FAFSA application question (College financial aid)

In My Humble Opinion
1

We are trying to get a head start on all the submittals/applications/forms necessary for a college-bound hi-school senior (pullinSon). Friends have encouraged us to fill out the FAFSA online forms (no matter what) to see if we qualify for any scholarships, grants, etc. (He graduates in 2007)

I’m unfamiliar with FAFSA and its exact purpose. When I went to the website, the online application asked for an astonishing level of financial detail about me. With all the current news headlines about stolen data, I’m very uncomfortable giving my SS number, W2 information, and detailed info from my tax returns, investments, savings, etc. This makes me nervous.

My question to the board is, Will it be worth my effort? Does anyone know where the line is drawn for financial aid eligibility (grants, scholarships, etc.)? If your annual income reaches some magic number, are you excluded by default? I ask so that I can save us the trouble and risk of submitting all the info if we’re unlikely to be eligible for anything. I’m more comfortable revealing approx income/savings data to this board since I have some anonymity around here. In rough figures, 2006 income will be between 164K-198K (depending on bonuses, etc.) Most of my investment stuff would be excluded according to their rules. If it matters, pullinSon is in the top 20% (but not top 10) with a GPA of around 3.8.

Any help/experiences would be appreciated.

2

You don’t need to complete it until Jan.
Don’t sweat the FAFSA yet.
Have your kid decide where he wants to apply, figure out the early application dates, and have him plan a schedule for his applications/essays.

I make somewhere between 50-75% of what you anticipate, and last year FAFSA told us we could spend around $40G for college.
Got zero for my kid going to a state school.
*(But, you can still get considerable merit-based aid. My kid was top 10% and got $8G towards her state school, and was offered as much as 1/2 rides to a couple of private schools - which brought their cost down to the range of state schools.) *
But my understanding is that the FAFSA is the standard form for any aid - the “benefit” is that all of the schools use the same form, so you only need to apply once.

I figure when I have all 3 kids in school at the same time, I might get some need-based aid…

3

Many scholarships - both merit and need based - require the FAFSA to be filed. Also, if you anticipate taking out student loans, it will be required.

4

OK. Thanks ya’ll. I wasn’t sure about FAFSA, and wasn’t sure whether it was merit or need based, or something in between. We’ll hold off until January and re-visit this.

Thanks for your help.

5

FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and it’s essential if you want to get aid for college. If you don’t fill it out, then you probably won’t get anything; all colleges use it to determine the aid package.

Essentially, there are regulations about how much a family of a certain income needs to pay out of pocket for college. The college then puts together a package that covers the rest (though the package usually includes loans).

Colleges also have merit-based scholarships, but these often are granted with an eye to the FAFSA numbers.

The information is quite confidential, so there’s no need to worry about it. If you plan to pay for college by yourself, then you don’t need to deal with it, but to get any additional help, you need to fill it out.

6

If you filled it out this calendar year, it wouldn’t even be valid for the next school year.

Much of the information comes from your tax forms, so when you do your taxes next year, do the FAFSA at the same time. Many colleges have fairly early deadlines for school-based grants and scholarships; they also have a certain amount of money available for some kinds of loans. State education-funding agencies also use the FAFSA to determine eligibility for state grants; I know this is true of Pennsylvania, where I live, and I assume it’s true for others as well.

Robin

7

Agree with MsRobyn. Our state has a handy thing called MTAG which, while only a couple hundred bucks per semester, still buys a book or two. If you don’t fill out the FAFSA you are ineligible; if you do fill it out, it just comes. Kinda like grits. :slight_smile:

8

If you are new to this college application thing, it can be quite frustrating in that you cannot tell up front how much a particular college will cost. Kinda like shopping for cars, but even more so. In many cases, you need to get your early application in in November. They will tell you whether or not you are accepted early in the next year, and you have until May or so to commit. (With various exceptions - early admission, etc.) When they accept you and thereafter, they will say whether any additional money is available through scholarships, grants, jobs… And, depending on your kid’s “marketability”, there may be some room for negotiation. In most cases, what you see presented as the tuition, fees, and board costs is not necessarily what you will in fact be paying.

Regarding FAFSA - not only do you have to present your assets and income, but your kid must as well. And any money he has is counted against his eligibility for aid at a far higher rate than yours. So, if he has money in his name, either from working or gifts-to-minors, it might be in his interest to spend that money down FIRST. You can use it for any number of expenses during his senior year.

Also, there are a couple of ways you can try to shelter assets. For example, I believe there is a home exemption, so paying off your mortgage might make you more eligible for aid.

I assume your high school or school district may have info on this process. Our public high school presented an evening presentation where guidance counselors and a private financial advisor went through much of this stuff.

But face it, at nearly $200G, you can afford to send one kid to just about any college w/o assistance. I mean, by all means look for any free money you can find lying around. But you and your son’s decision really shouldn’t be subject to any financial restraints.

9

It’s hard to know what your EFC is going to be, because they include things like your age (how close you are to retirement) and they don’t count all kinds of income equally. Some colleges, I have heard, do offer some ‘estimators’ that may give you a rough idea of what your EFC would be.

We have families here who make over $100,000 who qualify for aid. Some of them even qualify for full aid. But the particulars of their case may bear no similarity to yours. It’s hard to say.

Some colleges use PROFILE instead of the FAFSA, generally because they don’t think FAFSA fairly reflects what a family can spend for college. Know that depending on where your son applies, you might have to fill out a different form in addition to the FAFSA.

10

The FAFSA weighs investments very heavily in the EFC (which is the amount that you theoretically should be able to contribute to your kid’s education) – so someone with a lot of investments will have a higher EFC than someone with a higher income and less money invested. Specifically, anything on FAFSA worksheet B is going to count against you pretty heavily. The FAFSA is to be filled out according to the values of the particular day you fill it out – so you can legally move your money around a bit (away from things that show up on worksheet B) to get a lower EFC.

If you want to learn exactly how the EFC is calculated, check out this document from the FSA. (Warning: it’s a .pdf).

FWIW, I work in a financial aid office – but it’s at a grad school. Therefore, I don’t know as much about the way things work for dependent students.

11

Thanks again to everyone who responded. As I stated, we were unsure exactly what the purpose of FAFSA is. If it was entirely need-based, or merit-based below some income ceiling, we didn’t want to waste our time (and theirs) by filling out the app. If (as it appears) it’s possible anyone can be eligible for some aid, we didn’t want to miss anything that would defray the cost of sending our kid(s) thru college. I really appreciate everyone’s advice, and we will give this a try after the first of the year when our taxes are calculated.

Pullin

12

Interesting thread. What about older learners? I’ve been going to community college and have been paying out of pocket. I would love to quit my job and go to school full time. However, if I filled out a fafsa, it would show my income, even though we would only be making 1/2 as much money if I quit my job. How do people manage that?

Also, do they adjust for cost of living? Where my husband and I live, you’d be hard-pressed to find a studio apartment for less than $1000 a month, so while we do make quite a bit of money, we do spend more on rent than if we lived in a different part of the country.

13

Hi pullin!

I wouldn’t underestimate the need for the FAFSA, and I don’t think it’s a waste of time to have one – it’s a “better safe than sorry” measure to file one. I understand your concern about the detailed questions and your privacy, but in my experience, almost every single scholarship grant, award, etc. requires that you have one on file (regardless of need vs. merit). And hey, it’s FREE! I think it might be a way of weeding out those who aren’t serious about attending school or using awarded funds for tuition and tuition-related expenses. Most colleges/universities receive the awards directly from the EdFund offices, so there’s no chance the student will NOT spend that money on their education. If there’s money leftover after the school pays the outstanding tuition, fees, housing, etc., then the school cuts the student a check for the remaining balance, and that money can be used towards books, gas, whatever.

You also need a FAFSA if you want to get “free-money” – that is, grants that don’t have to be paid back. For undergrads there’s the Federal Pell grant, and in the state of California there’s CalGrants at different levels of payout – perhaps Texas has something similar. In addition, if your student wants to work on campus, be aware that many of the jobs available are desgnated for “federal work-study” students ONLY. Federal work-study is an award, like a grant, where the govt. agrees to subsidize part of the student’s paycheck, up to a specified amount per quarter/semester. Campuses love to hire these students, because it saves them money! Where I work in a university library, we hire ONLY work-study students, because that’s all we can afford with our restricted budget.

Finally, be aware that the amount of money awarded to your student may vary on the following factors: cost of the particular school’s tuition/program, residency on campus or off, distance of commute, residency of state!, etc. – all these things figure into your student’s estimated need.

Hope this was of some value in addition to what others already said.

Oh yeah, and BE SURE you make the deadline of March 2, because early filers get considered first! That means file your taxes as early as possible so you have the figures ready to go!

14

Many thanks again everyone. I appreciate your setting my mind at ease re: the personal financial details. We’re the kind of annoying people who have our tax return ready on January 3rd, so it’ll be easy to get in line early for the FAFSA stuff (thanx, YamirSkoonir). Hopefully we’ll qualify for something, because pullinSon has a lengthy commute to his chosen (for now) college (he’s not staying on campus; it’s cheaper to just pay for his commute). I’ll pass on the info about the federal work-study jobs. Might be preferable to holding a job off-campus (which is his current plan).
This board is amazing.

pullin

15

In addition to what the others have said, you need to get a PIN, which takes a bit of time - so take that into consideration.

The good news is that they remember your information from year to year, so year 2 and greater is a lot easier to do than year one.

If you get nothing from the college the first year, you don’t have to bother subsequent years. But if you do get some money, one is needed each year. It does make the school financial aid application a bit easier, though.

16

Older “independent” students are judged differently than your average 18-year-old still-at-home freshman. According to my uni, they’re eligible for more Stafford loan money, for one thing. It may also be easier to qualify for some types of grant aid. In your case, some of these benefits may not show up for a year after you quit work.

I can’t speak for other older students, but I’m in hock for about $40,000 between undergraduate and graduate school. A fair percentage of that went into my pocket for living expenses. YMMV.

Robin