<p>I am a senior in high school about to graduate. My father cannot work and receives a check from the VA each month, not a whole lot though,
just enough to get by on. My mother was laid off of her job last year and does not draw unemployment. The VA also gives benefits, including
5 years of free college for me. This only includes the tuition though. Embarrassingly, I have neglected to make an effort to apply for any scholarships,
fill out the FAFSA, or even take the ACT, all of which I will need to do shortly. My plan is to get a scholarship to a two year community college
and then transfer to a university and use my 5 years of free schooling there where I will be able to get most out of the government paying for my
education. The 5 free years of college is a godsend, as it's really the only reason I am going to be able to afford to go to college. So I believe that
I can have all of my tution payed for by the government and that will only leave books and maybe a meal ticket to pay. So does it seem likely, considering
my parents being unemployed and only getting enough money to barely get through the month, that if I fill out the FAFSA using my parents most
recent W2 forms that says all of this, that I will get a grant that I can use to help pay off my education's other expenses?</p>
<p>In my opinion, absolutely fill the FAFSA with their info. you will get aid possibly for room, board and books.</p>
<p>“My plan is to get a scholarship to a two year community college”</p>
<p>What, exactly, makes you think that you will qualify for a scholarship at that CC? Is it guaranteed because of your GPA?</p>
<p>Make an appointment with the admssions counselors ant the financial aid office at the CC and go meet with them so that you can learn how to deal with your particular situation.</p>
<p>When you fill out the FAFSA, you will be required to list the veteran’s benefits as a resource. They will then be used to reduce your financial need. If you have an EFC of “0” you could still be awarded aid to cover all of your expenses (based on the cost of attendance, which includes certain allowances if you are not living on campus), but that would be on top of using your benefits - you can’t just choose not to use them while in the community college, and expect to get financial aid to cover those years.</p>
<p>If you want a 4-year degree, apply to a 4-year college that is known to meet need, because after 2 years at the community college, you will have 3 years of benefits left, not 5.</p>
<p>No, veterans education benefits are not listed as a resource (they used to be, but the regulations changed a few years ago). From one college website:
Veterans’ non-education benefits such as Disability, Death Pension, or Dependency & Indemnity Compensation (DIC), and/or Veterans Affairs Educational Work-Study allowances must be reported on the FAFSA as a source of untaxed income. The value of these benefits is considered when calculating the Expected Family Contribution (EFC).</p>
<p>Veterans’ education benefits such as the Post 9/11 GI Bill, Active Duty-Chapter 33; Montgomery GI Bill, Active Duty-Chapter 30; Montgomery GI Bill, Selected Reserve-Chapter 1606; Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance Program-Chapter 35; and Vocational Rehabilitation-Chapter 31; and Reserve Educational Assistance Program (REAP)-Chapter 1607 are not reported on the FAFSA. Veterans Affairs education benefits do not affect your financial aid eligibility at all.</p>
<p>@#3: Yes, the requirements to get a scholarship my local community college are extremely low. Basically a 3.0 GPA is all you need and just about
that tries can do that in their sleep. Grade standards are pretty low in my city.
@#4: If I can get a two-year scholarship, I will have seven years total of tutition paid school.
@#5: "Veterans Affairs education benefits do not affect your financial aid eligibility at all. " This is good, then. Regardless of whether my father
gets VA benefits, both of my parents are unemployed, one of them gets a government check, and the other one doesn’t draw unemployment.
Thats got to count for something right?</p>
<p>Regardless of whether I can get more money, I’ll still have enough of the free schooling to get a good degree, virtually free too. It’d just be nice to get more if I could. I’m not new to trying to get some money from the government. My dad was life-threateningly injured overseas and it took a good legal battle before the VA would spread the wealth. We had to get the congressman involved and everything. I was just wondering if it was going to be about as hard to get a grant for school. Regardless, 5 years is rather easy to be satisfied with.</p>