop but still five out of seven schools NPCs do not include assets and yes these are all public schools.
Unless these public universities meet full need…really all they would be offering you for sure is the $5500 Direct Loan…and whatever amount of the Pell Grant for which you are entitled.
The NPCs for all schools should include asset questions if they consider them in fin aid awards. If they do not, it is a failing of their NPC and they should be so notified, as those calculators can come out way off for some using them.
That we have NPCs for use is a relatively new development and they are not “bug free”. The ones that ask for the most info, that meet full need, that do not have merit awards, tend to be the more accurate ones.
It might depend on the iPad. On my iPad, which is what I used, it shows up but in a light colored font.
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but still five out of seven schools NPCs do not include assets and yes these are all public schools.
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which ones?
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but still five out of seven schools NPCs do not include assets and yes these are all public schools.
How accurate can they be then if they don’t take into account your assets, home equity and the other questions asked on the FAFSA? Which figures will be more accurate?
I am so confused.
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As you already know, FAFSA doesn’t ask for the equity of a home that you live in. Any equity from your rentals would just be added into assets. I want to see these NPCs that don’t ask for assets…that is so weird.
I don’t think you need to worry at all. You already know that your EFC is way too high for all these schools so just rest-assured that all your child will be offered at these publics will be a student loan…and any merit that he’d qualify for.
Can you tell us what you hope to learn from these NPCs when you already know that your EFC is way too high?
I think you are getting yourself all upset and worked up unnecessarily. You have a strong income, your have very high assets, you will only have one in college…you’ll be full freight at all schools except MAYBE a small bit of aid at a school like HYPS…but even at those aid would be unlikely with all those assets and 2 rentals.