We submitted the CSS profile for S23 in October, but we just (process moved much faster than we expected) took out a $50K home equity(-ish) loan to make modifications to make our house wheelchair accessible for a younger child. <If it matters, that decreases our equity by ~20%.>
S23 hasn’t received any admission decisions, let alone financial aid packages. For the schools that use the Profile, should he make some kind of update to the home equity part? Or is it too late/not important enough to deal with?
Whether or not a home equity update is even worth the time and effort will depend in part on the schools involved. Some Profile schools (a relatively small number) do not even consider home equity when calculating institutional need-based aid. Most of the other Profile schools cap the amount of home equity used in the calculation based on a formula that usually has something to do with family income, for instance, capping home equity in an EFC calculation at 1.2 times family income.
No I wouldn’t report anything. You’ll have a chance to update things next year. By then you’ll likely have spent the 50k so it won’t be in savings any longer.
It actually isn’t in savings either. It is a state government home modification loan program where we take out the loan, and a government approved agency holds the money and pays the contractor as the work is done. We have a lien against the house which we have to pay off either when we sell the house, or when our disabled child moves out.
It sounds like this is being done to accommodate your disabled youngster. That being the case, you might want to consider contacting the colleges about a special circumstances consideration. It might reduce your family contribution…this is not a home “improvement”. It’s a home necessity.
If you have ongoing medical expenses for family member, you can see if the colleges you are applying to will look at atypical medical expenses as an offset against income. Usually this needs to be done after acceptance, but it might be worth looking into. Often the forms are on the college’s financial aid page.
Yes, I would at least list it on the special circumstances section. That way, even if a college doesn’t consider home value, it may still help you with financial aid. Good luck!
@CheetahBee a special circumstances consideration is different than listing something on the Profile. The special circumstances consideration is a review done by the financial aid department and it can sometimes help reduce the family contribution when there are extenuating circumstances.
This family would need to contact each college to find out IF this is something they would consider, and the process for doing so.
Yes, each school should be contacted about this. It’s possible that some schools may take into consideration costs associated with the sibling’s care, too, so it’s worth having a chat with financial aid folks at the schools.
Yes, given the situation I agree with contacting the FA offices directly. (If it were just a home equity loan I wouldn’t, but there’s a decent chance of some sort of special consideration here).
Is that available in the online version of the current FAFSA? I ask because there is no place on the paper version of FAFSA to add special circumstances.
I believe the special circumstances section is only available on the CSS Profile. For FAFSA-only schools, I think the applicant has to contact each school and ask how to report the information. And for CSS Profile schools, I recommend following up with the schools even if it is added to the special circumstances section of the Profile.
For a special circumstances consideration, it’s important to know the process as soon as possible. Schools have varying procedures for this. And some don’t do special circumstances considerations at all.
If it were me, I would be reaching out to the colleges to at least find out if this situation is one they would consider and then process (which would include the timing)
The new regulation is that schools are no longer allowed to say that they do not do reviews for professional judgment. In reality, this does not mean that schools will adjust anything based on a review … it just means that they are required to offer a review process & schools are required to look at the request for review. It does mean, though, that each school will have a process in place, which should be on the website somewhere (or at least available upon request).
The reason I suggested the order I did is that it allows for more room to negotiate by contacting the FA office afterwards via an appeals process when you have acceptance in hand. You should be able to find out about FA offices considerations via the web.
We did this, and it was effective for us resulting in an additional 6-10k of aid at DC’s final two choices.
A special circumstances consideration is different than a financial aid award appeal. Very different.
This family has an extenuating circumstance which could result in a lower family contribution. Some schools will consider this sooner than after admission.