Home Equity and Financial Aid Calculator

Did you know that the FAFSA considers the equity in your primary residence to be a non-reportable asset - meaning it does not count against you in financial aid calculations? (Note: this is just for your primary residence - your vacation home’s equity and the equity in your rental properties do count!)

Most colleges and universities use FAFSA to decide how much aid you’ll receive. But over 200  colleges and universities, often the most selective, use the CSS profile to determine financial aid - and with the CSS Profile, you will be asked to report the equity in your home.

Assets are assessed at around 5%, meaning in general you can expect 5% of the total value to be added to the expected family contribution. So a $100,000 asset would add $5,000 to your expected contribution (and reduce your financial aid accordingly).

The good news is that not all colleges that take the CSS profile treat home equity the same - some don’t even count it at all.  So how do you know whether your home value will affect your financial aid?

Edmit’s calculator tells you what portion of your home equity will count as an asset towards financial aid calculations for 100 colleges. Enter the information below for quick answers.

Many thanks to Paula Bishop who collaborated with us to compile these data. Paula is a Certified Public Accountant and Financial Aid for College Advisor; she can be found at www.paulabishop.com/