| Stafford loans each year are an assumption for the students at my house, no matter what our EFC might be. (Only exception is if they accept full rides.) Total loans will be $19K by graduation, plus summer/term-time earnings, which is not an unreasonable amount of skin in the game considering the amount we may be contributing to this enterprise.
Ethanrt, $35k in total investments held in your parents' names should be covered under the asset protection allowance (which is around $46,000 for married parents), and at any rate, amounts above that are assessed at 5%. If those funds are in YOUR name, that's an entirely different story. Home equity might be the missing piece of the puzzle here. |