College Aid - Potential Actions to Take

If you think you may qualify for college aid you should consider taking the following actions:

1. Accelerate or defer employer bonuses so you do not receive it in the base year (the year before the student enters college).
2. Avoid large capital gains in the base year.
3. Pay off consumer debt. Consumer debt does not reduce your net worth for financial aid purposes. Therefore, if you have cash of $5,000 in the bank and consumer debt of $3,000, they will consider you to have $5,000 of net worth instead of $2,000. Everything you can do to reduce your earnings or make your net worth appear lower increases your chances of obtaining financial aid.