<p>My parents home equity is upside down. Who would be considerate CSS or FAFSA? Also, why the EFC is not displayed on CSS profile data? Does each school uses thet CSS data to make their own EFC?</p>
<p>FAFSA does not consider equity in the primary home at all.</p>
<p>CSS does not produce an EFC as such. it is a way of collecting data for schools that require additional information. Each school will use the data according to their own formulas and policies.</p>
<p>Schools that require FAFSA and CSS will use FAFSA to determine federal aid and CSS to determine their own institutional aid.</p>
<p>Does it mean the schools chop the merit scholarship or any other form of merit aid?</p>
<p>True merit aid is unrelated to your FAFSA or Profile numbers.</p>
<p>Yes but…there are merit scholarships that are true financial need scholarships and then there are merit scholarships that are awarded for academic performance regardless of financial need. If the OP has low need the OP would be wise to understand the difference.</p>
<p>The federal EFC is an index to gage family/student threshold for federal aid and does not “deep dive” into how each family has their assets structured.</p>
<p>The CSS is a more comphrehensive financial picture of the family used by a fraction of the colleges and universities to understand a family/student’s ability to pay. Each college can and may use the information differently. Some colleges and universities that utilize the CB Profile DO have a calculator on the website so families/students can glean how their financial information might be used. Some colleges do not publish a calculator or an indepth explations of what they do with the information. Remember that when colleges publish “income” thresholds the vast majority are referring to income and assets…not simply salary/take home pay/etc.</p>
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<p>E’s D is correct that merit scholarships aren’t related to financial need. But momof3 is correct in the sense that it doesn’t really matter given that you have need. Even if they call it merit and it’s not, just apply for it.</p>
<p>Yes and if you have financial need & you received say, a $10,000/year merit scholarship, then when your financial aid package is prepared, your “need” just got $10,000 smaller. </p>
<p>Very rarely will an annual merit scholarship reduce your EFC!</p>
<p>I dont’ think it will matter to CSS that your home is upside down. It just means that you don’t have equity. I don’t think schools will give additional consideration because you owe more than it’s worth…that’s irrelevant because you’re not selling.</p>
<p>I was told that if you don’t owe a lot on your home, we’ll say 50,000 and your home is worth let’s say 200,000, you have equity to borrow and they consider that. They don’t say you have too, but the option is there.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>True…no equity to add to assets.</p>
<p>But if you’re upside down, I don’t see why that would get you **more **consideration then if your home was worth about the same as what you owe. It sounds like the OP thinks that schools will take that under some kind of special consideration. I’m not sure they will. They just won’t have equity to consider…just like renters.</p>
<p>I don’t think you’ll get additional consideration for being upside down (owing more than it’s worth).</p>
<p>I think that’s true, no more, no less, but they wont want them to use equity they don’t have…in the jumble of numbers they crunch.</p>