First off, yes I do know medical expenses are an example of this, but my family will not probably have any within the next tax year, as we all are generally healthy with no predestination to any diseases or bone breaking. However, one type of our expense that has been extremely costly to our family as of late is car repairs, as we have already spent $15000 on car repairs since we got it and will likely spend many more dollars on it next tax year. If you could let me know if this works, or any other expenses that could potentially be used, let me know!
No. For $15000, you can buy a new car.
Cost of living and discretionary spending are not considered for financial aid. Both are choices.
$15,000 in car repairs? Did they buy a Lamborghini? If they did they can afford to be full pay. You are clutching at straws. And it is not medical expenses that are considered extenuating circumstances it is unreimbursed medical expenses. If your insurance pays it, it doesn’t cost your family.
And it isn’t ‘regular’ medical expenses but unusual or emergency. Things like braces, which can be expensive, aren’t going to get you extra bucks.
But put all your facts together of why your FA should be reviewed and you never know. I think some schools may be sympathetic to people having to pay $10k more in taxes this year than were shown on the 2017 taxes.
Don’t count on the colleges being sympathetic to the new taxes.
Consumer spending is not factored into need based financial aid calculations…at all.
Your family choice to own a car with extensive repair needs is just that…a choice. How old is this car? What car needs $15,000 in repairs?
Need based financial aid is largely based on your family income and assets. If these are too high to receive need based aid, perhaps you should be looking for colleges where you might garner merit aid.
Consumer spending isn’t, but taxes are a part of FAFSA. I didn’t say they would be taken into consideration, but if in 2017 the family got a deduction for paying $20k in taxes and now doesn’t, the schools might consider it.
I think some schools do make a second offer of $4-5k more, and it almost seems like they are looking for a reason - an offer from another school, a one time bonus, an unusual expense…
It sounds like the OP hasn’t applied to colleges…yet. Maybe they could clarify.
And it also sounds like there isn’t any extenuating circumstance…at all. The car repairs certainly won’t qualify. That is consumer choice spending…not an “unusual expense”.
What deduction does one get for paying taxes?
From other posts by OP, it sounds as if his/her parents will be providing $13K for college (unclear if that’s per year or spread out over 4 years), with the “possibility” of grandparents kicking some in. OP, hats off to you and your family for having the money talk before you decide where to apply.
You might get better help if you clarify what your parents will definitely be contributing, what the NPCs say is your EFC and what your preferences are for location/school size/majors of interest. Vague questions about getting more aid aren’t going to result in specific enough information about what YOU will be required to pay or what schools might meet your desires and your ability to pay.
CC is a wealth of info, but the more specific the questions the better the suggestions you will get.
You’re a hs soph? Yes, you have time to look for affordable colleges and/or merit aid. We know next to nothing about your competitiveness, it’s too soon. But you can assess your realistic options.
The concessions for financial aid are not about things/decisions within your family’s control. You need to bone up on how fin aid works.
SALT = State and local taxes
Paying state income tax, property tax and excise tax based on the value of personal property (like a car) can be a federal itemized deduction, although the new tax law placed a limit on the available deduction, and for many who did itemize because of high state and local taxes, the greatly increased standard deductions under the new law made itemizing less favorable.
OK, so the car we bought was actually fairly new, AND we got it checked out to make sure it didn’t have any wear and tear. My parents say that the damage that was caused was mostly stuff that “couldn’t be checked”, though admitidally, I’m not sure if that’s 100% true. Also, around 1/4 of that cost was just a result of my dad and brothers making reckless choices.
In terms of aid from my parents, $13k a year is not my help from my parents, it’s an estimate of my Efc. My parents are not able to nor would they probably pay near that whole amount, hence why my grandparents are gonna try to help out as well. However, I still want to try to lower it as much as possible, which is why I asked about this. I admitidally was keeping my expectations low, I just want to make sure I don’t make a mistake that’ll cost me thousands.
You are a HS sophomore. The best things you can do are…get the very best grades you can get, and get the very best SAT or ACT scores you can get. These will open the door to more college admissions for you, and potentially more merit aid at some colleges.
In addition, you will be taking the PSAT in October of your junior year. You want to do the best you can on that too.
How do you know your potential EFC is $13,000? Is this from a net price calculator from some college? Or what? If it’s from a net price calculator, which college did you use?
You also need to look at lower cost options…commuting from home, community college, etc.
Right now, without at least a junior year GPA and without those SAT or ACT scores, it’s not even possible to guess if you will be admitted, or be eligible for merit aid. Plus…right now the NPCs are set for students starting college in 2019 fall. You won’t be starting until 2021, right? Make sure you do the net price calculators again before you actually apply to colleges as policies do change.
Also, you wrote this on one of your other threads…
And this year, your dad got a $10,000-$15,000 a year raise in income.
How high is their annual income?
I agree with the others it is good that you and your family are talking about money now and are making plans
If your family’s FAFSA EFC is 13k, at schools tgat meet 109% demonstrated need that may have to pay. If you go to a FAFSA only school you would need a full tuition scholarship and the room and board will be slightly more than your EFC. With a full tuition scholarship, taking out your $5500 loan, some savings from summer earnings. You can put a dent into it. But you will also need to come up with s four year plan
Make sure you compile a list of affordable options even if it means living at home and commuting
I know that it’s 13000 because all the colleges I’ve applied to told me it’s in this range, although some have also said it is a bit higher or lower, but it’s been consistent enough to where I can say that. Also, my parents simple income is around $105,000, but since taxes have gone up AND they qualify for a lot of deductions, our AGI is probably gonna be even less then we initially though, which we though was gonna be around 95000.
Also, I have been looking into different school options. I’m not staying in state, mainly because of my states sup par colleges, but have been looking into colleges that either have great need based aid, or amazing merit aid.
Here is an early list of what I’m interested in for colleges if you’re curious what I’m interested in:
Reach:
Northwestern (Top choice due to great need-based aid and ranking, is close to grandparents on both sides, will most likely be ED 1).
Vanderbilt And Brown ( Both have just as great if not better aid, similar ranking, but no where near any members of my family, one of them would likely be ED2 if northwestern didn’t work out).
Match:
Wake Forest (T30, decent aid, no where near family though, would apply early action most likely just in case and prove my interest)*.
Safties:
University of Minnestoa Twin cites (Would be a reciprocity, and that combined with potential National merit, Academic, and Honors scholarships could be pretty reasonable).
University of Evansville (Would be a full tuition scholarship for National Merit, and if I get a decent merit scholarship, It could essentially be a full ride. Only problem is it’s kind of an awkward distance (6 hours), so it’s close enough to where I could find a decent price for a ride share program, but also isn’t far enough to reasonably justify taking a plane).
I don’t have another post up yet with my stats, but it will be up by the end of the day, and I do think I could make my reaches as long as I have a great Junior year, do great on the Act, and go for the Early decision.
You’ve applied to colleges as a hs sophomore?
Most deductions on taxes are ‘below the line’ so taken after AGI is calculated.
I think you are way ahead of yourself. You haven’t even taken the PSAT so you don’t know if you’ll be NMF. Just take things as they come. Do your best and see what your options are in two years.
Oh, I didn’t mean apply, that’s my bad. I have just been using net price calculators using this past tax year to get a general idea of what it’s going to cost. I also do know that this past year won’t ever be used for Fafsa, before you have to ask that too.
I realize that some of our deductions are above the line, but the fact of the matter is a good chunk don’t, so it will be lower. I should also mention that they initially told me that Agi didn’t include include Deductions period as they confused it for another part of the tax form.
I have actually taken the Psat this past year too. I scored a 1240 (which would have been a 1260 if I wasn’t stupid and swapped 2 answers around on the Math no calculator section) , which while not a common sophomore score for National Merit earners, definitely isn’t the worst gap to improve by to get the award, especially since I’ve actually had some huge improvements on my grammar skills due to working on the Act.
Any net price calculator you are using now should be viewed as a VERY gross estimate of your net cost. Your parent income for 2019…this year…will be used for your freshman year FAFSA form. What good does it do for you to know NPC results using the lower family income when you already know that your parent is earning more? And will your parent get a raise this year too…or a bonus?
You mention tons of deductions? Like what? Are your parents self employed? What sorts of deductions are they taking?
At this point, you are also estimating your NM status. Until you have that number…you don’t have a NM status.
Regarding ED. You have indicated that your parents have significant financial considerations regarding college finances. I would strongly suggest you think very carefully about applying ED 1 or ED 2. You really need to be in the position to compare net costs amongst more than one acceptance and aid package…and they DO vary from college to college.
If you apply ED to NU and get accepted with their aid package, you will be given a very small window of time to accept or decline the package. That NU net price might be the best you could get…but if you accept, you will never know if another college on your list might have a lower net cost…and it might.
Why do you feel compelled to apply ED anything? Are your stats that borderline that you need a perceived edge with ED? Remember, many of those ED acceptances go to developmental admits, athletes, legacies…that’s one reason the ED admission rate looks higher.
Please…think this through.
ETA…your parents WILL be expected to pay the family contribution to any college. And some of those schools that meet full need also have a student contribution.