Reducing Your Family's Cost

Most parents applying for financial aid for their children have less than adequate financial aid information and as a result, guarantee their children will receive only the minimum amount of aid available. They wait too long to get started. They assume they won't qualify. There are, in fact, several legitimate ways of reducing the EFC and increasing financial aid eligibility.

These strategies should not be incorporated without the advice of a trained college financial aid consultant or certified financial planner.

The potential of increasing financial aid eligibility by hundreds, even thousands of dollars makes their fee a very worthwhile investment.

First you must thoroughly understand the need analysis process, the factors considered, the percentages and weights assessed to the different elements of data. Then determine if there are adjustments which can be made to your financial circumstance which would cause your EFC to be lowered.

Here are a few examples of measures used by professional financial aid consultants:

Reduce the amount of assets reported on the FAFSA/CSS Profile. Students’ assets count more toward the EFC than parents' assets. These assets must be properly positioned, or reduced through the use of certain types of loans. It may even be advantageous to use these assets to start a sole proprietorship or corporation. But there's more.

Further reduce your asset value. By paying down the home mortgage with the proper amount of taxable assets, the student could be eligible for a subsidized interest loan for college. There is some cash flow relief and if an interest free loan is obtained, it's money in the bank (or in your home).