<p>My friend has a 26 yr old son who just decided to go to college. He has been working since high school and his current relatively unskilled job position in his company does not qualify for any company reimbursed tuition. He could use some financial help Someone in admissions at the nearby public university told him it was "too late" for financial help for this coming fall so instead of calling finaid he called his mom who called me. I told my friend that I "thought" he could still get Stafford Loans and whatever federal help he qualified for and to tell him to file an FAFSA. I told my friend she didn't need to fill out any forms since he's older. I'm regretting giving advice, especially if I'm wrong. Did I give incorrect advice - anybody know? He has never attended CC or college so he's not a "transfer" student but is an accepted student for this coming fall. He lives on his own and would be commuting so it's not a huge tab but I'm sure he doesn't have a whole lot money in his mattress pad. My friend is excited because this is their only "kid" who didn't go to college and he's been abit of a wanderer and she doesn't want him derailed, but they also don't really want to "support" him at this point in his life and think it would be better for him to forge through, but they are a really tight knit family and I know her and she would give her son the shirt off her back if necessary. Is it too late in the cycle for Fed loans?</p>
<p>I’m not a financial aid expert…just a parent. BUT I think you gave good advice. This student can still complete a FAFSA and submit it to his college for the 2009-2010 school year. At the very least, he will be offered an unsubsidized Stafford Loan. Because he is over 25, his parents do not need to provide their financial information (there apparently ARE some schools which ask for this…but not very many for undergrad work). This student (since he’s a grown up) should also call the college himself, read their finaid website himself, and try to gain any information he can from the financial aid office. Also because he would be considered a “nontraditional student” entering undergrad in his late 20’s…there could be some scholarship money around for him to apply for. He should ask.</p>
<p>No, your information was all correct and the admissions person was totally wrong. At 26 he is considered independent for financial aid purposes so no parental information is asked for. It is not too late at all to file FAFSA. It may be too late for any institutional aid but he would still be eligible for federal aid, though there may be certain limited funding items he will be too late for (such as Perkins loans, or SEOG or work study) as the funds may already be awarded for next year. He will certainly be eligible for Stafford loans as all students are eligible for those. Whether he is eligible for the Pell grant depends on his EFC. Independent students only get a slightly higher income protection then dependent students, around $7000, and anything over that 50% goes to the EFC.</p>
<p>Just hope that this person registered for the selective service. If he didn’t, no federal loans</p>
<p>Thanks, I thought I was correct, but I always get nervous when I give “advice.” I did tell my friend to tell her son to call the finaid office directly in addition to getting his FAFSA done. All will be well. I have to assume she knows about the selective service deal since I think her youngest took out Stafford loans because I remember her groaning about doing the FAFSA a few years ago.</p>
<p>I’ve had clients file as late as July and August and still qualify for their federal aid. Sometimes they received quite a bit of institutional as well. When the term starts in the fall, I’d recommend the student go back to the finaid department and ask again. Some students will likely have turned down monies (dropped, different school, didn’t want the WS), and some monies may come available at that time.</p>
<p>Good point^^. My son filed in August last year. he got the pell and Stafford (which do not have any cutoff date) but did not get a State grant which has an April cut off date. To his surprise a check arrived from the school last week for the state grant for spring semester. We are assuming it is a case of people who were awarded it dropping out during the fall semester so some state $$ coming available. Not a vast amount but a very welcome surprise as he had just started an internship and had not got his 1st paycheck yet, and was completely out of money to pay his bills.</p>
<p>I’ll be sure to pass on the advice. It’s tougher for the older students because they are removed from the process unlike high school seniors who have the GC reminding them to do this or that. I’m happy for my friend that this will most likely work out for her son. At least he had the forethought to ask his mom before he just decided that it would be a no-go cost-wise. He’s right at that age where his friends who did go to college are probably starting to accelerate their careers and he’s realizing that he’s not going to accelerate without a degree as he’s gone about as far as he can go with promotions in his current company path without the degree. One of his sibs is in college and his older sib already finished college so I’m sure that is an outside influence on his decision. Aah those middle kids…</p>
<p>Just for the record…in many (if not most) schools, the GC does NOTHING to help with the financial aid process. The GC does only admissions.</p>
<p>Maybe not help, but in our district they remind, remind, remind…starting about sophomore year with get your pin number… to junior year remember to fill this out in January… to senior fall if you didn’t do this you are in trouble LOL. I’m sure very school is very different.</p>
<p>Oh, my - that admissions person needs some training. While it may be late for institutional grants, SEOG, and work study … it is definitely not too late for Stafford loans & Pell (if he qualifies). He needs to do his FAFSA online as soon as possible, so that he can get in line for any money that might be available in addition to loans & Pell. You may want to let her know that she should encourage her son to file next year’s FAFSA early … he may get some extra help next year that way.</p>
<p>In a very busy financial aid office at a large school, processing aid can be overwhelming. If a student misses the priority date, the aid may not be guaranteed to be ready to be applied against fall bills … but it is still not “too late.”</p>