No liquid cash

3puppies
Thu, 25 Jan 2018 19:29:09 +0000

I think I am reading this differently than many posters.

The OP presumably has income and substantial non-liquid assets and he understands how his EFC of $30K was determined. He is concerned about whether or not the non-liquid nature of his assets has any bearing on the school’s admissions policies. To that, the answer is generally, no, colleges don’t look at how little cash you have when they decide whether to let you attend.

Many families actually have a situation like described above - especially those with small family businesses, or businesses where the family is a limited partner. Consider a family restaurant where the family earns a modest income, they have modest college savings but not nearly enough, but they also own a good chunk of the building which sits on valuable commercial real estate. It would be easy for the EFC to reach $30K but difficult to meet that. Typically, the NPC estimates suck for families who own a business. It can be very hard for them to get a loan against the restaurant building - even if granted, it can take time.

Once a FA offer has been provided, I would encourage the OP to put in a call to the school FA office to go over it - and especially to ask how families like theirs might expect the 4 year process to unfold, especially if there are other siblings, etc. The FA offices do not give financial advice, but they will give information and they often can re-work an offer as they understand a family situation better.