<p>Hello all, this is my first post. I've been browsing these forums for a long time, trying to glean all the knowledge I can to understand my financial aid scenario, which doesn't sound so pretty. Here's some background into my financial aid scenario: about 45k family income, 8 family members, 2 in college, and about 650k in assets/savings (we still need to pay back about 350k). Basically, we're cash-poor, and property-rich. With 300k in assets/savings, I figured my chance of good financial aid at an elite private was nil, so I didn't even bother to apply back in my senior year of high school. Now, I'm considering transfer options, and have learned about the all-star "568 schools" that cap home equity. Ahhh, what a blessing! Too good to be true! Perfect for someone in my scenario, right? Only thing I'm confused about now is whether schools cap only the home equity (that is, only the equity on first home) or cap total assets? We have 2 homes and a commercial property, which sounds lavish, but it's really not when you consider how much debt having that much property entails. If anyone knows anything about this--whether all three properties will be capped by the 568 schools, or just the principal home--please reply! Thanks, in advance.</p>
<p>The 586 schools cap home equity on the principal residence, only. They don't all use the same methodology to do so, and some non-586 schools now cap home equity to some degree also.</p>
<p>OK...dumb question...what is a 586 school?</p>
<p>OK...dumb question...what is a 586 school?</p>
<p>
[quote]
568 Presidents' Group Member Institutions
Amherst College
Boston College
Brown University
Claremont-McKenna College
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Davidson College
Duke University
Emory University
Georgetown University
Grinnell College
Haverford College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Middlebury College
Northwestern University
Pomona College
Rice University
Swarthmore College
University of Chicago
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania
Vanderbilt University
Wake Forest University
Wellesley College
Wesleyan University
Williams College
Yale University
[/quote]
<p>Ah, crap, that's great. There's no home equity on my principal home. In fact, it even depreciated a little. </p>
<p>But really, I may still go ahead and apply to a few colleges as a transfer. I'm hoping (maybe naively) that these colleges would use a little common sense and personal discretion to realize that with a discrepancy of income and assets that large, we don't have readily available funds for college. Our contribution from income alone is zero, and our contribution from home equity is zero as well (to be more precise, after certain deductions in allowances, it comes out in the negatives); so shouldn't they realize that our assets our only safety net financially? Stupid, IMO, but I will call and ask about it..</p>
<p>They will not "understand". They consider that owning investment property is a choice, and you can sell it to pay for larger priorities like education.</p>
<p>However, if you have no equity in your primary home, you won't be hit on that yet.</p>
<p>Thank you Emerald. It looks like the bill was in force till Sept. 2007. I am guessing it has been extended. Anyone know what factors are incorporated in this metodology? I am asking because our FAFSa EFC was less than what the fin aid office determined was the amount we responsible for by a ratio of 1:4!</p>