Students! Minimize
the money in your bank accounts.
Students, beware of how much money you have in your savings
and checking accounts.
THIS IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT! Colleges and universities expect
you (the student) to use virtually your entire savings to help
pay for college. If you need to buy things (such as a laptop
computer for next year), do it before you complete the FAFSA,
CSS/PROFILE,
and other financial aid documents. Pay off loans, fix your car, buy upgrades
in computer software, purchase clothes for college, etc. Do
whatever you can to reduce the amount of money in your name and
report the reduced amount on the FAFSA and CSS/PROFILE financial
aid applications.
If you don’t, colleges will count the money in your savings
against you and WILL REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF NEED-BASED SCHOLARSHIP
AND GRANT MONEY YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE.
NOTE: The “standard” college financial aid formula
requires students to use 30-35% of their assets to pay for college
each year before receiving government aid. In contrast, the same
financial aid formula requires parents to use 5.6% of their assets. For
non-family members (such as grandparents, aunts, and uncles)
the number is zero.
|