@cshell2 please explain what federal Covid aid is now available??
This student is a CA resident. Most state need based aid is based on the Calgrant eligibility.
With a $30,000 a year income, this student might have been eligible for the simplified needs test possibly. If less than $30,000 a year AGI, the student might have been eligible for auto $0 EFC. In both cases, for federally funded aid, the assets would not be included.
@candiewaa the 2020-2021 FAFSA became available for filing on October 1, 2019 and would have used assets as of the date if filing. If your parents had $200,000 in the bank that day (from a 2018 house sale) then that asset would have been on your 2020-2021 FAFSA.
So…where is that money? You say they sold “their first house”. Did they use that $200,000 as a down payment for another house?