<p>We did all the calculators at the schools my daughter applied to and because of a high EFC she was not eligible for any aid so on her college applications she checked the box stating she would not be applying for aid. Now we are reconsidering whether we should file the FAFSA so that she can get an unsubsidized Stafford loan as part of her "contribution" and we were also told that you never know, she may be pleasantly surprised (altho I really doubt she will get anything more than the loan). All her schools require the FAFSA to be filed by Feb. 1 which is days away and I don't even have all our tax docs for this year yet. If we file the FAFSA (and CSS Profile is required at most of her schools too) we will have to notify nine schools of this change. Can we just wait and see where she is accepted to and where she decides to go so that she just has to contact one school to get the unsubsidized Stafford loan?</p>
<p>Yes, you can wait. Do it once she picks a school, then you will still have plenty of time to get it all set before school begins.</p>
<p>Kelsmom or others can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think at most schools, if you just want an unsub loan or a Plus loan, you can file FAFSA quite late…even during the actual school year.</p>
<p>Yes, that is true. If you want to be able to apply it to your first bill, though, you will want to get the FAFSA in during the early summer.</p>
<p>Thanks very much for your help kelsmom and mom2collegekids!</p>
<p>File the FAFSA now. Some colleges have earlier deadlines than the IRS does. You will have to estimate some numbers, which is what FAFSA tells you to do. Once you finish your taxes, you amend the FAFSA with the correct numbers, which is what it tells you to do.
As for aid, you should apply even if you don’t think you will get any. You never know.
We were pleasantly surprised by scholarships offered based on grades and test score we didn’t think were high enough to get any merit aid.</p>
<p>A question on this, if the FA awarded is only grants and the EFC calculated by the school is 10k, but the FAFSA calculated EFC=0, can the student then apply for Stafford both subsidized and unsubsidized to cover the 10k? Will awarding of either type of Stafford then increase the college calculated EFC and as a result have the college grant reduced?</p>
<p>If the student has a 0 FAFSA EFC, s/he will be eligible for $5550 in Pell.</p>
<p>The max that a student can borrow as a freshman is $5500 (3500 subsidized/2000 unsubsidized). </p>
<p>If parents are denied a PLUS loan then the student can borrow an additional 4000 in an unsubsidized stafford loan.</p>
<p>If there are no loans in the FA package and the parents are denied a PLUS loan, under these conditions the student will borrow a total of $9500 in loans as a freshman.</p>
<p>The school has a no loan policy, but the student got many outside scholarships that would like to go towards the family contribution. If they ask to apply for the subsidized stafford, will the school then come back and reduce the school grant they offered, or can the student use it to pay the 10k? Will that have any effect on the FA for next year? Will the school then next year reduce the school grant and include the Stafford? Basically the issue is about utilizing the outside scholarships. Otherwise they will go to reduce the school grant.</p>
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<p>Does the no loan policy mean that they do not include loans in their financial aid packages or does it mean that they no not participate or accept stafford loans? </p>
<p>Just because the school has a no -loan policy does not mean that the student cannot apply for a stafford loan.</p>
<p>They do not include it in the package. I just want to make sure that if the student applies,FA the Stafford subsidized will be on top of the current package so it can be used to reduce the family contribution, not the FA package.</p>
<p>It is possible that the loans may be all unsub, if you do not have eligibility for sub. COA-EFC=Need. Need-all free money=eligibility for sub.</p>