Fafsa

[Minnie_me]

Thanks for all of the replies. I forwarded your responses to my Ex. He admitted that he feels a bit ashamed for not having the girls 50% of the time, or even the traditional "every other weekend" arrangement, so he didn't correct the financial planner when the planner made that assumption.

A local parent here did not report her new husband's income on her FAFSA, and she was caught. I don't want want to mess around and risk my girls losing out on crucial financial aid. I like to play by the book.

 

[barkley]

there are some very good books available on how to complete the fafsa-and they are well worth the $15 or so they cost b/c they can clue a parent in on what must be reported as well as what is exempt from reporting.

taking the time to just read through the income and asset portions of these books can result in learning what the fafsa defines as reportable income and assets (because some types of income and assets are entirely exempt from reporting. this can result in a student being eligible to aide, loans and work study monies they previously would not have been considered for.


for those who feel it's a waste of time to complete the fafsa b/c they know their kids won't be eligible-consider that many colleges, universities and private foundations require the application as a condition of applying for scholarships each year, and some scholarships are awarded with the amount determined by how much/little or no financial aide a student receives. I personally know a young man whose fafsa showed no eligibility to anything but because of that when he applied for a scholarship he was awarded several thousands per year more than other recipients b/c the scholarship was written up to have the maximum awarded amounts offset by any other financial aide received.

 

[Happy Snowman]

Thanks for all of the replies. I forwarded your responses to my Ex. He admitted that he feels a bit ashamed for not having the girls 50% of the time, or even the traditional "every other weekend" arrangement, so he didn't correct the financial planner when the planner made that assumption.

A local parent here did not report her new husband's income on her FAFSA, and she was caught. I don't want want to mess around and risk my girls losing out on crucial financial aid. I like to play by the book.

The other thing to consider is it might not matter, unfortunately. You still want to file the FAFSA but, just don't count on much, or anything, if your household income is over $100,000. Everyone that applies has access to the federal student loans though (unsubsidized).

 

[The Mystery Machine]

there are some very good books available on how to complete the fafsa-and they are well worth the $15 or so they cost b/c they can clue a parent in on what must be reported as well as what is exempt from reporting.

taking the time to just read through the income and asset portions of these books can result in learning what the fafsa defines as reportable income and assets (because some types of income and assets are entirely exempt from reporting. this can result in a student being eligible to aide, loans and work study monies they previously would not have been considered for.


for those who feel it's a waste of time to complete the fafsa b/c they know their kids won't be eligible-consider that many colleges, universities and private foundations require the application as a condition of applying for scholarships each year, and some scholarships are awarded with the amount determined by how much/little or no financial aide a student receives. I personally know a young man whose fafsa showed no eligibility to anything but because of that when he applied for a scholarship he was awarded several thousands per year more than other recipients b/c the scholarship was written up to have the maximum awarded amounts offset by any other financial aide received.

Yep to the bolded.

Also if you were to experience a financial/medical loss or need while your student is in school, student can go to the fin. aid office and rework the FAFSA with the rules that are in place. You need that FAFSA on file for the office to work with you, in other words.

Even though that seems remote, you just want to have it as a "insurance".

 

[Minnie_me]

The other thing to consider is it might not matter, unfortunately. You still want to file the FAFSA but, just don't count on much, or anything, if your household income is over $100,000. Everyone that applies has access to the federal student loans though (unsubsidized).

LOL, I'm a teacher in a rural area, and he is a social worker. $100K is out of our reach, even with child support.

 

[undertheradar]

LOL, I'm a teacher in a rural area, and he is a social worker. $100K is out of our reach, even with child support.

From our experience, that $100,000 is too high. The household income limits were closer to $50,000.

Yes, loans are available to anyone. We didn't see the benefit of borrowing at 6% interest when we could make sacrifices to allow us to pay for school. We have taken 1 vacation in the past 7 years, bought less of a home than we could have, drive our cars for 10+ years, don't eat out much, etc. Allows our kids the opportunity to not start out life with huge student loan payments. Again, we do sacrifice things in order to do this.

 

[Minnie_me]

Yes, loans are available to anyone. We didn't see the benefit of borrowing at 6% interest when we could make sacrifices to allow us to pay for school. We have taken 1 vacation in the past 7 years, bought less of a home than we could have, drive our cars for 10+ years, don't eat out much, etc. Allows our kids the opportunity to not start out life with huge student loan payments. Again, we do sacrifice things in order to do this.

Lol, I guess that's how some people sacrifice to pay for college. It's how *I* sacrifice just to survive. My car is old, but it's a Honda, so it's still going strong. We rarely eat out, usually just to celebrate birthdays or other special occasions. My house is crappy; after the divorce, I had to leave the beautiful house we'd built in a hamlet on the lake, to a 100-year old house on a crowded (kind of trashy) street. The Disney vacation I'm saving for is the first vacation my daughters and I have taken since the divorce in 2009. It's all about perspective......

 

[Happy Snowman]

From our experience, that $100,000 is too high. The household income limits were closer to $50,000.

Yes, loans are available to anyone. We didn't see the benefit of borrowing at 6% interest when we could make sacrifices to allow us to pay for school. We have taken 1 vacation in the past 7 years, bought less of a home than we could have, drive our cars for 10+ years, don't eat out much, etc. Allows our kids the opportunity to not start out life with huge student loan payments. Again, we do sacrifice things in order to do this.

Depends on the cost of the school I guess, but between $50,000-$100,000 a student will generally get something at a private school, probably nothing at a state school though.

As for borrowing the money, the interest is minimal compared to what the stock market is doing now...I can't understand spending money you could invest at a higher rate vs spending the money when you can borrow at a low rate...their loan payments won't be huge at all because as of right now, they have all of the money sitting in very healthy, interest bearing accounts earning money for them....they got enough scholarships to pay for most of their schooling, summer earnings take care of the rest. No sacrifice needed.

 

[disneychrista]

Depends on the cost of the school I guess, but between $50,000-$100,000 a student will generally get something at a private school, probably nothing at a state school though.

Lots of factors go into it. Income, childs income/saving, type of school, number of students in the house hold, etc. What happens in one families situation will not necessarily happen in the another.

 

[m&m's mom]

Depends on the cost of the school I guess, but between $50,000-$100,000 a student will generally get something at a private school, probably nothing at a state school though.

As for borrowing the money, the interest is minimal compared to what the stock market is doing now...I can't understand spending money you could invest at a higher rate vs spending the money when you can borrow at a low rate...their loan payments won't be huge at all because as of right now, they have all of the money sitting in very healthy, interest bearing accounts earning money for them....they got enough scholarships to pay for most of their schooling, summer earnings take care of the rest. No sacrifice needed.

Wow- this seems like a very risky move and no way would I borrow to invest. I use money I have set aside- to invest.

 

[Colleen27]

Thanks! It's only around $4,000......so hopefully it won't matter that much? Here's another question for you:

I am divorced. My daughters spend 95% of their time with me (maybe even more!). They spend maybe 1 night a month with their father. Because of child support, my income is more than his. A financial planner advised us to indicate on the FAFSA form that our daughter resides with him, so that they will look at his income over mine, and she would be more likely to receive more aid that way.

That makes me nervous --- isn't that cheating? I don't like to lie.

I've gotten the same advice about DS and it does sound like cheating to me. DS spends 4-5 nights/month with his dad at most, so it obviously isn't his place of residence. It sucks because it would make a huge difference - my husband makes almost twice what DS's dad makes, plus we have child support, my part-time earnings (which will likely become full time just as DS is getting ready to start college), etc. - but it seems pretty clear that the above-board thing to do is for him to use our household income rather than his father's. Fortunately DH isn't the sort of guy to resent paying for college for a stepchild or DS would be really screwed.

 

[Colleen27]

From our experience, that $100,000 is too high. The household income limits were closer to $50,000.

I think even 50K is probably overestimating, at least in terms of grant aid, unless you're looking at a school that is much more generous than federal programs. Our income as a family of five, one income, one in college (me) doesn't top 50K but I don't get any gift aid and only part of my rather small ($6K/year) loans are subsidized.

To me, the real value of the FAFSA (for my kids, not myself) is likely to be institutional aid from the schools they're considering. DS isn't likely to get anything because like me he'll attend a public college/university and there just isn't much need-based aid available for going that route unless you're poor enough to get Pell grants, but the schools DD is looking at are very generous with need-based aid for middle-income families.

 

[JanaDee]

I think even 50K is probably overestimating, at least in terms of grant aid, unless you're looking at a school that is much more generous than federal programs. Our income as a family of five, one income, one in college (me) doesn't top 50K but I don't get any gift aid and only part of my rather small ($6K/year) loans are subsidized.

We were told at our Financial Aid night at school that it doesn't matter whether parents are in college or not. Only kids in the household are to be counted on the FAFSA. Which stinks for us, because DH is currently in grad school.

 

[wvjules]

We were told at our Financial Aid night at school that it doesn't matter whether parents are in college or not. Only kids in the household are to be counted on the FAFSA. Which stinks for us, because DH is currently in grad school.

When my daughter and I were both in college, I qualified for a pell grant, the year before when she was in HS I did not. Incomes did not change. Her status as a college student was the only thing different.

 

[Colleen27]

We were told at our Financial Aid night at school that it doesn't matter whether parents are in college or not. Only kids in the household are to be counted on the FAFSA. Which stinks for us, because DH is currently in grad school.

IIRC parents in college count but with some limitations. I didn't pay a lot of attention to that because I don't plan on going on to grad school and should be done with my degree before DS starts college, but I did register that if I am still in school when he starts I would count myself as well as him in the "number in college" calculation. Maybe that is only for undergrad?

ETA: I looked it up and this is what I found:

"The rules for including someone in number in college are as follows:

The student is always included.

Other members of the household, except the parents, may be included if they are or will be enrolled at least half time in a program that leads to a college degree, certificate, or recognized education credential at a Title IV institution and for whom the family may reasonably be expected to contribute to their postsecondary education. (West Point and other service academies do not count as Title IV institutions, so siblings who are attending a service academy are not included in the number in college.)

The parents are included at the discretion of the financial aid administrator if they are or will be enrolled at least half time in a program that leads to a college degree, certificate, or recognized education credential at a Title IV institution." (http://www.finaid.org/educators/pj/householdsize.phtml)

So basically it is going to vary from school to school. The event I went to was at the community college I transferred from, so it seems likely they'd include parents, but this wording seems to leave it up to each school to make its own determination on whether to count parents in the financial aid calculation which is of exactly zero help in knowing how to answer that question on the FAFSA. Makes me glad I decided to go back to finish my degree when I did - the original plan was to wait another year, when we'll be down to just the youngest in private school, but that would have made for at least two, possibly three, semesters of overlap between the time DS starts college and when I finish and that would be more of a challenge, financially, than balancing my college costs with the girls' private elem tuition.

 

[Happy Snowman]

Wow- this seems like a very risky move and no way would I borrow to invest. I use money I have set aside- to invest.

Risky how???? The money is there, earning interest and we could write a check today to pay them off if needed...and have earned money on the funds.

Lots of factors go into it. Income, childs income/saving, type of school, number of students in the house hold, etc. What happens in one families situation will not necessarily happen in the another.

Obviously....

 

[eliza61]

This was my experience with both my kids.
Little things to remember.
They will want to know how much you put each year into tax deferred retirement accounts of all kinds. And they will expect you to add that back into your spendable income because FAFSA considers you spending that money on your child's education a higher priority (unless you are a much older parent and very close to retirement).

The Expected Family Contribution will be mind boggling....expected about 25% of your gross (not net) income.

For many of us, FAFSA will not mean you get a penny of free money, but it will help speed up the loans many of us had to take out. And it gives the financial aid department of the college your child chooses everything they need to try and get your free money.

And bragging, my youngest graduated a week ago today. I will never do another FAFSA again.

Which as you say really screws folks for any free aide. I have my late husbands pensions and 401k in the bank but I hate including it because technically I can't use it without losing 50% of it to taxes and penalties so why is it included as income. I'm not 57 yet so it shouldn't count as income


Congrats on your daughters graduation.

I'll probably not even bother filling one out these year. it's pretty pointless.

 

[disneychrista]

Obviously....

Obviously not so Obvious if people are throwing around if you make over 100k, no it is 50k.

 

[disneychrista]

Which as you say really screws folks for any free aide. I have my late husbands pensions and 401k in the bank but I hate including it because technically I can't use it without losing 50% of it to taxes and penalties so why is it included as income. I'm not 57 yet so it shouldn't count as income

I thought the money you had IN your retirement didn't count. Just the money you put in your retirement that year. Meaning if you have 100k in a 401k or retirement that doesn't count. But the 5k you put in that year does.

 

[Happy Snowman]

Which as you say really screws folks for any free aide. I have my late husbands pensions and 401k in the bank but I hate including it because technically I can't use it without losing 50% of it to taxes and penalties so why is it included as income. I'm not 57 yet so it shouldn't count as income


Congrats on your daughters graduation.

I'll probably not even bother filling one out these year. it's pretty pointless.

Are you sure about that? If you have the funds dispersed to you, you have already paid any applicable taxes on the funds. Plus, there are estate tax exemptions for husbands/wives. I'm not sure where you are getting the 50% from.