<p>Just a couple quick questions on the FAFSA:</p>
<li><p>I attended a FAFSA orientation where the main speaker said that she secretly recommends putting down zero for the amount of money contained in your family’s checking account. Does anyone know anything about this? Is this a legitimate claim? What are the consequences of failing to put down an accurate number on the FAFSA for the amount of money contained in your family’s checking, savings, etc. account? I only ask this because the speaker did not make it to be a big deal and if it really isn’t a big deal, I would like to put myself in the best position to receive financial aid. </p></li>
<li><p>If I have applied to more schools than is allowed on the FAFSA Form, what do I do?</p></li>
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<p>if you put down zero for your family’s check account, the schools can find out from the 1099 forms that were sent out from IDOC. 1099 forms show the interest from the bank account.</p>
<p>Everyone has SOME money. I work with students who get EFCs of zero all the time, and it seems to increase their (and probably your) chances of getting verified (more paperwork, which will reveal if you were lying or not) if they put zero. Everyone has at least bus money, snickers bar money, money to buy a fast food meal. </p>
<p>Remember, your lying could be depriving someone else of needed financial aid $$–and some year in the future, that someone could be you. </p>
<p>I am told you can delete the first schools and add a second round, and that the first list schools will still be able to see the FAFSA info, but it does make me nervous to do that.</p>
<p>That is dishonest. Use accurate information on the FAFSA and Profile. There is some asset protection for parents anyway. I can’t believe someone doing a financial aid presentation would “secretly” tell folks to falsify information. That person should be reported for giving very bad advice.</p>
<p>The way I keep my checking account is that I only keep the amount I need to pay checks/debit in the account and anything else is in savings, so zero wouldn’t exactly be lying.</p>
<p>“The way I keep my checking account is that I only keep the amount I need to pay checks/debit in the account and anything else is in savings, so zero wouldn’t exactly be lying.”</p>
<p>Checking, savings, cash stuffed in a shoebox-- doesn’t matter. It all gets reported as assets on the financial aid form. So yes, reporting zero by shifting assets to savings would be incorrect.</p>
<p>Now-- if you convert a reportable asset to a non-reportable asset, that’s a different kettle of fish. Pay down debt-- and you’ve lowered your reportable assets. Buy a computer-- and you’ve lowered your reportable assets. Pre-pay some bills, and you’ve lowered your reportable assets.</p>
<p>The person who suggested lying is giving extremely bad advice. First of all, it is illegal to lie on the FAFSA. Beyond that, though, is the truth: assets receive protection. If you don’t have a lot of money, telling the truth isn’t going to make a difference in your EFC. So someone told you to lie when it is illegal & doesn’t help you, anyway. Wrong person for the job.</p>
<p>If you DO have significant assets - enough that saying 0 will make a difference - then the 1099 income amounts will raise a red flag. While the government does not require that assets are verified, schools are required to resolve conflicting info during verification. If the info I have indicates that someone is hiding something, you can believe I will ask for bank statements. Just like I will ask for the value of a rental property if I see rental income & no corresponding reported asset.</p>