<p>Hi, I was wondering if anyone had a child in college and grad school and how that effected their EFC. With so many students going to grad school full or part time, I wondered if that was still considered by the fafsa "as a child in college". It seems to be so, nothing I can find says the opposite, but nothing really spells it out either.
Thanks for any first-hand accounts.</p>
<p>I believe that kids in grad school don't count, because they are considered by FAFSA to be independent in their own right (once they have a bachelor's degree, regardless of age). Since they get financial aid on their own, without regard to your funds, they do not "count" as children that you must support in college.</p>
<p>I hope some of our more expert posters also answer your question!</p>
<p>I believe a grad student does count as a child in college. It is my understanding that even if grad school is on the student's dime, parents are still required to file FAFSA. Please correct me if I am wrong.</p>
<p>If the grad school student is still considered a member of you household, you would include that student in that item on the FAFSA. To do that, the student cannot be financially independent...in other words you still need to be supporting that student (providing more than 1/2 of their support and declaring them as a dependent on your taxes). The next question is "how many students in the household will be attending college?" and this includes any student working on a degree including grad degrees. So...if that dependent (for tax purposes...you are supporting him) student is in grad school working on a degree, then yes you would include that student in the count.</p>
<p>You cannot include grad students who you do not support. They are independent for tax AND financial aid purposes.</p>
<p>I know it's confusing...but the bottom line is that the grad student needs to still be a member of your household...you have to be supporting that student (providing more than 1/2 of their support and declaring them on your taxes as a dependent).</p>
<p>Please don't confuse this with the grad student's independent status for finaid purposes...two separate things.</p>
<p>Twimmom...once the student has a bachelors degree, that student is usually NOT required to use the parent info on the FAFSA. The STUDENT completes the FAFSA as an independent student (for financial aid purposes). The exception to this is that some law and medical schools require the parent information even if otherwise the student would be considered independent for financial aid purposes.</p>
<p>Now...for the grad school student's FAFSA...that student would be filing the FAFSA as an independent (for finaid purposes) in most cases. The number of folks in their household would be one...and the number of folks attending college would be one. They can't include their siblings in college on THEIR FAFSA because they aren't supporting the sibs.</p>
<p>If I'm wrong (and that is possible), I hope someone will let me know.</p>
<p>Am curious as well, as will have a college frosh and grad student in fall 2009. I haven't been able to find the answer either. It makes sense that if you still claim grad student on parents taxes, then student should count as a college student for FAFSA purposes. Of course common sense rarely prevails when the gov't is involved.</p>
<p>If anyone finds answer in a gov't publication, please provide link.
Thanks much!!</p>
<p>Also, it depends on the school of your UG student, for instance when my D2 was looking at schools, I asked each of them- UVA said no go for the grad student, Berkeley said yes; you will need to ask each financial aid office.</p>
<p>To further confuse things about what is "independent" fafsa vs govt- your UG student could be independent, NOT on your tax return, but would stil be a dependent for finaid purposes :D</p>
<p>Somemom is correct. Some individual schools might discount the status of the grad school sibling too. We also asked that question.</p>
<p>If everything goes smoothly, my son will be graduating when his sisters are starting college...that will be interesting, twins and a brother in grad school! (at least part time)With his low finances, I think I will be still helping him and maybe he can live home and go to grad school nearby if he doesn't get a good deal somewhere else. I will ask about this with fafsa and any colleges we look at.</p>
<p>I believe siblings in graduate school count if they still rely on their parents financially.</p>
<p>My sister is starting Grad school when I start college next year. For her FAFSA, she filed as an independent student, but realistically, she's still dependent on my parents. I mean, when she's not living at school, she lives at home, my parents pay most her major bills and will probably be paying for her grad school. My parents definitely provide over half of her finances, so even though age-wise she's independent, she's not in real life.</p>
<p>So for her FAFSA, it didn't matter that I was going to college at the same time, but for mine, I put down that she was going to graduate school and still essentially dependent on my parents (which she is).</p>
<p>I'm not sure how much it affected my aid, but it didn't hurt.</p>
<p>Isn't the magic age 24? So if the older sibling turns 24 the year the younger one starts, he/she wouldnt be counted in the family equation?</p>
<p>I had to laugh when I read this about maximizing your savings on fafsa....we are planning our children on fafsa guidelines now? (it is scary how bad it is getting)
So there are several strategies that depend on increasing the number of family members in school at the same time. </p>
<p>When you have children, space them closer together. For example, a family with two children with a four year difference in ages will get much less financial aid than a family with twins or children spaced nine months apart. Of course, by the time your children matriculate in college, the rules governing financial aid could have changed. </p>
<p>Consider having the older child take off a year before attending college, or having the younger child skip a year in school, to increase the overlap. </p>
<p>This was also there stating what is a student living in a household:</p>
<ol>
<li>Number of college students in parents' household. This question asks about the number of household members who, in 2008-09, are or will be enrolled in a postsecondary school. Count yourself as a college student. Include others only if they will be attending at least half time in an approved program during 2008-09 that leads to a degree or certificate at a postsecondary school eligible to participate in any of the federal student aid programs. Do not include your parents. Also do not include a student at a U.S. military academy because the family is not expected to contribute to that student's postsecondary educational cost at the academy. </li>
</ol>
<p>The number of family members in college directly affects your family's ability to contribute to your education costs. For a dependent student, the parents' contribution to the EFC is divided by the number of family members (excluding parents) in college.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>Isn't the magic age 24? >></p> </blockquote>
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<p>That magic number is for financial aid independency per FAFSA. It has nothing to do with independence for tax purpses.</p>
<p>(rethought my contribution, and disagreed with myself) :)</p>