<p>^A family may be living in a $1 million+ home, but have very little equity in it. (There’s a lot of that situation around these days.) If a family does have $1 million in home <em>equity</em>, I entirely doubt that their student will be on grant-based aid, though they may receive favorable loan terms since that home equity may be temporarily inaccessible. If a financial aid officer from Harvard or Yale tells me that they do actually give lots of grant aid to families with $1 million in home equity–even if the rest of their assets are typical for the families’ income level–I will then believe it, but will consider it pretty perverse.</p>
<p>^^I’ve talked to the financial aid officers at Harvard for 4 years. Home equity even if its 1 million is not counted - plain and simple- this is a fact.</p>
<p>^^ as a matter of fact - your view is the exact opposite of what would happen. A family living in a million dollar house with little equity would likely have a much higher income that 180k in order to pay the mortgage. They would definitely not qualify.</p>
<p>^Not necessarily–in this market some families may find themselves in million-dollar houses they thought they could support but now find themselves with much diminished income since the recession began. (They may remain in those houses for a long time, since banks don’t necessarily want to foreclose in every case, and can’t keep up with the load of cases in which they do want to foreclose.) In any case, I am going to call H and Y’s financial aid offices myself and put the question directly to them. If they tell me that they don’t pay any attention whatsoever to home equity no matter how high the figure, I will ask them what should keep families from using pricey homes as Swiss bank account-equivalents so that they can make themselves appear needy and get grants which would otherwise be available for genuinely needy families. I’ll let you know what I find out.</p>
<p>You can ask all you want, I’ve been through this for 4 years.</p>
<p>Been there, done that. You don’t have to let me know! - we’re done.</p>
<p>^I’ll still report back in case others are interested to hear the reply, and any context that the financial aid officers may present with it. I’m glad things worked out well for you, DocT. I have no personal stake in this myself, but the policy sounds rather manipulable so I am curious to learn more about how it is actually applied in a variety of scenarios.</p>
<p>It was always manipulable. When I was in school 40 years ago, parents pulled this nonsense purposely.</p>
<p>zenkoan, I know a lot of people, not just on CC, that would be very interested in what you’re going to find out. Thanks for trying to figure this out!</p>
<p>^Sure thing, sic_infit. And yes DocT, there have always been parents who game the system. However, the top colleges are now, at least ostensibly, more dedicated to equitable access than they were 40 years ago, and so I am interested to learn how the implementation of these policies helps accomplish that objective (or not). Cheers.</p>
<p>[Project</a> on Student Debt: Financial Aid Pledges](<a href=“http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php]Project”>http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php)</p>
<p>The Project On Student Debt is a great independent site for comparing financial aid at differing institutions. On the home page, select BOTTOM LINE for the spreadsheet.</p>
<p>zenkoan, what did you find out from the Harvard financial aid office?</p>
<p>^I’ve tried to get someone in H’s financial aid office on the phone both yesterday and today, and have hit a recurring loop of prerecorded announcements each time with no option to speak to a live person. I suppose they are keeping summer hours. I will continue to try; maybe I can get patched through indirectly via another administrative office there.</p>
<p>This is what the Harvard viewbook says on its financial aid page:
Unfortunatley it seems like all assets besides a wealthy family’s million dollar home are counted in expected contribution.</p>
<p>If for example, one’s parents have a $1 million (which they own outright), but their combined income is <$30,000, is it likely they shall get the full financial aid package (given home equity isn’t considered and all other things taken aside)?</p>
<p>Just wanted to check back in to say that I still haven’t been given an opportunity to discuss the nuances (if any) of the home equity exclusion with a live person. Each call to the financial aid office results in an endless loop of a taped message that asks if the caller would like to leave a message for a student, or speak with a receptionist. When I opt for the receptionist, in the hopes of being put through to a FA officer, the recorded loop starts up again. I’m going to make a note on my calendar to try again in a couple of weeks when more people may be around in anticipation of fall semester starting. I’ll let you know what they tell me when I pose my hypothetical question about enormous amounts of home equity in a family with current income below $180K, and otherwise typical assets for such a family. Ciao.</p>