<p>I would like to see how well the new financial aid policy is working for high income applicants, say in the $150K plus range. If you got in, please weigh in with your approx. income range and financial aid amount. Is your cost of attending really capped at around 10% of income?</p>
<p>that’s based on if your parents hold “typical assets” for someone of that pay. my parents make around 180k but we own two houses so I recieved in 26k in grant money (so I have to pay 26k instead of 18k, but still not a bad deal at all)</p>
<p>Any other feedback?</p>
<p>depends on your assets. Apparently i have very atypical assets so the 10% rule didnt apply to me :(</p>
<p>My parents earn in the 150 K range, but we have two houses (both mortgaged heavily) totaling about 1 million and another 1 million in stocks/bonds, etc. I got 22 K a year in grants, so my parents are paying 30 K.
It’s an interesting question, actually. I have a sister who is applying to colleges next year and is of the academic caliber that she will definitely be accepted to some elite private schools, hopefully even Harvard. I understand that they recalculate aid every year to take into account new circumstances. Will the “new circumstance” of a second child in college lower her expected family contribution or mine?</p>
<p>could someone explain me how grants work?is it different from loan?do u have to pay the grant money back?</p>
<p>Grant Money = Free Money. No pay back.</p>
<p>thanks…</p>
<p>“Will the “new circumstance” of a second child in college lower her expected family contribution or mine?”</p>
<p>Yes, as a general rule, both EFCs will drop substantially.</p>
<p>Hi Millerl1te,</p>
<p>I noticed you in the parent thread too. I sent my tax late so won’t get my Fin Aid package in about two weeks but really want to know what the range the aid may be. Can you elabrate on what’s kind of aid one may get based on your experience when AGI is around $180k with atypical asset? If you feel uncomfortable to state it here, you can email me or I can send my financial # and let you estimate what my aid might be. </p>
<p>Thanks you very much.</p>
<p>sent you an email jpxjlrdcc</p>
<p>jpxjlrdcc: It depends on in what way your AGI is 180K and how many children you have. If by atypical assets means high amount of assets, I doubt you will get financial aid.</p>
<p>how atypical do your assets be to trump the rule?</p>
<p>and is 180K really narrow? i.e. 181-182K not work?</p>
<p>Medkid06: I don’t know and I doubt anybody knows as it is highly dependent on personal circumstances. I’m sure you can make less than 180k and not get any financial aid. As an extreme example, I doubt if someone who’s only income is 150k a year from CD’s earning 3% a year is going to get anything.</p>
<p>I would guess however that if you make 180k and have enough money in a nonretirement account to pay for 4 years of college that you would get 0 aid.</p>
<p>When I spoke to FA I asked about the 10% and was told that they add back in to AGI several items to “even the playing field”. They add back in: contributions to retirement plans; contributions to flexible spending accounts; the deduction for tuition (for other children in college); Schedule C deductions for a home office and car use. And probably other items that were not relevant to me. Then there is also the “typical assets” thing.<br>
And yes, having another kid in college does reduce your contribution but don’t expect Harvard to half it if you are within the income ranges where they cap the parental contribution. There seems to be a magical mystery formula!</p>
<p>Our income calculated at ~175 K based on 1040 AGI with deferred comp added back. Assets were about 50K regular savings, maybe 150 home equity, and a few 100K in retirement accounts. Parent contribution to tuition, room & board was 17,500. So the 10% is for real at this level. The FAFSA process kicked out much higher numbers for us, so the 10% policy was a godsend.</p>
<p>It looks as though kids’ own income/assets are then separately assessed to arrive at a total bill. In our case this added a few 1000 on top of the 17,500.</p>
<p>Whatever the magical factor is, it isn’t obvious. Home equity doesn’t count and 50k in savings is insufficient to pay for more than 1 year and thus I would expect that you would have qualified for aid.</p>