Some parents have low taxable income certain years for different reasons. Often we have minimal taxable "income", yet a substantial net worth. Does anyone know how in depth the financial aid departments look at a parent’s net worth or is "income" generally the larger deciding factor? Of course "income" is always considered. I am asking if anyone knows how financial aid offices view high net worth – low (taxable) income situations?
I personally think that they do. If you notice on the FAFSA they ask for a lot of information regarding parents income, tax information, and assets. I think that the financial aid system is challenging because they are trying to be fair with determining what each student/family should get but they really don’t take into consideration or have a fair assessment of what each family can contribute based on the information that they gather. There are many situations where parents will say that they aren’t supporting their children or providing financial assistance in any way and they will refuse to provide the information which makes it difficult for the child to obtain financial aid. I think that they like to know what type of assets a family because depending on what it is could be possibly used to assist with tuition cost. I think that everything and anything that they ask is a factor in determining what your EFC will be.
August 31st, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I believe if you are under the age of 25 they do look at your parents income, unless you can provide a letter that states they will not/can not financially support you. My cousin went through this a few years ago and had to have my mom write a letter stating her parents were not helping her financially in any way
References :
August 31st, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I personally think that they do. If you notice on the FAFSA they ask for a lot of information regarding parents income, tax information, and assets. I think that the financial aid system is challenging because they are trying to be fair with determining what each student/family should get but they really don’t take into consideration or have a fair assessment of what each family can contribute based on the information that they gather. There are many situations where parents will say that they aren’t supporting their children or providing financial assistance in any way and they will refuse to provide the information which makes it difficult for the child to obtain financial aid. I think that they like to know what type of assets a family because depending on what it is could be possibly used to assist with tuition cost. I think that everything and anything that they ask is a factor in determining what your EFC will be.
References :