Acadie Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 (edited) We're thinking of refinancing our house and wondering about the ramifications for college financial aid applications. Dd16 is a junior in high school, and dd12 will be coming up after her, so we're hoping to avoid doing anything that would negatively impact aid decisions. Has anyone used a legit financial planner or advisor with expertise in college financial aid? If so, how did you find them? Thanks, Amy Edited January 10, 2019 by Acadie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 I have not used a financial planner, but I don't quite see how refinancing is going to affect college financial aid unless it allows you to save large amounts of cash that would count as an asset. Your home equity is not considered an asset for the FAFSA, but might be for the CSS. The size of your mortgage or any other debts are not considered for the FAFSA. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Your house payment is not going to affect your financial aid -- a larger payment will not get you more aid and smaller payment will not get you less. For all schools, having a pot of cash will get you less aid. If you're refinancing to pay off debt and are not getting cash out, you would not see any change in financial aid. Paula Bishop keeps a good list of financial aid resources here: http://www.paulabishop.com/financial-aid-reference-materials-handouts.html 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Most financial planners are not well-educated in how FA works. They can help you determine your big picture gains/expenses, but they they are not going to get into the nuances of different schools' FA formulas. You are going to have to spend time working through different schools' policies on your own. If you know what schools your student will be considering, first determine whether or not primary residence is even a factor in their formula. Primary residence is really only going to even be considered in meets need school formulas. FAFSA only schools do not consider primary residence. Schools that use the CSS profile or their own proprietary formula are the ones where it might make a difference. In that case, the market value of your home vs your equity in the property factored into whatever cap percentage they use to determine how much of that should be available toward paying for college is the amt you will be expected to contribute toward your familial contribution. You are going to have to look at each school and see how they view primary residence. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acadie Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 (edited) Many thanks for your replies and resources. And wow, this is complicated! For anyone searching for similar info the website JanetC listed above has a spreadsheet listing the caps on home equity that many schools use to determine how much of that should be available for college (or whether it goes into their calculation at all). The website says it can change, but it's interesting to see how different it is at different schools. Amy Edited January 14, 2019 by Acadie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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