My father has a salary of over 100k. Would fafsa or any school even consider giving me any type of aid? Should I be going through the hassle of applying for aid anywhere? CSS profile and the w-2 forms and all that crap is driving me insane.
It depends on assets as well as income. If he doesn’t have a lot of assets, you could end up getting a lot of money.
Even with some assets, you could get a lot of money.
It’s definitely worth it.
@WalknOnEggShells can you elaborate? My family doesn’t have any investments, no assets in my name (the child). Is that what you mean or something else?
im also noticing that on CSS profile, we left a lot of stuff blank. Should I be concerned?
Getting aid with an income over $100,000 a year will depend on the school. Some will give you aid… many won’t. Have you used the net price calculators for the schools you are applying to? What schools do you have in mind? Do you have affordable options?
Filling out the FAFSA will allow you to take out the federal loan of $5500. Filling out the CSS profile … and not leaving blank spaces… will allow you to receive institutional aid… IF you qualify for it based on that particular school.
My advice is to fill out all of the the forms … entirely… not lots of blank spaces… if you are interested in getting financial aid, but keep in mind that getting it will depend on the individual school- use the NPC. My next piece of advice is to have schools on the list that will be affordable to your family without any need based aid at all.
You’re not THAT busy and it’s not THAT MUCH of a hassle.
Find the time and fill out the FAFSA. For the time it takes you, it could make a difference.
If your parents have no income/propertie/taxes/whatever that would be the information asked for in the blank spaces, then it is perfectly fine to have a whole lot of blank spaces.
What colleges? Many colleges that use the Profile give generous need based aid to accepted students.
Did you run the Net Price Calculator on each college website? Start there…because then you will have at least an estimate of your net costs at each school…and your aid…and the types of aid.
Start there…today! Because deadlines are approaching.
I’d say…just do the forms.
Some outside scholarship organizations (local community foundations, national scholarship foundations, etc.) will also ask you to file a FAFSA. They want to assure themselves that you are seeking out all the state, federal and institutional aid you can get.
Some merit aid also require FAFSA.
If nothing else, by filling out FAFSA you are able to take out a $5.5k student loan.
Can your parents pay the full cost for you to attend…minus the $5500 Direct Loan?
It’s very possible…depending on the college…that you COULD receive some institutional need based aid.
On another thread…you mention UVA as an OOS student. That school requires the Profile. But you certainly don’t have to complete it…or the fafsa…if your family can pay the FULL cost for you to attend. Can they? On $100,000 income? I doubt it…that would be about half of their take home pay…or more. UVA does pledge to meet full need for all…but you MUST complete the forms.
These forms are NOT a hassle. Sure, they take some time…but you are looking for thousands or tens of thousands of dollars in aid. Sorry, but providing the colleges the necessary info doesn’t sound like a lot of crap to ME.
You never know what could happen financially in the future, and if you don’t have a FAFSA on file, they won’t be able to review your financial status/needs.
Look at the financial aid applications as a temporary job. Where can you work and earn thousand of dollars for a 1-2 hours of effort? It is very worthwhile to complete the forms.
The financial forms really require your parents commitment. The questions you ask should be directed at them. If you are getting blown off by them then make sure you have your in state affordable school optimised. You are not in the high stats range to get big merit, or admission to generous endowment schools, and like as not you will not be offered FA of any significance, if any. You need to make sure you have a realistic plan. 100K before tax means your folks are not going to be able to pay OOS rates for you from their income. If literally they have zero savings, zero investments, zero 529, zero 401K, they are in no position to borrow either.
@twogirls, is this really true? In my head, I had the following rule of thumb that I read somewhere - assuming no assets, your EFC would be something less than around 48% of take home income. The higher the income, the closer it gets to 48%. I’ll see if I can find the link.
There is a very big assumption in there, which is “no assets”, but let’s assume that’s the case.
Let’s assume a family makes 100K gross. I’m winging it here, but let’s say they bring home 75K of that. Based on my rule of thumb, their EFC would be no higher than around 36K, and probably lower than that.
I realize that most schools don’t meet full need without loans, but I would think a student from a home like this would get a good amount of aid from most schools. I have no personal experience with this, though. It’s just from reading about it.
Am I missing something? What do you think the EFC would be for a family with a 100K income? I’m not saying you’re wrong. I’m just trying to understand why our assumptions are so different.
@banjoel, I meant assets(cash, investments, houses, etc) in your parents’ names. Assets in your name would lower the amount of aid you’d be eligible for even more.
EFC would be no higher than around 36K,<<<<<<<<<
The fact is for a family that takes home your estimated 75K income post tax with just a 401k, 36K a yr is no more affordable than 60K a yr. This kid is not hearing what isn’t being said IMO. Many, maybe most, families earning well north of OPs income would also not pay full OOS rates. THAT is what needs to be said. I suspect the family are hoping for merit or aid in a cross your fingers way that will become clear as the offers come in.
@WalknOnEggShells yes there are schools that meet full need for families earning $100,000 or more… however… you still need to pay your efc. If your efc is $50,000 and the total cost of tuition is $65,000… you will pay $50,000 to attend ( possible loans to pay back as well). The amount due to the school… $15,000…will be met through a combination of loans ( often subsidized), grants, and work study if you check the box. Some schools don’t include loans in the FA package. Keep in mind that with two in college, your efc will be lower.
It is important to use the NPC. A family making $100,000 a year with one student in college may have an estimated cost of attendance of X at a school that meets full need. That same family may have an estimated cost of attendance of X+ $5000 at a different school that meets full need. Every school has their own calculations.