dd's Summer Job affects Financial Aid?

<p>dd will have a Summer Job paying $12 per hour at a startup company as an assistant to the gov't relations person. How cool is that? Her financial package requires something like $1500 contribution from a summer job. I don't know if this applies freshman year, but she's very lucky to get something that pays. What about the extra funds - will she need to give more if she earns more?</p>

<p>When you fill out the FAFSA the following year, her income will be reflected and taken into account by formula. So, yes, she will need to give more if she earns more, but not on a dollar to dollar basis. It would be smart for her to spend the money on necessities or to pay you rent for the summer because if she has an accumulation, she will be double whammied with a 35% assessment on her savings vs about 5.6% of family savings.</p>

<p>Check with the college. I know that my S was able to make about 4,000 a yr before his aid amout would be affected. Work/study I believe does not affect aid but a non work study campus job could. We were disappointed as my D is a lifeguard and there is no work study lifeguard job at USD. She could still work on campus as a guard but it would then affect her finaid. Each college may have different ways they approach that. Sounds like a great job Bettina!</p>

<p>I beleive the federal formula has a requirement of a student contribution of $2,250 per year, so that amount is already factored to efc.</p>

<p>bettina,
My D's FA package requires a similar s/savings contribution. I called the FA office at the U to make a similar inquiry. The reply was that any overage earned for summer would just apply to the academic yr. work requirement, meaning fewer hours worked during enrollment.</p>

<p>OK this is not so easy to figure out. So savings not beneficial much</p>

<p>But her school gives a grant for Freshmen so they don't have to do work study that one year.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info.</p>

<p>hmm</p>

<p>so student is better off by spending the money in self improvements</p>

<p>i make xxxxx amount of dollars per year, and spend pretty much every dollar of that on expenses.</p>

<p>bettina,
The F.A. office at my D's U will continue to roll over "extra" money year after year & summer after summer. (I had also asked them: what if she earns more than her "share" during any academic yr? Their reply: That yr's "extra" will be credited to the summer savings requirement of the following summer.) I would think similar principles would hold for any work that applies to a FA package, at whatever time during the yrs & summers in question. But I would call & ask them upfront.</p>

<p>Also, most FA packages actually budget for "personal expenses." It's unclear to me how they really determine that ahead of time. A student can be a spendthrift or a miser, but it would be unreasonable to punish a student for earning extra so that he/she could pay for extras (summer OR academic yr). I know that our family needs to clarify that also.</p>

<p>The student & family have a direct interest in the details of the grants & other aid & have every right to be informed of the mechanics.</p>