@billcsho we are above that income level, I am aware of that particular free tuition initiative, just curious how rich they are going to think we are and if they bridge the gap between our FAFSA EFC and COA like my daughter thinks they will. Guess we just wait another week or so and see!
U Of Michigan uses the CSS Profile to determine the awarding of institutional need based aid…your FAFSA EFC is not what is used.
Did you run the net price calculator? It will be accurate if you are not self employed…don’t own real estate other than your primary residence and the parents are married.
But the FAFSA EFC? Not what Michigan uses.
@thumper1 yes, I know they utilize the CSS profile at Michigan, but does that mean they don’t even look at your EFC from FAFSFA, as they do have access to that also? We definitely ran the NPC for all the schools my daughter applied to well beforehand (it pretty much shows MI and MI State costing the same, but State has so far given better scholarship/merit awards). I will just wait and see what they come up with, or don’t, as the case may be. Forgive my ignorance, this is our first kid heading to college. I am learning from everyone else’s questions.
@3js3ks If you have no complicated financial or family situation, their NPC is pretty accurate. Don’t rely on the FAFSA EFC although it may be similar to the UMich EFC from the NPC quite often. Some financial consultant called UMich 50% grant school as almost half the financial aid for in state students would be in grant.
<<but does="" that="" mean="" they="" don’t="" even="" look="" at="" your="" efc="" from="" fafsfa,="">>>>>
A css profile school will use fafsa to determine if the student qualifies for fed aid…such as Pell Grant if a very low EFC.
A student could qualify for a Pell Grant thru fafsa, but the school’s calculations using css profile could indicate that the student gets nothing else. For example, if a student’s family has a low income but a lot of assets. Using FAFSA, the EFC may be zero, because assets are ignored…but css profile will use those assets and the school may calculate that the family should pay 25k per year.
Warn your daughter that the FAFSA EFC is not what umich will be using.
When colleges talk about “assets,” does that include the primary residence?
Some colleges using the CSS Profile, or their own form…DO include a portion of primary home equity in their calculations.
Even the primary home equity info is on the CSS profile, each school would have a different way to look at it. UMich allows a rather large amount of equity protection.
Michigan wants out of state students that can pay full freight. They want to reserve their aid for their own states taxpayers. They aren’t going to go out of their way to give you FA.
The CSS profile and the school’s own institutional form will have a section that specifically asks about your primary residence and they will ask for a break down of your assets
<<<<<<. When colleges talk about “assets,” does that include the primary residence? >>>
If it’s a css profile school, then usually yes. Only a few css schools exclude home equity.
Nearly all css schools look to see if the family has a lot of equity that could be tapped to help pay for college.
<<<<@mom2collegekids I’m very lucky in that my parents are going to pay for my entire tuition. They are willing to give as much or as little as I need.>>>
You have a FAFSA EFC of only 12k which suggests an income of around 75k. The fact that your parents are saying that they will pay for your entire tuition to the schools that you’ve applied to suggests that either they have protected assets or your parents take a lot of deductions that css profile uncovers.
That said, again, if you’re serious about going to med school…are you?..then don’t go to those schools. You’d be better off going to Uminn.
In case anyone is stalking this thread, I ended up getting a sizable grant, which made UMich affordable for me. Don’t lose hope guys!
Congrats. With the FAFSA EFC of $12k, you are likely within the OOS need met limit at UMich.
@Bella2018 : Can you list your exact package ? I think it’d be useful for other readers.
It makes Mich affordable got your family ** this year**
You must apply for financial aid every year. If the family business does better, it could easily become unaffordable. Was this part of the financial aid discussion. Not to be a downer but you have to plan for over the course of 4 years especially since you have an unpredictable income.
For second year and later, UMich only requires FAFSA for FA renewal. OP should already know their 2017 income and how does it compare to 2016. UMich said their grant amount would be similar in renewal unless there is a significant change in the financial situation of the family.
UMich doesn’t practice bait and switch - if it’s affordable this year it’s not going to change its formula. As mentioned above it’s actually easier than many CSS profile schools.
For the benefit of others–in my situation–OOS alum family with income over six figures we received approx $15K in need-based aid because our EFC was halved (because we had an older son in college (would be junior) at the same time as our in-coming freshman daughter) and because we had a lot of family medical expenses for the year in question. (Son received 0 need-based aid when he applied and got accepted). I wonder if some of the need-based aid was because of the very high stats (top quarter of freshman profile) of our daughter that may have played a role. However upon speaking to financial aid office they said that once older son graduates our EFC would go back where it would be when older kid applied when we got no need-based aid since we had no other kid in college. And I was told that if family medical expenses are not at the same high level in subsequent years then that would no longer be a factor for consideration of need-based aid. So bottom line–while I had comfort level of receiving the same amount of need-based aid for my daughter for at least one and maybe two years (which by the way was not really affordable for us because I still would have had to pay $45,000 per year out-of-pocket), I was told there were no guarantees for the junior and senior year. So in the end we chose a different more affordable school (not as highly ranked as Michigan) where we were fortunate enough that daughter received top merit aid scholarship for all 4 years.
Hey guys, I’m not super comfortable sharing the exact amount of grant money given, but it’s worth noting that our need was NOT met. Even with work study and loans, the annual cost to attend was still more than twice what our FAFSA EFC was. Our assets aren’t anywhere near the number required for OOS need to be met. I do have an older brother in college, but our income is definitely not over 6 figures, so we were told not to expect too much of a change when he graduates in 2020. Good luck everyone!