Each month when we conduct our free workshops, "How to Pay for College Without Going Broke," Pete and I hear this question in some form or another:

"We were told we make too much money to qualify for financial aid. Should we bother applying?"

Here's the answer, once and for all:

YES!!

Got it?

Many families assume they make too much money to qualify for financial aid, but there are many factors that determine eligibility - not just income. In fact, according to a recent study, 53% of all eligible families never apply for aid!

The main reason preventing them from applying is this misconceived notion that they make too much money. I've had single moms two steps above the poverty line approach me at the end of a workshop, concerned that their income was too high! Here's the big idea in this article: even families making healthy, six figure incomes will qualify for aid at most schools.

No matter what your income, each family should fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The data you enter into FAFSA dictates how much money you are expected to contribute to school. This number is calculated pursuant to the Department of Education regulations.

Filling out a FAFSA is painful. You must be extremely careful - the opportunity for mistakes and pitfalls abound! According to an industry study, approximately 78% plus of all FAFSA's contain mistakes. One of the more common gaffes that severely limits or eliminates deserved aid: listing assets that do not need to be included.

In February, the Miami Herald printed a letter from a Miami Beach woman whose son was admitted to an elite, private school. The family's income was approximately $50,000. However, after she completed her forms, she learned that she was expected to contribute more than $30,000 per year.

By way of contrast, we recently devised a plan for a client with striking similarities. Had he done the forms the same way as the Miami Beach woman, his expected contribution for college would have been more than $147,000. After we "fixed" his problem, his magic number was $3,400 per year.

Did we hide assets in a strange offshore account? Nope. Are we magicians or weird psychics? C'mon. Did we manipulate things in an illegal, unethical or immoral manner? Of course not!

All we did was follow the guidelines promulgated by the Department of Education. These guidelines read like a phone book. There are between 67-78 different factors that bear on how much aid your family will receive.

Unless you are a specialist in this area, you couldn't possibly understand these rules of the game. An easy analogy is tax preparation - sure, you can do your own taxes, but how likely are you to take advantage of every benefit due to you compared to if you retained an experienced CPA? Of course, if you're the do-it-yourself type: you like to fix your own car, sprinklers, etc. you might not like this idea, but you have to admit that you cannot possibly be as competent as an expert.

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