some financial aid questions

Paying for College
1

<p>Basically- 40k or so income, mom has regular job & dad is self-employed, and parents got inheritance money a few years ago. I'll be a first generation college student. I have a sister who is going to be a sophmore next year. </p>

<p>Rough estimation: (mom doesn't want to fill the form out, so its an approx. guess)</p>

<p>Total Estimated FM Contribution = $ 11,000
Total Estimated IM Contribution = $ 33,000</p>

<p>ok, so FM=FAFSA and CSS=IM? I think..</p>

<p>I'm kind of confused here. Some of the schools I'm looking at are CSS Profile schools. Does that mean that I won't get much financial aid at those schools? Thats what it seems like... Or do some schools require the CSS but use the FM method? I don't know if I should not consider a school because it uses the CSS profile or not.</p>

<p>Any advice would be helpful, thanks :)</p>

2

<p>What's the diff, home equity or a small business?</p>

3

<p>Sorry, I don't understand what you're asking...</p>

<p>But, my parents owe nothing on our house. And my dad is a computer guy, he works from home or goes to offices.</p>

4

<p>how much is your house worth? also IM does not allow all the self employed person's deductions.</p>

5

<p>to get an accurate idea of what the EFC is going to be, your mother really needs to sit down with the paperwork and fill out the finaid calculators with real numbers. These are some of the best: <a href="http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>There is frequently a big gap in EFC between IM and FM, and you are correct -- schools that require the Profile us the IM method. </p>

<p>You may find that you need to restrict your schools to those where only the FAFSA is used or where you would qualify for merit aid.</p>

6

<p>Our house is 400k, or around there. I don't know exactly. </p>

<p>I'll try asking her to fill it out, but Mom doesn't really want to, and she hates to talk about paying for college and stuff...</p>

<p>thanks for the responses :)</p>

7

<p>"But, my parents owe nothing on our house."
"Our house is 400k, or around there."</p>

<p>That is the difference - home equity.</p>

8

<p>Ok...</p>

<p>So, if a college uses FAFSA and CSS but one of the factors that they don't consider is equity in the primary home of residence, then what? Is my EFC still high?</p>

9

<p>If you are applying to a college that uses the CSS, then it sounds as if your EFC will be quite high, due to the equity in your family's home. Only applying to schools that DO NOT use the CSS is your best bet, if you are wanting maximum financial aid.</p>

10

<p>Thats what I thought, thanks :)</p>