<p>I'm a rising senior in college. I've heard from quite a few people that having a personal bank account with a significant amount of money in it (though I'm not sure what that threshold is) will affect financial aid for college. I was a bit skeptical of this - if this were the case, why would so many of my friends/peers have debit cards? But I wanted to know the details, since I obviously don't know very much about it.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>You are required to report all assets so whether the money is in your bank account or under your bed or in stocks, it does not matter. Student assets are hit at greater rates than parental ones and some PROFILE schools attach a lot to that first asset figure that a student reports so it is better to pay off your expenses and let your parents build their savings than yours if you are applying for financial aid.</p>
<p>Why exactly do colleges take student assents into greater consideration than parental ones? How much money is considered enough of an “asset”?</p>
<p>Not all students have parents to help them, and parents have other things to pay for in their lives, whereas students are expected to be willing sacrifice all for their educations.</p>
<p>Print out the FAFSA formula from this link, and work through it on paper to see which factors most effect your FAFSA EFC. <a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf</a></p>
<p>You can find versions of the CSS Profile formula at the College Board website and at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org)</p>
<p>For FAFSA, a dependent student has no asset protection. 20% of student assets go to the student EFC. Parents have asset protection based on the number of parents and the age of the older. Up to 5.6% of parent assets go to the EFC.</p>
<p>Certain assets are not reported on FAFSA - mainly retirement savings accounts like 401ks & IRAs, and the primary home.</p>
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<p>$1 (or any amount greater than zero)in a bank account in your name or your parent’s name is an asset. Will $1, affect your aid? Unlikely. It is not any individual asset but the sum total of the assets that matter. If you have 10,000 bank accounts with $1 each, it is considered as $10,000 in assets. if you have $1 in a bank but you have $500,000 in shares, or two vacation homes worth $500,000 etc, then you have $500,001 in assets.</p>
<p>As swimcatsmom and others have pointed out, some assets are shielded, some are not. </p>
<p>So first figure out what is the total assets what type of assets you and your family have and then try and figure out how it will affect your aid. It may or may not. If the assets are $10,000 in bank and you do not have anything else, then it may not matter. I would suggest you should get specific as to what your family owns to figure out what aid you can expect.</p>
<p>My question…if you are fortunate enough to have a significant amount of money IN a bank account…why wouldn’t you consider spending 20% of that money per year on your college education?</p>
<p>I don’t have much in my bank account though; I was just quoting what someone said to me about having money in a personal bank account when applying for aid. I had a job for a few weeks this summer but that doesn’t amount to very much. I also won’t be working during this school year, so I was wondering if my summer savings would affect my EFC at all…which it sounds like probably will.</p>
<p>It will affect your efc a bit…but only the balance IN your bank account (or stuffed in your mattress) on the DAY you file your FAFSA. Bank account balances are listed on the FAFSA as of the date you initially file. You are a RISING SENIOR in college? If so, you have completed your LAST FAFSA…should have already been done for your senior college year.</p>
<p>Are you inquiring about what will happen if you file a FAFSA grad school AFTER your senior year of college…or are you anticipating ANOTHER year of undergrad school. The FAFSA for your senior year should have been filed spring 2011…and you should already HAVE an estimated aid package (or will get one soon). The money that was in your bank account the DATE of your initial FAFSA filing is the amount that will be tapped.</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound like you had that much.</p>
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<p>Because FAFSA recognizes that parents have many other financial responsibilities besides paying for college: Paying a mortgage, putting food on the table, raising younger children, funding retirement. In general, students’ financial burdens are much lighter, and students have a safety net; i.e., those same parents who are paying the mortgage.</p>
<p>Oh shoot, sorry, I meant a rising senior in HIGH SCHOOL, going into college. I can’t believe I made that mistake…too eager to leave home, I guess? 
Thanks for all the answers.</p>