<p>Hi all. I have a child at a "meets full need school" and when he applied in 2008 all of the schools accepting him gave him packages within $500 of one another. So I have a pretty good idea of how our "need" is defined now. My second and last child will be applying this year for college in 2012. They will not be overlap in college and they are my only 2 children. My question is - am I getting more aid now because I still have a child at home, or is it reasonable to expect my "need" to be determined much the same as it has been for the past 4 years (assuming no change in financial circumstances)? I am wondering what people's experiences have been with this scenario? Bottom line: I am wondering how much more I may be expected to pay for the younger child? Thanks!</p>
<p>I think unless child 2 goes to the same school as child #1, then you can have an idea as to what your financial aid package will look like. Otherwise, it is hard to say, because even at full need schools, your packaging could be different. Schools don’t count home equity on your prinary home, so cap home equity a in correlation to your salary while other schools may consider all of the home equity up for grabs.</p>
<p>Not every school will calculate your EFC the same.Some full need schools have no loan options, some cap the amount of loans that studetns will graduate with, while others include loans in your financial aid package.</p>
<p>Thanks, yes I understand this having been through it once. But my question is, assuming all other factors to be equal, how much of a difference does it make to still have a child at home vs. not, in people’s experiences with institutional methodology schools? Maybe it is just impossible to say since things are never equal and you don’t know exactly what made a package less or more. But I was curious about others’ experiences in this situation. I know I really just have to wait and see next spring…</p>
<p>You will have one less member of your household when the financial aid calculations are done (as your older child will likely not be considered a member of your household any longer). I believe your financial aid will reflect this…</p>
<p>Why don’t you run an online financial aid calculator using the institutional methodology. Do it once with a household of four (both kids ) and one in college…then do it with a household of THREE with one in college. This will give you a “guestimate” of the difference in aid…a GUESS.</p>
<p>It is hard to say, but here’s one data point…we had a senior and a freshman in college this past year. S2 is not at a “meets full need” school, but the finaid award last year did pretty much cover our FAFSA need (no clue as to how they calculate institutional need; school does require Profile and supplemental forms).</p>
<p>For 2011-2012: S1 has graduated, moved on and is no longer counted in the household. FAFSA EFC is now totally on S2 (and is comparable to the total of the two EFCs from last year). S2’s finaid award for the coming year includes sub and unsub Staffords and work study – same as last year. The institutional grant went from $20,030 down to $10,920. So the net effect of only having one dependent left was an additional $9110 – much less of a hit than we expected, and leaving no gap between the FAFSA EFC and the total we will actually owe to the school. I was expecting no institutional need-based aid for the next three years.</p>
<p>*My question is - am I getting more aid now because I still have a child at home, *</p>
<p>Yes…right now, you’re family is “larger”. </p>
<p>Once child #1 graduates, your family size will shrink by one person. So, your “need” will be a bit less.</p>
<p>And, it’s unknown how other schools will determine your need.</p>
<p>Will the older child be claimed on your 2011 taxes that will support your 2012 financial aid application? Will older child be living at home after graduation? I am not sure what the criteria for household member is.</p>
<p>Run a few trials with the estimator. Yes, you will be down a member of the household, but you are also getting older so there is some offset there.</p>
<p>I believe you can count adults living in your household that you support on FAFSA. So if your oldest is an adult as long as you support it shouldn’t matter (that he/she is not a child). You may not be able to deduct your oldest on your tax return unless they meet several criteria. I know my oldest (an adult) is living in a home we own so we are technically still supporting more than 50%, but we will not be able to claim him on taxes as he has earned too much money. If you cannot meet the test to deduct your oldest on your taxes you should be sure, if you “claim” as a dependent for FAFSA that you can verify the information if you are chosen for verification.</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for the thoughts and suggestions. I will try running a few estimators to see how much I may be able to expect the aid to go down. I have always assumed I would get some less for the younger child, even assuming he gets into comparable schools, it just makes sense without a younger sibling coming along. Also I am divorced so child support will also go down - a bit of a double whammy. I didn’t imagine anyone would be claiming my older son on taxes after he graduates - but that may be wishful thinking! In the end I know we just have to see where he gets in and what the packages look like.</p>
<p>I hope Kelsmom weighs in here.</p>
<p>I don’t think you can count a college grad child on your younger child’s FAFSA unless you can demonstrate that you pay for more than 50% of their costs…which would be hard to do if that adult child has a job. If that child has a job earning - say $25k per year - you’d be hard pressed to show that you’re spending $26k in support for that child each year.</p>
<p>If your graduating son is going to be working and/or living elsewhere, then it’s likely your “need” will be less because your household will be smaller.</p>
<p>However, maybe the drop in child support will compensate for that. </p>
<p>Does the younger child have the stats to get into a full need school that gives great aid? If not, that’s another issue. If so, then that’s good!!!</p>
<p>Indeed, if I am contributing $26,000 to the support of my older son his brother won’t be going to college anywhere! Kidding aside, I expect the financial aid application will reflect one less person in the household. S2 has a 3.6 UW GPA/4.1 W with 2210 SAT (1450 V&M), good ECs but nothing that puts him in a class of his own. Right now his list includes a few “full need” schools like Vassar (where his brother goes) and Oberlin, as well a few he might get some combination of merit and need aid like Clark and Muhlenberg, then a few that might meet need but do preferential packaging like Skidmore and Bard. And he may end up at the instate flagship, which I can afford. So that’s the story.</p>
<p>Well, with his stats he might want to apply to a few schools where his stats would give assured large scholarships for his stats. those could be financial safeties as alternatives to his instate school…in case he might want to go elsewhere.</p>
<p>So I feel as though I have looked quite a bit at this site looking for those schools - the COA would need to be brought down to roughly $25,000 with the aid. I know University of Alabama is one and I have checked out their website and presented it to S2 as an alternative, so far no real interest but we’ll see. He wants a smaller school with an artsy vibe or anything that gets closer to that than the instate flagship. I am open to any and all ideas…</p>