I am sure this question has been asked before, but I haven’t found the answer yet - is it ok not to fill out FAFSA/CSS if it looks like we won’t qualify for any fin aid? What happens if circumstances change 2nd or 3rd year - would FAFSA be accepted for the first time during sophomore year?
Some schools only give out merit money (i.e. non-need based money) to students who fill out the FAFSA (and CSS if the school normally requires it.) We were told by several schools that if we didn’t fill out the FAFSA, our D would not be considered for merit scholarships either.
I would go ahead and fill them out for freshman year, particularly as merit scholarships are often renewable if the student keeps up the GPA and course load requirements.
Some schools will not consider a student for financial aid until the junior year if they did not apply for financial aid when they were applying for admission.
There are a very small number of colleges that place restrictions on the awarding of institutional aid in subsequent years if you don’t apply as an incoming freshmen…for U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
Many colleges will not permit international students to apply for institutional need based aid if they don’t apply as incoming freshmen.
Check the policies at your college to see.
I agree with the previous comments. You can still fill out the FAFSA in any year to get a student loan.
Thank you for all your comments. Here is my dilemma. Right now we are very financially secure, our salaries and assets disqualify us from any kind of aid. However, we live with my 75-year mother-in-law who doesn’t have a dime, and my parents don’t have any savings, either. If we file FAFSA/CSS before freshman year and declare all our assets, and then next year our parents need nursing home care so we sell our assets to pay for that (and something else happens, say one of us loses a job and thus we’d qualify for some aid), would we look like we are hiding these assets?
No; financial aid people are reasonable individuals and they understand that life happens. You can file a FAFSA at any time to get any federal (and maybe state) aid that you are entitled to. As thumper1 mentions above, some schools that provide need-based institutional aid will not consider a request for such aid after freshman year if aid forms have not been submitted as an incoming student. For schools that have this policy, if you do not submit the aid forms now (even if you know there is no way that you will qualify for need-based aid now) and your financial situation takes a turn for the worse while your child is still in school, you will be ineligible for aid from the school.
@BelknapPoint, thank you, it’s very helpful