<p>Hi! I'm new to the forum and to college research. Generally, how much aid can we expect from FAFSA? We have 6 kids, total of 8 family members. The three oldest will be in college at the same time beginning in 2011. yikes! We are considering having a 7th child. LOL! No, not crazy, just love those babies! Will the addition increase our FAFSA or are the benefits capped at a certain number of mouths to feed? My husband makes 180K but every bit goes to food, mortgage and books. We homeschool (fun but expensive) and live on a farm. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!</p>
<p>First…FAFSA is a financial aid application form. You fill it out and it provides information to the schools to determine the eligiblilty for federally funded need based aid primarily. Some schools do use that information for the dispersal of institutional (the school’s) money too.</p>
<p>There is no way to tell you how much money your college kids will “get” from each of their colleges as the policies on the dispersal of aid vary from school to school. </p>
<p>I will venture that if your husband’s income is $180,000 a year, your kids may not qualify at all for any federally funded need based aid other than loans…but it’s hard to say as you have a family of 8. </p>
<p>The other thing you need to know is that most public universities use only the FAFSA, but some schools also use either their own form or the Profile. Both of these other forms typically ask for the equity in your primary residence and if it’s a farm with considerable value, that will be considered by such schools.</p>
<p>You say that 3 kiddos will be in college fall 2011…does that mean that at least one is in school this fall…or two? If so, have you already completed a FAFSA for these kiddos? And if so, how did your Expected Family Conribution look for each student?</p>
<p>Thumper,</p>
<p>Thank you for your quick response! Our three oldest are close in age and are all attending full or half-time college in 2011 as high school students. We homeschool and they have decided that their high school will be college. Two years at the community college while ages 16-17 and two years at the university at ages 18-19. We haven’t filled out a FAFSA yet for our son attending this fall. Thanks so much for your input! I’m absorbing all the info I can!</p>
<p>Hmmm…your students have to be enrolled as full time students pursuing a degree to be counted as college students on the FAFSA. If they are taking these courses instead of high school but are not full time or are not pursuing a degree, I’m not sure how the FAFSA counts them. Someone else will have to weigh in on that question.</p>
<p>You also need to keep a close tab on DEADLINES for the awarding of aid that is not entitlements. Your son starting this fall may have already missed the deadline for financial aid at his college (assuming he’s a full time, matriculated student). You need to check on the college website(s) for deadlines for students. There are deadlines and there are also funds awarded on a first come/first served basis. For example schools get only a limited amount of Perkins loan money…awarded first come first serve. Ditto work study money. IF your child is eligible for the Pell grant, they would get this regardless of when you file your FAFSA.</p>
<p>If you are hoping for institutional money (money from the colleges), you really MUST apply by the deadlines. In fact at most schools, you really must apply by the deadlines to be considered for aid.</p>
<p>Learningscool, both my kids were also homeschooled. And under different arrangments both started college early.</p>
<p>Thumper is right that your son will need to be an enrolled student in a degree program to qualify for federal aid (that would be assuming your family qualifies for any aid with your income and assets, which I think is unlikely… but as thumper says, with a family of 8, I’m not sure about that.)</p>
<p>Your son would not necessarily need to be enrolled full-time though, as I understand it. Part-time student can also qualify for partial aid. But, he has to be registered with the community college as pursuing a degree. That can be your community college’s “transfer degree” which is usually a program that gets students through most of the general education requirements their 4-year transfer school requires, making it a seamless transition toward that BA at the 4-yr school.</p>
<p>Some homeschoolers do a “dual-enrollment” thing (homeschooling highschool w/ cc classes supplimenting) with younger students at their community colleges. This type of enrollment will not qualify a student for aid. My daughter did this for a couple of classes when she was 14 and 15 because students under 16 could not be regularly enrolled. However, community colleges have different rules about the ages at which students can fully register, so check with yours. (At some it’s younger, at some it’s 17.)</p>
<p>At 16 she became a degree-seeking regularly enrolled student at a 4-yr school, at which point she was eligible for aid, based on our income and assets. (Although if she had been enrolled as a degree-seeking student at the community college instead, she would have been also eligible for aid.)</p>
<p>If there is any federal or state aid available to your kids, it will likely not kick in until you have all three in college at the same time, but even then, I’m not sure given your income.</p>
<p>With that many kids, using community college for two years where the students can still live at home, is a wise strategy. That will be a big help in managing college costs.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! I appreciate both of your input!</p>
<p>Have you seen the FAFSA 4caster? [FAFSA4caster</a> - Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf]FAFSA4caster”>http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/F4CApp/index/index.jsf)</p>
<p>Just a thought and someone else will have to clarify. If one of your kiddos (or more) are going part time to college, those students might be eligible for partial financial aid. BUT I’m really not sure they “count” as college students on anyone else’s financial aid forms. In other words, unless they are pursuing a degree full time, I don’t think they will be counted as college students on the siblings FAFSA forms. I guess what I’m saying is if two kids are going to school part time, the third kid might be going full time but he will be counted as ONE child in college. </p>
<p>I’m pretty sure this is true. Think of it this way…folks could have siblings take ONE community college course so that the sibling will have TWO concurrently enrolled college students. I do not believe this is allowed…or is the case when completing the FAFSA.</p>
<p>So…you have two issues.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Will the part time students get partial aid…maybe.</p></li>
<li><p>Will the part time students count as other siblings enrolled concurrently in college…I don’t think so.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Half-time students do count, if they are enrolled in a degree program. From the FAFSA instructions:</p>
<ol>
<li>Number of college students in parents’ household. Enter the number of people from the parents’ household (in question 73) who are or will be enrolled in a postsecondary school in 2010-2011. Count yourself as a college student. Include others only if they will be attending at least half time in an approved program during 2010-2011 that leads to a degree or certificate at a postsecondary school eligible to participate in any of the federal student aid programs.</li>
</ol>
<p>Yes…1/2 time or MORE but in a program leading to a degree or certificate…and that would not include high school work.</p>
<p>Yeah, that’s why “dual-enrollment” programs won’t work for FAFSA.</p>
<p>Depending on what state you are in- if the kids enroll at the local high school- they then can attend at the community college taking courses under the auspices of the district- however- courses cannot count for both high school and college credit.</p>
<p>In terms of cost effectiveness, it may be more timely to take the GED exam for high school completion and then the CC classes towards a 4 year degree.</p>
<p>The GED is actually useful for just about nothing. Some trades apprenticeship program require it for students who don’t have a traditional high school diploma, but colleges don’t care. The OP is right that homeschooled kids often just start college directly --either at a cc or a 4-yr college. No diploma and no GED is needed. My kids have neither. They applied based on their SAT scores and their homeschool transcripts.</p>
<p>Some feel the GED carries a negative connotation, as well. I know many, many homeschoolers as I was very involved in those communities when my kids were school-age. Taking the GED test is not something many of them do these days since it serves little purpose.</p>
<p>One other thing, you say you live on a farm. Do you own the farm? Is this the family business? If it is the worth of the farm will have to be reported on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>*The GED is actually useful for just about nothing. *</p>
<p>If you don’t have a high school diploma- it is required for college admission in our state</p>
<p>
CA too it looks like.
Friend of D’s took GED so he could take CC credits at 16, the next year he transferred to U of Chicago.
[Community</a> College Dual Enrollment - A to Z Home’s Cool Homeschooling - 2/20/03](<a href=“http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/articles/022003.htm]Community”>http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/articles/022003.htm)</p>
<p>That a really old article and even it doesn’t say a GED is necessary in California. I can’t find anything saying homeschoolers need a GED there. In fact there’s an odd dead-end in that a student can’t take the GED until they’re 18 in CA, and once you’re 18 in CA you can enroll in a community college based on nothing but your age. Under 18, you can enter with dual enrollment or a diploma, although it can be a diploma from your homeschool if you’ve filed an R4 —we homeschooled under an R4 when we lived in CA-- or the CHSPE. The OP could issue her kids diplomas in CA and they could still enroll under 18.</p>
<p>However, I don’t think the OP is even in CA so it isn’t really relevant.</p>
<p>I did look at WA, and yeah, interestingly underage students there do need a GED to enter community college, but not to go straight to a 4-yr school. Funny. Here are the homeschool instructions for UW: <a href=“http://admit.washington.edu/Requirements/Freshman/Homeschool[/url]”>http://admit.washington.edu/Requirements/Freshman/Homeschool</a>. I’m assuming you’re in WA. (I’m in Oregon.)</p>
<p>Dual-enrollment is great, does not require a GED since that’s the nature of “dual enrollment” (high school + college), but it doesn’t address the OP’s issue with financial aid as dual-enrolled students don’t qualify.</p>
<p>Anyway, the OP should check it out in her own state, because it really is true that a GED is good for almost nothing… but I did say “almost.”</p>
<p>FWIW you can take the California High School Proficiency Exam (CHSPE) at 16 and receive a proficiency diploma. All colleges in California are required to treat the CHSPE the same as a regular high school diploma. Outside of California, however, it is virtually useless.</p>
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<p>Regardless of whether you opt for a GED or another proficiency exam- if you do not have a diploma, there has to be some way to assess aptitude/proficiency.</p>
<p>I did look at WA, and yeah, interestingly underage students there do need a GED to enter community college, but not to go straight to a 4-yr school.</p>
<p>True- there are other tests that are used for homeschooled students.
:)</p>
<p>Well, yes, most homeschooled students just enter college with their SAT scores and (homeschool) transcript, like any other student. My daughter is an 18 year old junior at the University of Oregon honors college. No GED. No diploma.</p>
<p>I know all this stuff first-hand. In fact the local high school guidance office sends me all the homeschooled kids that need college admissions advising.</p>
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<p>The same tests for traditionally schooled students; the SAT or ACT.</p>