To summarize what everyone has correctly stated: 1. Your land should be reported as an investment asset (not a farm) on the 2025-2026 FAFSA 2. Report the net worth ($175k equity) 3. The tax loss is already factored into your AGI from your tax return 4. The 'hobby farm' classification by the IRS supports treating this as an investment One final tip: keep documentation of how you arrived at the property value in case of verification. A recent tax assessment, comparative market analysis, or appraisal would be helpful to have on hand. While verification is less common with the simplified FAFSA, it's still possible for non-standard situations.

Just wanted to add another perspective as someone who works in financial aid administration. The confusion around this issue is SO common, and you're absolutely right to be careful about classification. One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet - if you're ever unsure about asset classification on future FAFSAs, you can always add a note in the "Additional Information" section explaining unusual circumstances. For example: "40-acre hay property reported as investment asset per IRS hobby farm classification." This can help prevent verification flags and shows you've thoughtfully considered the classification. Also, keep in mind that the asset protection allowance for parents has changed with the simplified FAFSA, so depending on your age and family size, a portion of your total assets (including this land) may be protected anyway. The Student Aid Index calculation will factor this in automatically. Good luck with your daughter's FAFSA!

One last important point: If your daughter plans to accept any student loans that are part of her financial aid package, she'll need to complete entrance counseling and sign a Master Promissory Note (MPN) on studentaid.gov before those funds can be disbursed. This is separate from the verification process but equally important for finalizing her aid. Once all requirements are complete, those EST designations should be removed, and you'll see the final amounts.

Just wanted to add my experience - we went through this exact same thing last year with my son! The EST amounts stayed on his portal for about 6 weeks, but once he completed all the verification requirements and submitted his final transcript, everything became final within a few days. The actual amounts ended up being within $200 of the estimates, so pretty close. One tip: screenshot or print those estimated amounts now so you can compare later if anything changes significantly. Also, don't forget that even after the EST is removed, you'll still need to formally accept or decline each type of aid in the portal before the money actually gets disbursed to your daughter's account. Good luck!

You can definitely have multiple PLUS loans for different children. I currently have two - one for my daughter (junior) and one for my son (freshman). The main thing to watch for is your debt-to-income ratio when applying for the second loan. If your first PLUS loan is large, it could potentially impact approval for the second one. One strategy that helped us: we put my husband as the borrower on one PLUS loan and me as the borrower on the other. This distributed the debt between us for credit purposes. Just an option to consider if you're married and both parents are eligible borrowers.

Great question! As someone who's navigating this process for the first time, I wanted to add that you might also want to check if your kids' schools offer any parent education sessions about financial aid. My daughter's college had a webinar specifically for parents about PLUS loans that was super helpful. Also, I've been using the Federal Student Aid estimator tool on studentaid.gov to get a rough idea of what our borrowing might look like for both kids. It's not perfect but gives you a ballpark figure to work with for budgeting. Good luck with the planning - it's overwhelming but sounds like you're being really proactive about it!

This timeline is incredibly helpful - thank you! I'm going to print this out and keep it handy as we go through the process.

As someone who went through this process recently, I want to emphasize something that might ease your stress a bit - you're actually starting to think about this at the perfect time! Having over a year to plan puts you way ahead of many families who scramble at the last minute. One additional tip that saved us money: look into your state's 529 college savings plan tax benefits if you haven't already. Even if you can't contribute much, some states offer tax deductions for contributions made in the same year you withdraw for college expenses. Also, don't forget to factor in potential tuition increases - most schools raise tuition 3-5% annually, so that $34,500 for freshman year might be $37,000+ by senior year. It's better to overestimate costs in your planning than be caught off guard later!

One other thing to note - your daughter should watch her email carefully for any requests from the financial aid offices. Sometimes they need additional information that can hold up the process, and these requests can end up in spam folders. Missing these emails can delay your aid package by weeks.

As someone who just went through this process with my oldest, I'd also recommend having backup plans ready. While December submission should work fine for your timeline, consider having your daughter apply for merit scholarships directly through each school as well - those often have earlier deadlines but can supplement need-based aid. Also, if any of her schools offer early action admission, you might get financial aid estimates earlier which can help with planning. The whole process is stressful but you're being smart by starting to plan the timeline now!