You Make Too Much to Qualify for Aid on Paper — and Not Enough to Just Write the Check
The FAFSA and CSS Profile aren’t a snapshot of your finances — they respond to how your income and assets are positioned before you file. Most families never learn this, because school counselors don’t teach it and financial advisors aren’t trained on the aid formulas specifically.
🧭 Join the WaitlistThe Formula Isn’t Fixed — It’s a Formula
Colleges don’t look at what you’re worth. They look at what the FAFSA and CSS Profile calculate you’re worth — and those two formulas treat income, home equity, retirement savings, and business ownership very differently from each other. That gap is where families lose money, not because they don’t qualify, but because nobody explained how the calculation actually works before they filed.
- ✔️ The FAFSA and CSS Profile score income and assets differently — filing the same way for both leaves money on the table.
- ✔️ Home equity, retirement accounts, and business equity aren’t treated equally by the formulas — how you hold them matters.
- ✔️ Timing and documentation decisions made months before you file can change your number.
This course teaches you how those formulas actually work, so you can legally reposition your finances before you file — not after it’s too late to matter.
Inside Financial Aid Positioning
| Module | Focus |
|---|---|
| 1️⃣ Understanding Aid Formulas | FAFSA vs. CSS Profile — what each one actually counts |
| 2️⃣ Income Planning | How reportable income is calculated, and what legally shapes it |
| 3️⃣ Asset Positioning | How savings, 529s, and home equity are treated differently by each formula |
| 4️⃣ Timing and Documentation | The dates and records that determine your number |
| 5️⃣ Advanced Scenarios | Divorce, remarriage, business ownership, and other complex situations |
You’ll walk away understanding exactly how your numbers turn into an aid offer — and a framework you can apply to your own filing, year after year.
Is This You?
This is built for parents of college-bound high schoolers who are still a year or more out from filing — households that are financially “in the middle”: not positioned to qualify for aid on paper as things stand today, but not in a position to comfortably write a full-price check either. Usually there’s meaningful equity in a home, retirement savings, sometimes a business — assets that get treated very differently depending on how they’re positioned before you file.
- ✅ Parents of college-bound students in grades 10 through 12
- ✅ Families who want to understand how their finances affect aid
- ✅ Divorced or blended families who need clarity on which parent files
- ✅ Anyone who wants to legally improve their aid eligibility before senior year
A note on what this is: this course teaches you how the aid formulas work, so you can make informed decisions about your own finances before you file. It is not personalized financial, investment, or tax advice, and I’m not acting as your advisor — I’m teaching you the mechanics so you can apply them to your own numbers.
Why Listen to Me
I ran a 1:1 financial aid consulting practice for six years (2012–2018), working directly with families through this exact filing process. This course is that same strategy, taught at a fraction of the cost of hiring someone to do it for you.
Enrollment Opens Soon
The Financial Aid Positioning course is currently in development. Join the waitlist for early access and founding-member pricing when it opens.
No spam. Just what you need to know before you file.
Get Ready to Plan Smarter
Join the waitlist today and take the first step toward understanding how colleges really calculate aid — and how to position your family’s finances for the best possible outcome.