<p>If this has been addressed before I apologize. My first is going off to college so this whole form is new to me. The question which asks total cash as of today MINUS DEBT is the question here. What exactly constitutes debt in this case? I know you don't include your home so is it asking credit card amounts or loans or am I just over thinking?
Thanks for any help.</p>
<p>FAFSA does not ask you about debt at all. There is no question about cash minus debt. You cannot report debt such as credit cards or loans.</p>
<p>The *only *debt that is taken into account by FAFSA is a debt that is directly against a reportable asset and thus reduces the value of the asset. For instance if you own a second home that has a mortgage against it you report the net value of the home - the value less any mortgage on the home. So if the value of the house was $250,000 an you have a $175,000 mortgage then you would report a value of $75,000. If you have a stock account with a margin loan against it you report the value of the stock account, which is the value of the stocks less the margin loan (it must be a margin account in that stock account - not just some other loan). </p>
<p>No other debts or loans can be reported on FAFSA.</p>
<p>The only debt that can be claimed is debt directly related to investments. Consumer debt (including loan debt) is not considered anywhere on the FAFSA. If you own property other than your home, you do get to subtract the debt from the market value. If you have business or farm assets that you must claim, you get to subtract the debt from those.</p>