FAFSA Question For January 2016 Filing

[amcnj]

The FAFSA is based on academic years, so a student graduating college in May 2016 does not need to file the January 2016 FAFSA, correct?

 

[barkley]

shouldn't need to but may want to just in case something happens that causes an issue with graduating on time. I only say this b/c dh got horribly ill one quarter and had to drop his classes (impossible to make up or do an incomplete) and then one wasn't offered the following quarter so it pushed off completion of the program.

doesn't cost anything to file so I probably would go ahead.

 

[njcarita]

The FAFSA is based on academic years, so a student graduating college in May 2016 does not need to file the January 2016 FAFSA, correct?

my daughter graduates june 2016 from high school and we are filling out her fasfa jan 1 2016, its for the following year... so jan 1 2016 covers the fall2016- spring 2017 year

 

[njcarita]

from application 'For federal aid, submit your application as early as possible, but no earlier than January 1, 2016. We must receive your application no later than June 30, 2017. Your college must have your correct, complete information by your last day of enrollment in the 2016-2017 school year. For state or college aid, the deadline may be as early as January 2016." The earlier you apply the better many scholarships and grants etc are first come first serve.... my daughter has already been awarded a 22,000 a year academic scholarship to one school and a 13,500 a year to another school. and I also have a junior in college on an academic scholarhsip so I have been up at the wee hour of the dawn on Jan1 filling out the FAFSA for the last 3 years....

 

[barkley]

from application 'For federal aid, submit your application as early as possible, but no earlier than January 1, 2016. We must receive your application no later than June 30, 2017. Your college must have your correct, complete information by your last day of enrollment in the 2016-2017 school year. For state or college aid, the deadline may be as early as January 2016." The earlier you apply the better many scholarships and grants etc are first come first serve.... my daughter has already been awarded a 22,000 a year academic scholarship to one school and a 13,500 a year to another school. and I also have a junior in college on an academic scholarhsip so I have been up at the wee hour of the dawn on Jan1 filling out the FAFSA for the last 3 years....

get ready to do it twice in 2016-you'll be doing both academic year 2016/2017 as well as 2017/2018.

starting in 2016 the filing date for the following academic year will open up on October 1st BUT instead of scrambling for information we'll be able to use the same information we input already in January (2015 income information). after this 2 time filing event in 2016 everything will shift so that each year October 1st will be the magic first day to file for a subsequent academic year.

 

[kimnjim]

Your 2015 FAFSA is for July 2015-June 2016. As long as you will graduate and no longer need aid, then no need to do it, but I'm a "better safe than sorry" kind of person, so I would complete it, just in case.

 

[barbnbrian]

What about if the student is graduating from college, but will be a graduate school student in the fall? Can they get financial aid for grad school, and should we fill out the FAFSA?

 

[Sadie22]

The best case scenario for graduate school is for a student to be in a field for which institutions have money to provide tuition remission (the student attends tuition-free) and money to fund graduate assistantships, fellowships, and grants so that the costs of living are covered as well as some research and travel expenses. This would be a reason to apply to multiple programs and compare any offers which are extended as well as to keep applying for fellowships and grants throughout the academic period. I know of this having been possible for STEM students, but I do not know how it goes in other fields. Otherwise some loans may be available.

 

[ChvGator]

What about if the student is graduating from college, but will be a graduate school student in the fall? Can they get financial aid for grad school, and should we fill out the FAFSA?

In most cases a FAFSA for grad school would be used to determine a loan package. However, there may be some cases where a state or institution offers need based aid using data from the FAFSA. Your student should talk to the fin aid offices at the prospective institutions. I suspect most will advise filling it out. But time wise there is less urgency. When I did my grad school package a few years ago (only federal direct loans). I didn't file a FAFSA till mid-summer.

 

[tzolkin]

get ready to do it twice in 2016-you'll be doing both academic year 2016/2017 as well as 2017/2018.

starting in 2016 the filing date for the following academic year will open up on October 1st BUT instead of scrambling for information we'll be able to use the same information we input already in January (2015 income information). after this 2 time filing event in 2016 everything will shift so that each year October 1st will be the magic first day to file for a subsequent academic year.

Well, that stinks for people who made extra income this year. Now it will count against the child's financial aid for two years even if that's not what the parents will earn in 2016.

 

[teller80]

Well, that stinks for people who made extra income this year. Now it will count against the child's financial aid for two years even if that's not what the parents will earn in 2016.

I don't think it's held against you for two years, only one.

I had a friend go on 'The Price is Right' and she won the grand showcase, worth $70,000. Her child was a senior, and she had to claim it as income even though it was a car and some other miscellaneous merchandise. Totally blew her EFC. I mean she was thrilled to win, but at the same time it hurt her chances for aid.

 

[tzolkin]

I don't think it's held against you for two years, only one.

The poster I quoted said they are changing it for 2016 so that you file for this coming school year with your 2015 tax return and then file for next year in October again with your 2015 tax return. So that would be using the same income/return for two years in a row. (Maybe this is wrong, that's why I was looking for clarification of the new policy)

DD is going to be a college freshman this year. We relocated and DH got some sign on bonuses that will be on our 2015 tax year. So in the above scenario instead of our income for FAFSA being (made up amounts) $80,000 freshman, $65,000 sophomore, $65,000 junior, $65,000 senior they would be $80k, $80k, $65k, $65k. So financial aid would be calculated as though we made $80k two years in a row. Is that really how they're going to do it?

 

[Sadie22]

Estimated figures have always needed to be updated after tax returns were actually filed. I can't believe they would change that requirement.

You also should be able to contact individual college financial aid departments and ask for a recalculation of an aid package based on a change in circumstances. Sometimes the college is able to make adjustments to aid packages when a parent loses a job, for example.

 

[teller80]

The poster I quoted said they are changing it for 2016 so that you file for this coming school year with your 2015 tax return and then file for next year in October again with your 2015 tax return. So that would be using the same income/return for two years in a row. (Maybe this is wrong, that's why I was looking for clarification of the new policy)

DD is going to be a college freshman this year. We relocated and DH got some sign on bonuses that will be on our 2015 tax year. So in the above scenario instead of our income for FAFSA being (made up amounts) $80,000 freshman, $65,000 sophomore, $65,000 junior, $65,000 senior they would be $80k, $80k, $65k, $65k. So financial aid would be calculated as though we made $80k two years in a row. Is that really how they're going to do it?

I think the poster was saying that you can begin your FAFSA earlier (October), and for many people it's easier because their income stays relatively the same. In your case, once you get your W2 for your 2016 income (in Jan 2017) you'll be able to adjust it down.

This article may interest you: http://www.fastweb.com/financial-ai...-aid-application-forms-use-last-year-s-income

 

[tzolkin]

So, I did a bit of research and it seems that the reason they are switching to October is so that you won't be estimating and then adjusting. Since it's currently January to do FAFSA, but most people don't file their taxes until April most people need to adjust. So now if they do it in October with the previous year everyone will have already filed and will not need to estimate and then adjust.

I am sure I can talk to the school and have them look at it as a change in my particular case I mentioned above, but according to all the websites I've seen they will be requiring the 2015 income two years in a row. See here: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/announcements/fafsa-changes

Estimated figures have always needed to be updated after tax returns were actually filed. I can't believe they would change that requirement.

You also should be able to contact individual college financial aid departments and ask for a recalculation of an aid package based on a change in circumstances. Sometimes the college is able to make adjustments to aid packages when a parent loses a job, for example.

I think the poster was saying that you can begin your FAFSA earlier (October), and for many people it's easier because their income stays relatively the same. In your case, once you get your W2 for your 2016 income (in Jan 2017) you'll be able to adjust it down.

This article may interest you: http://www.fastweb.com/financial-ai...-aid-application-forms-use-last-year-s-income

 

[kaddjr]

So, I did a bit of research and it seems that the reason they are switching to October is so that you won't be estimating and then adjusting. Since it's currently January to do FAFSA, but most people don't file their taxes until April most people need to adjust. So now if they do it in October with the previous year everyone will have already filed and will not need to estimate and then adjust.

I am sure I can talk to the school and have them look at it as a change in my particular case I mentioned above, but according to all the websites I've seen they will be requiring the 2015 income two years in a row. See here: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/announcements/fafsa-changes

My DD and I went for a college visit back in October and this is exactly what the person from financial aid told us. It was also reported this way on our local news.

 

[tzolkin]

My DD and I went for a college visit back in October and this is exactly what the person from financial aid told us. It was also reported this way on our local news.

This was the first I had heard of it, but I guess our schools have just been focused on this year.

It makes sense to do it well after taxes have been filed so they don't have to do everything twice (estimated and then adjust), but it's just an annoyance for us that it will change this year since we had abnormal 2015 earnings.

 

[kaddjr]

This was the first I had heard of it, but I guess our schools have just been focused on this year.

It makes sense to do it well after taxes have been filed so they don't have to do everything twice (estimated and then adjust), but it's just an annoyance for us that it will change this year since we had abnormal 2015 earnings.

It does make more sense to do it this way. And yes, it does stink that you are taking that hit twice. However, as someone else mentioned, do file ASAP. You never know what could end up with. Not FAFSA related, by my DS applied really early to his second choice school and ended up with a 4 year scholarship that basically covers his tuition for a semester each year. We didn't know about this scholarship until he received the letter in the mail. When we got the FA packages back for his first choice and this one, he didn't even hesitate- second choice won out because he will get his BA without incurring any debt (he has additional scholarships).

 

[tzolkin]

It does make more sense to do it this way. And yes, it does stink that you are taking that hit twice. However, as someone else mentioned, do file ASAP. You never know what could end up with. Not FAFSA related, by my DS applied really early to his second choice school and ended up with a 4 year scholarship that basically covers his tuition for a semester each year. We didn't know about this scholarship until he received the letter in the mail. When we got the FA packages back for his first choice and this one, he didn't even hesitate- second choice won out because he will get his BA without incurring any debt (he has additional scholarships).

DD has already received full tuition merit-based scholarships at her top two schools, so we will just be responsible for room, board, books, and fees but that is still a big expense if we don't qualify for any need-based financial aid.

I did look up the calculators and it looks like we won't be eligible for a pell grant with the 2015 income, but we might be in a normal year so that's why it's annoying that 2015 is used twice. She is has applied for several local scholarships, so hopefully she will win some of those to cover some more of the cost. We do have some savings, but we have two younger children so it would be nice to have some left for them without DD taking out too much in loans.

 

[amcnj]

Thanks for the replies. I hadn't considered the possibility of the final semester not being completed on time due to illness or some other factor. Never qualified for need based aid anyway, the fafsa was required (I think- it was so long ago now!) as part of a merit award. It was for four years, but basically covered everything, even room and board, so I wouldn't want to jeapordize it. I have no idea what would happen if this final semester was not completed on time. Maybe I should check what the last date possible the school needs the fafsa by. If it is June like a previous poster mentions for their case, then the semester would be over anyway.