<p>What do colleges consider beyond normal assets, or what do they define as normal assets? This mostly applies to the Ivy-league schools who note their FA packages are given to certain income families with normal assets, although anything is welcome.</p>
<p>Normal would be cars, home furnishings, clothes, emergency cash reserve, cat, dog. Stuff that a normal American family would have. Yachts, second homes, race horses, airplanes, large financial assets, are not normal. If you have to ask whether a particular asset is normal, it probably isn’t.</p>
<p>I’ve been told that Harvard uses $250K for their 10% rule, but I haven’t seen it in writing.</p>
<p>Here is what Stanford says on its website:</p>
<p>For applicants who report total annual parent income up to $100,000, we generally consider “typical assets” to be an adjusted total net worth of less than $250,000. Adjusted total net worth usually reflects the sum of the following amounts: </p>
<p>Cash, savings, checking
Investments
Home equity, capped at 1.2 times annual income
Equity in real estate other than the home
Business net worth </p>
<p>We do not include formal retirement assets (401k, 403b, IRA, Keogh) in our analysis. The Financial Aid Office reserves the right to make the final determination of the expected family contribution, in consideration of all factors affecting a family’s overall financial situation and ability to pay.</p>