Is your EFC below $5000?
Here’s how it works when you’re asking someone else to give you money for something you want to buy: you tell them how much money you have, how much the thing will cost, and then they get to tell you how much they will give you. You don’t get to pick the amount that will be given to you, based on what you feel you can (or want) to pay. I understand that you don’t want to spend any of your $6,000 in savings on college costs, if you can help it. But too bad. At least some of that money will be determined to be available for college costs each year, by someone who is not you, unless you qualify for the simplified needs test or auto zero EFC. What you should do is be grateful, say thank you, and figure out how you will pay from your own money for any unfunded college costs.
Also for the record. The FAFSA is a financial aid application…and doesn’t give money out. The fafsa is used to determine your EFC, and that is used to determine your eligibility for federally funded grant money. If your FAFSA EFC is above $5000, you aren’t going to get muc grant money anyway.
Is your family low income?
@thumper1 yes, my parents is around 21,000.
Someone else will have to verify… but according to this link…if you qualify for simplified needs or auto $0 EFC, your assets are not counted.
So…do you qualify for simplifed needs or auto $0 EFC? If so…you don’t need to worry about your savings account…at all.
https://www.edvisors.com/fafsa/eligibility/simplified-needs-test/
Yes I asked OP about that in post #6
So @taylor96
Do you qualify for simplifed needs or auto $0 EFC? If so…your bank account won’t be counted.
I asked because that money could be useful and it would be a shame if you would just spend it when you don’t need to.
@thumper1 I’m trying to understand what simplified needs or auto $0 efc is. I know my parents did not get any federal benefits over the past few years though.
Did your parents file a tax return in 2016? We’re they able to file a form 1040A?
they filed a tax return but my dad said he did not remember which type. he said he didn’t feel like looking it up tonight but would do it tomorrow. so tomorrow I will probably know whether or not I would actually qualify. it’s nice to know that is a possibility though. I didn’t even know those fafsa types existed.
Here is the PDF version of the FAFSA formula. You and your dad can print it out and work through it on paper to see what factors affect your EFC. https://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/071017EFCFormulaGuide1819.pdf
Taylor, Did you get aid at your community college? I don’t think you report money in your account that came from grants. If you got a $5900 Pell grant, for instance, and that money is still in your account then you report $0 as your bank balance.
Any chance you have younger siblings who could apply for free/reduced lunch…now?
Any chance one of your parents is a displaced worker?
And then there is the tax form. Was your family ELIGIBLE to file a 1040A or EZ?
@mommdc my dad said I am eligible for either the simplified needs version of FAFSA or the auto-zero efc. Now the question is which one would be more beneficial?
I think when you start filling out the FAFSA it will ask for parent income and as soon as you check the additional condition that applies to you (1040A or displaced worker or means tested federal benefit received), it will give you auto zero EFC (you said your parents’ income was $21,000)
Then parent assets and student assets/income will be skipped.
You can then do the FAFSA now without having to spend your money.
If you start the FAFSA and do this and it asks you about parent assets or student assets/income then you did something wrong.
ok, I did read that certain states still require assets to be reported for state grant determination, but it wouldn’t be used for the federal level. I’m in Georgia, so it seems I am in a state which requires it.
Oh ok, I don’t know how Georgia State aid works but isn’t there a Hope Scholarship, is that based on income and assets?
No, HOPE is based on stats and not income of parents. There might be other state aid based on income/assets of parents, but not the HOPE.
@taylor96, you don’t pick zero assets or simplified. You fill out the FAFSA and the for will automatically ask you the right questions. If you have to fill in your assets for the state, the federal formula will disregard it.
Just answer the questions as asked. If you don’t have any bills you want to use the money in your savings for, you’ll have to report it if asked.
Just answer the questions…you will know whether assets are required for federal aid purposes. If yes, you can just stop doing the FAFSA and figure out if it is really worth it to spend down your savings. Really…it might not be.
But it is very possible that your savings won’t affect your federal aid at all.
What Georgia state aid requires assets on the fafsa??