<p>When i got my SAR today i was also notified that i'm not eligible for grants because my EFC is ..... 46529. But the total taxable income i entered was 35k. my mother only makes 11k and my step dad is retired, he gets his SS, and then we're renting out a house. so overall our income isn't great. but the problem is that the house we're renting out have a value of ~ 400-500k, and then my mom and stepfather have bonds and other assets that totals up to around 900k, is this why we're disqualified? i mean i thought that grants are based on the income? and my step dad told me that pretty much everyone have some assets totaling up to around what we have. my parents didn't really save any money for my tuition apparently they invested it all in bonds and certificates or the like, so is there something i can do to explain the situation? or do i have to convert the assets into money to pay for college? thanks</p>
<p>Your dad is grossly exaggerating - “pretty much everyone” does NOT have rental income from a second home or assets of nearly a million dollars.</p>
<p>Your family is in a fortunate position compared to many, and your parents are expected to use some of their assets to fund your college education.</p>
<p>Have you talked to them about how much they are willing to pay?</p>
<p>Also, are any of those assets in retirement accounts such as IRAs? If so, they would be treated differently by the FAFSA.</p>
<p>For most people the EFC is much more driven by income than by assets. the exception is when someone has very high assets. Those assets are much higher than the average persons assets. Much. A parent has a certain amount of asset protection based on the number of parents and the age of the older parent ( a little over $50,000 for a 2 parent family where the older parent is aged 50). After that up to 5.6% of assets go to the EFC. So with assets well over $1,000,000 your EFC actually seems on the low side to me.</p>
<p>i see, i had the misconception that everyone had some sort of asserts either in bonds, property or otherwise. i going to have to talk to my parents then.
i’m not quite sure because frankly while we may have those assets, the actual cash and savings in my parents account is only a meager 9k combined
none of those assets are from retirement accounts, i especially made sure of that.also from where we bought the house the price is quite high (san diego)but my parents doesn’t really want to sell that since they’re thinking of living in it once i go to college.</p>
<p>Did you really not know that many kids who qualify for financial aid come from families who have absolutely no assets of any kind, rent an apartment to live, have no money in the bank, and wonder where their next meal will come from? If you weren’t aware of that, it’s time you are. I am not meaning to be harsh, but don’t you watch the news? Have you not heard how people are struggling in this country, every day? How people in the world have much, much less than your family? You are blessed, and I am sure, somehow, your family will figure out how to make college happen for you.</p>
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<p>Your assets exceed a million dollars…by a lot. This is what is driving your EFC so high. I agree with Swimcatsmom…the amount you noted seems LOW to me. If you add $900K and $400k, and then take 5.6% of that, you get $72,800 and that doesn’t include any allowance for income.</p>
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<p>Some people don’t own ONE house. Your family is making a decision not to sell a SECOND property because they are “thinking” about living in it? This isn’t even an option for MOST people. Most families do NOT own multiple properties.</p>
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<p>Possibly there is a mortgage on the second home, so the equity value is less than $400,000?</p>
<p>there’s some confusion about the wording, sorry about that, i meant to say that with the value of the house, combined with my parent’s other assets, the total sum is 900k (including the house), and i browsed around the net a bit and did realize that my family is not as bad as i took it to be, its just that my parents never really had any available cash in their accounts, and i really didn’t really know anything regarding assets until i did FAFSA. also currently we only have one property, my family is actually renting an apartment because my parents wanted me to go to a good HS. well i’m going to have a talk with my parents about my tuition, thanks everyone i appreciate it</p>
<p>If your family lived in the home instead of renting it out you would probably be better off in regards to financial aid. The value of your primary residence is not considered on FAFSA (although it may be considered by CSS profile schools). Although even the remaining assets ($500K?) would still add around $25K to your EFC.</p>