I live in the same household as my parents, but I do pay rent. Do i live with parents or off campus? I think living off campus would get me more aid possibly… My EFC is 0. Will it make a difference? Can my parents still claim me as a dependent because I want them too because they do give some support…
Your parents can still claim you as a dependent. As far as living off campus getting you more aid – as far as I can tel, the main difference with changing your living arrangement is that it might change your Cost of Attendance as the school calculates it. But there’s no way for us to tell if that will yield you more aid; does your school currently meet full need right now? With an EFC of 0 the only way your federal financial aid could theoretically increase is if it was limited by your cost of attendance this year; if your cost of attendance went up you might get more, assuming that you don’t have the maximum amount of aid from that right now.
@DmitriR I go to Farmingdale State College in NY. Not sure about full need?
My cost of attendance right now calculates 2400 for room and board with parents…
Estimated Room and Board for off campus goes to 14,533$ dollars
How much rent are you paying your parents?
I am starting to rent when school ends this semester but about 600-700 most likely
They will help but Id still be paying more than that EST: 2400. Also can they still claim me because I plan to have them do so
My bad, I should have phrased it as, what does your current financial aid package look like now? Is your financial aid covering the entire cost of attendance for you? If you already have the maximum in grants, loans, etc. from the federal government then you won’t get any more just for “moving off campus”.
Where are you getting $600-700 a month to pay for rent? Can you rent a room near your college campus for,that amount?
@DimitriR Ah I see.
My Cost of Attendance is: 14,233.00
My Aid is: 5962 per semester so… 11,924…
So even though I am under though. It does cover my tuition, and I get about 2000 back each semester because my tuition is 6170, so that leaves about 4000 left over split between each semester.
@thumper1 I work full time while going to school. I could but I’d prefer to be renting from my parents because a) it helps them pay their mortgage… B) They are there for me if I need any help or are short on rent etc.
Thanks! Is your aid a Pell grant, state grant, a loan, or some combination? The reason I ask is because what may happen is that, if you are treated as off-campus, you will get the new (higher) Cost of Attendance which can just mean that you can borrow more Stafford loans. This might be helpful to you but it’s probably not as good as getting more eligibility for grants.
@DmitriR Yeah i just checked… I get more loan eligibility but lose a 1000 in grants, which is what I don’t want.
BUT. i just processed it as off campus, do i have to wait till it processes it to change it to With Parents?
Checked what? Are you filling out the actual FAFSA right now or are you using a forecaster or Net Price Calculator?
Net Price Calculator. It tells me the EST: Grants
And I changed my Fafsa to Off Campus, Do i need to wait for that to process to switch it to With Parents
Yes. It will eventually spit out a Student Aid Report and once it does you can make corrections.
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I am starting to rent when school ends this semester but about 600-700 most likely
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???
You’re going to pay $700 a month to rent space in parents’ basement???
You may be working full time now, but how will you work full time when you’re in college?
What is your EFC?
Are you under age 24?
How much do you earn each year? How much will you earn when going to college FULL time?
What is your parents’ income?
How can you have a 0 EFC if you work full time???
Do you realize that your parents are going to have to declare that $700 a month as income on next FAFSA?
^^^^^ True. And they will need to include it on their income tax return, and will probably have to pay additional taxes for that income. Unless you are replacing a previous tenant in that basement, you and your parents will probably come out ahead if you just live there rent-free, and chip in on household expenses as needed. Paying a utility bill for them or buying most of the groceries could end up in the $600 to $700 range, but wouldn’t be recorded anywhere that would create a reportable situation.
Your parents are charging you rent? Do they keep the up to $2500 tax credit for your tuition, too?