I know it’s a CSS school, but wondering how they consider the value of your primary residence when deciding on how much financial aid they might offer a family.
Go in and play with their NPC - to see if it changes the amounts.
I played with it - and used 4 people, $200K, $40K taxes paid.
For assets $1K for cash, $700K home, $0 Mortgage, purchased in 2014 and $100K investments.
For students, I put $0 across the board.
Result = $34,240
If I changed the mortgage to $400K, I got the same price.
That tells me it’s not using home equity.
AI confirms this, however the sources aren’t tied to Wes.
Good luck.
1 Like
Wes used to (maybe still does) cap the home equity hit. You can run NPCs to get at this, or simply call the financial aid office and ask. (AOs should know too.)
Your example would not pick up a change if the school caps the hit at some income level, say 1.2x etc. So in your example, whether $700K in equity or $300K in equity, the impact is the same. That does not mean the formula is not including a hit for home equity.
In your example, if home equity is $50K (so mortgage is $650K), estimated net price is $25,538. (note I can’t exactly replicate the numbers you got in your scenarios above, but it’s close.)
So, it looks to me like Wesleyan is hitting home equity. It used to be at 1.2x cap, but OP can call/email and ask for the most current info.
2 Likes
I reran with the $ I used and got $34,240 again.
After, I changed home equity to $50K. And got $34,240 again (still with the same student work obligation).
So same as last night. But yes, it never hurts to call.
2 Likes
I called Wes a year ago to ask this question (for someone I helping and who was applying). For 2025-2026 applications the home equity cap was 1.2X income. I have no idea if it’s changed since then.
3 Likes
Thanks everyone! I will call them to confirm
2 Likes
If the primary home is asked, then the home equity would be checked. Different schools treat this with different formula.
If the school does not consider primary home equity, this question will not be asked in NPC. For example Princeton, Stanford, etc.
1 Like
1.2x income is a pretty common home equity cap, used by many peer schools, so I’d be surprised if it has changed. But definitely doesn’t hurt to call.
1 Like