What qualifies as asset or property? I thought bank balance was part of assets, but all the QB applicants have 0 under the asset section. Does that mean they don’t have a bank account or do I not have to report it?
Asset: anything that has monetary value: cash, bank account, stock, car, house,… Property is an asset.
How do you know ALL Questbridge applicants have $0 in the asset section? Have you seen ALL the applications to QB?
Many QB applicants probably have little to no assets. Some folks do live month to month on their incomes…and don’t have savings.
I apologize. I didn’t mean to say it that way. I was just confused about what falls under each section.
But asset on the FAFSA is not including the car, house, and some other categories of assets, like art work, furniture.
Read the little information near each questions (an “i” in a little circle). It will tell you what to put on each line.
A second home is an investment asset for FAFSA. But Quest Bridge asset form is different than FAFSA form.
QB applicants receive money from private colleges, not from Federal government. Therefore QB asset form is similar to CSS Profile form for most private colleges. A primary home value must be reported.
See question: Do your parents/legal guardians own their home?
Property and bank accounts (whether in the US or overseas) have to be reported. Answer the questions honestly and report all assets. The directions should describe what to include in each section.
Very helpful comments in this thread.
@coolweather, can you or someone else explain to me how/why home equity is used to calculate FA? It’s not as though we could just grab a chunk of our home equity and use it for college tuition… .
Sure you can. It’s called a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC). It’s not a good idea to borrow against your house for college costs, but some people do it.
Home equity in your primary residence is NOT included on the FAFSA. It is included on the CSS Profile.
Any real estate equity in addition to your primary residence is included on both forms as an asset.
Some Profile Schools use a portion of your home equity when calculating institutional need based aid. Some don’t.
Schools using only the FAFSA do not include your primary residence at all.
FAFSA splits it into 3 questions for student and 3 for parent at the end of the income sections:
For detailed info, see FAFSA PDF instructions on page 9 (Notes for questions 42 & 43 and 91 & 92)
https://fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1819/pdf/PdfFafsa18-19.pdf