Foreign earned income exclusion.
So, somebody that lives overseas gets a Pell Grant that is intended for poor people? I guess if that is the law, so be it. Just seems weird to me.
I thought that you had to have an EFC under $5801 (somewhere around there) to be Pell eligible. The OP has stated her EFC is 14,000, so how is she eligible for Federal Aid when the FAFSA clearly states her family EFC is almost 3x the limit? Am I missing something here?
Well @ga2012mom there are 9 pages to this thread. But I vaguely recall that after the foreign earned income exclusion, the OP reports that her parents would have AGI of something like only $18k.
See Post #72 for OP’s comment on AGI of $18k.
Thanks for the explanation @Madison85. I guess I am not understanding why 100K income is treated differently depending on what country you live in, while here in the US 100k is the same for FA purposes whether you live in NYC or Nebraska.
Federal tax law - U.S. citizens living abroad are allowed a substantial foreign earned income exclusion. Apparently this exclusion is not an add back to AGI for FAFSA purposes.
I get that, but what is the reasoning behind that? It truly has me scratching my head.
Pink997, the Pell grant will be included in your FA and will reduce the calculated need. It will not reduce your EFC. If you still have need, most schools will use loans to fill the gap. You might get also get some grants/scholarships.
http://crfb.org/blogs/tax-break-down-foreign-earned-income-exclusion
See the 4th paragraph down.
Also interesting to note that a later paragraph discuss the billions that this exclusion costs. Not likely that the cost of Pell and subsidized loans was considered in calculating the billions (probably immaterial though).
Also, the foreign earned income exclusion is for citizens whose ‘tax home’ is outside the U.S. making it even less likely that pink997 will have success arguing with Virginia Domicile that her family’s tax home is VA (and that she should receive instate tuition rates).
Perhaps Gates Millenium (deadline is tomorrow! - January 15) would have been a viable option for @pink997 - I believe you need to be Pell eligible and an under-represented minority.
Pink997 is Somalian is she considered to be African American? Can the Gates Millenium scholarship application be completed in one day? Are U.S. citizens living abroad eligible?
Yes, Gates would have been a good option. She still could crank out the application now (tonight) and then get the rec’s later. My daughter was a Gates scholar, and while she went to a school that provided her with full need based grants, Gates provided her with the money that she would have needed to earn through work study. OP, if you are still reading this thread, the link is GMS.org
The recommendations are due tomorrow along with the application, however.
@pink997 If you are reading this thread today - consider applying for the Gates Millenium Scholarship now. This is only for Pell eligible high school seniors who are under-represented minorities. There will be 1,000 students chosen for this prestigious multi-year scholarship.
Deadline is January 15, 2015 at 5pm Eastern Standard Time, that is 23 hours from now.
All three required forms must be submitted online by that date/time.
A Complete Application Consists of:
- Student Application (Nominee Personal Information Form)
- Educator’s evaluation of the student’s academic record (Nominator Form)
- Evaluation of the student’s community service and leadership activities (Recommender Form)
@GA2012MOM @Madison85 Can I not apply for the scholarship next year since I’m a junior?
Getting the academic record will be a hassle since my new school only has my final IGCSE grades and not my internal grades but I do get straight A/A*'s so I do meet the grade requirement. But getting my transcript today is not feasible do you have any other scholarship recommendations?
Pink…if you are a junior, you would apply for the Gates in the fall of your senior year or just after that. But you must be eligible for the Pell Grant to be eligible to receive the Gates.
I guess I missed that you were a junior now!
I am confused. If this student really has an AGI of $18,000, how are the net prices at these schools coming out between $10,000 and $20,000?
Pink…on those NPCs…is a Pell Grant listed.
And one other thing…the NPCs you are using now are for current high school seniors. You absolutely MUST do these again next Seotember. Colleges revise their net price calculators annually. Sometimes financial aid policies change. Please do not take the results of a NPC done this year as the gospel for a college student starting in September 2016. It might not be accurate…at all.
@pink997 I also missed that you are a junior - it must be somewhere in these 9 pages! Apply next fall if FAFSA forecaster shows Pell.
@thumper1 The NPC dont ask for AGI so that may be why?
Our AGI will be even lower because the foreign earned exclusion is 99k for 2014 and 108k for 2015. So there is no way I wont be pell grant eligible.
@Madison85 I dont think I even mentioned that on this thread. Sorry for the confusion!