<p>My family income is low, like ~40,000. But… I have college ($240,000 for college) paid for from my dead great grandfather who was a millionaire. So do colleges base all the aid I will get on my family income (so I will have college covered in aid) or do they take into account the money I have?</p>
<p>Colleges will take into account the any monies that you, the student, have in awarding financial aid.</p>
<p>Need based financial aid will be based on your and your parents’ income and assets. What kind of account(s)/trust is that $240k in? You are very lucky to have it. You will likely have to use it for what it was intended, to pay for college. Even without it, very few and only the hardest to get into colleges give enough aid so that ‘college is covered in aid’. </p>
<p>What is your GPA and SAT/ACT scores? You still could get some merit aid. In another post you say you have a 2330 SAT. Is that right? Are you a senior?</p>
<p>That money from grandpa is a huge asset and will count. Why wouldn’t it?</p>
<p>If youre looking to save money then look at merit schools.</p>
<p>BTW…since grandpa was so rich, does that mean one of your parents inherited a bunch of money as well? If so, that counts, too.</p>
<p>I suspect that a very rich grandpa didn’t just leave money to his grandchild…</p>
<p>m2ck, you might be surprised. My grandfather is very wealthy and his will explicitly states that all money is to be divided among grandchildren and none will go to his kids (all of which are millionaires with the exception of my father). The OP’s situation could be like mine. </p>
<p>OP, they will certainly take into account the money. Isn’t it there FOR your education?</p>
<p>All my grandpa’s money was left behind in account for all his grandchildren’s college (there’s a lot of us…I’m not the only one… lol)</p>
<p>And yes, my academics are stellar (2330 SAT 800 math 2 780 bio 770 history; 4.0 GPA; rank 1/432… I will be applying to my state school as a safety (so merit aid with that))
I’m really shooting for top colleges though (Columbia ED))</p>
<p>And I’m not looking to save money… I was just curious as to what is counted for financial aid… haha</p>
<p>Well, if he left only $1,000,000, that is only 4 kids’ college if all 4 choose expensive colleges. If you have a lot more siblings and cousins, you may need to check how much is “your fair share”.</p>
<p>The op already said 240k…</p>
<p>I have college ($240,000 for college) paid for from my dead great grandfather</p>
<p>Is that money sitting in an acct with only your name on it? Or is is part of a larger amount that has all the grandkids’ names on it? </p>
<p>I know a family where grandpa left a large amount for college for his grandkids, but didn’t specify how it was to be divided. No one “did the math” to figure a fair share for the number of existing grandkids. The older ones “robbed the bank”, and now there’s not enough for the younger kids. </p>
<p>Do you, for sure, have $240k in your name or specified somewhere?</p>
<p>Your grandfather has given you a wonderful gift…money for your college education. Use the money for that purpose. Consider it a fabulous bequest. You don’t NEED financial aid. Because of your grandfather’s wonderful gift, you can really remove the cost issue from your college search.</p>