<p>I will be applying to RPI early decision soon but I have some questions regarding my unique financial aid situation.</p>
<p>Unfortunately my father passed away this February. He had a well paying job. My mother makes substantially less money. My concern is that we will have to report his salary from the previous year which is exceedingly higher than my family's income now and as a result we will receive little financial aid and I will not be able to attend the college.</p>
<p>Also, we received a life insurance benefit due to the situation. How does something like this play into financial aid? Will it also be seen as a salary for this year even though it is not we would regularly get annually?</p>
<p>I am so sorry for your loss <em>hugs</em> Sadly your situation is not as unique as you think <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>Yes, on the FAFSA and CSS profile you have to report your income for last year, including your father’s income. There is no way around that.</p>
<p>But there is a spot on the profile where you can explain extenuating circumstances, and you should explain about your current circumstance. Also write a separate letter to the financial aid office explaining it again. </p>
<p>As far as the life insurance, in most cases it is not taxable and won’t be reported on your income tax. So my suggestion to your mother is to use the money to free up her income - pay off the house and car first, and any debt that she has. If the money is sitting in any sort of account, it has to be reported as an asset. And even if she were to put it in a sheltered retirement account, she would have to report all deposits into retirements accounts for this year.</p>
<p>As an aside, both of my boys applied to and were accepted to RPI (older S early decision). We were unimpressed with their financial aid offer. So make sure you have other options in case you are not given an offer that would make attendance a possibility. Perhaps a regular decision application would be a better choice.</p>
<p>Again, I am so sorry for you and your family’s loss <em>hugs</em></p>
<p>I would do more than put a note in – I would call (or have mother call) to speak with the financial aid office. She should ask that a specific officer/staff member be put on your file so that you don’t have to explain your painful circumstances repeatedly. They should be glad to do so. </p>
<p>Every college is different. I do have one friend who lost her husband just as children were entering college. She was frank with the two colleges (she has twins!) about the life insurance – I believe she may have also worked with a financial advisor to sequester some into retirement holdings quickly – and, both colleges did work with her. </p>
<p>Yours is a special situation. Many times fin aid officers get folks banging on the door with what they think is a special situation (“My sister, like, really, really needed to have a nice wedding so now my parents are broke” kinds of things) – but yours is in an entire other category. You have had the loss of a parent – and a major change in income stream. </p>
<p>I’m with susgeek that you should work to have other applications in – if RPI should end up being impossible, there are lots of more affordable and very competent options. Good luck.</p>
<p>I too am sorry for your loss. I agree with others, this is a situation which should be discussed with financial aid…it is a special circumstance and the financial aid offices need to know about this.</p>
<p>One thing I would like to add, however re: the life insurance. Parent assets are only tapped at 5.6% for FAFSA purposes…could be higher for Profile (really no way to know as each school has a different formula). It is possible that your mom might want to use some of this life insurance money to help fund your college education. A lot depends on her financial situation with regards to income/debt, etc. For some folks, having extra money in the bank is better than paying down all of their bills and having no savings at all. </p>
<p>Related…you should use an online financial aid calculator to get an estimated family contribution…doing it both ways (with the insurance money in the accounts…and without a portion of it). Some folks find that the difference isn’t worth spending down the accounts if it’s going to leave them significantly cash poor.</p>
<p>I do believe most colleges understand the financial impact of the death of a parent who is the main breadwinner. </p>
<p>Remember too…at a school like RPI that doesn’t meet full need anyway for everyone, you might not net the aid you need anyway. Is there a reason why you are applying Early Decision?</p>
<p>So sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved father. </p>
<p>Since Susgeek’s children didn’t get great aid from RPI, be sure to apply to some back up schools that will likely give better aid. Some schools will not care that the insurance money is really needed for future use. </p>
<p>Susgeek is right that if it’s possible the insurance money needs to pay down a mortgage or pay off other bills before you file FA paperwork. However, if that’s not possible, then having the money sitting in an acct will be a problem unless it’s not much. </p>
<p>If you have the stats for RPI, then I also suggest that you apply to some schools that will give you a lot of merit scholarship money for your stats as a back up in case your favorite schools are unaffordable. </p>
<p>What are is your GPA and SAT score? Are you a NMSF? What state are you in? We may be able to recommend some schools that will give you a lot of merit money as back up schools. Your concern is that you won’t be able to afford to go to college. You may not be able to afford RPI, but maybe we can suggest some schools that would work out if need be. </p>
<p>Maybe I misunderstand something … but if you’re applying for aid for the 2012-2013 school year, you would use income figures for 2011, which would only include one or two months of your father’s income.</p>
<p>OP…are you doing a Profile or school form for aid consideration by a priority deadline for RPI…for the 2012-2013 school year? If so, you will be using estimates for the 2011 calendar year, which would only include a couple of months of your father’s income. When you complete the Profile, your mom will be indicating that she is the only parent on it (I don’t recall how it’s worded…). You would NOT use income estimates from 2010 as these would not be accurate estimates of your total 2011 income.</p>
<p>However, if the dad did make a good income then even 2 months of his income in 2011 and any payout of unpaid vacation, etc, might still increase the family 2011 income by $25k or more - which could affect aid. </p>
<p>I think the student needs to contact the FA office and ask some questions. Maybe have the mom call.</p>
<p>My father’s unused vacation and other benefits total a salary for 2011the close to what he would have made previous years. So I will have to report this value which is higher than what my mother will make in future years.</p>
<p>I am applying early decision because I really like RPI and it is my top school. Thoughts on how ED will affect financial aid?</p>
<p>I also received the Rensselaer Medal which carries a $15,000 annual merit scholarship. While this certainly helps admission, room and board, etc. Will still total around $35,000 annually.</p>
<p>I will ask my mother to call. Thanks again.</p>
<p>RPI does not guarantee to meet full need of all accepted students. I believe you can pull out on the ED acceptance if the financial aid is not doable…but here is the problem…that ED financial aid offer could be the BEST or the WORST from your schools. You will have no way of knowing or comparing because you won’t have any other financial aid offers in hand when you have to make the decision to accept or decline the ED offer.</p>
<p>To be honest, in your situation where financial aid sounds like it’s an essential part of the equation…why not apply RD and apply to a variety of schools so that you can compare financial aid offers.</p>
<p>*My father’s unused vacation and other benefits total a salary for 2011 the close to what he would have made previous years. So I will have to report this value which is higher than what my mother will make in future years.
*</p>
<p>I was concerned that these payouts increased 2011 earnings, but nearly equally his income is substantial. Is the life insurance payout in addition? Or are you including that insurance amount when you say that the total nearly equals his 2010 earnings?</p>
<p>If the large payout doesn’t include the life insurance, that could be an issue. Not sure if the school isn’t going to expect some of that to be used at least for the first year. </p>
<p>*I also received the Rensselaer Medal which carries a $15,000 annual merit scholarship. While this certainly helps admission, room and board, etc. Will still total around $35,000 annually.
*</p>
<p>Congrats. </p>
<p>If you have any determined financial need, then that $15k will go towards that. The remaining costs would be about** $45k **per year.</p>
<p>Basic costs of RPI</p>
<p>Tuition and fees: $42,704
Room and board: $11,975 </p>
<h2>Books and supplies: $2,500 </h2>
<p>Basic costs: about $58k per year…plus another few thousand for travel and personal expenses…so at least $60k per year.</p>
<p>What financial safety schools are you applying to? (These are schools that you know FOR SURE that you’ll have all costs covered.)</p>
<p>My younger S was also an RPI medalist. RPI has a policy that only one merit award is allowed per student - whichever is highest. The medalist is the highest merit award they offer, and therefore there would be no more merit offered to a medalist.</p>
<p>I strongly suggest you include a few 100% meet need schools. We were thrilled with the offer from Lehigh, for example, for younger S who is also studying engineering. There are a number of excellent ABET accredited schools that meet 100% of need, such as Lehigh.</p>
<p>I missed what the other poster’s pointed out - if you are a rising senior then it would be this year, not last year’s, income reported on the FAFSA. That will help. Last year’s income is not important. But still make sure the financial aid offices are aware of your circumstances. And that is another reason to NOT apply ED.</p>
<p>*I missed what the other poster’s pointed out - if you are a rising senior then it would be this year, not last year’s, income reported on the FAFSA. *</p>
<p>Even this year’s income (2011) is very high for the OP since the dad was paid for 2 months, plus after he passed, the company paid out other benefits…unpaid vacation, etc, and the total came to his regular income. </p>
<p>This student needs to include some schools that will give VERY large merit for stats…in case all the other schools expect the mom to pay too much.</p>
<p>Don’t give up all hope on RPI, though. Even though they don’t claim to meet need all the time they do sometimes. My son got the medal $15K plus enough grant money that we “only” had to pay our EFC of ~$25K. His package did not include work study or loans other than Staffords. They also kept the package about the same for sophomore year.</p>
<p>Even so, I don’t think you should be applying ED anywhere if you have significant financial need. FWIW, some schools are willing to adjust your aid if you can show them that a similar school has offered you a better deal. My DS was able to get RPI to throw in a free laptop package worth $1500 because he had gotten a better offer from Stony Brook. If he had applied ED to RPI he would not have been able to compare offers.</p>
<p>Speaking of Stony Brook, that’s another school that is worth a look. It is actively trying to attract high caliber students with scholarships.</p>
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