Does depositing money into my new bank account affect my financial aid for The '17-'18 school year?

Paying for College
1

I graduated high school just May of this year and I’m a 17-year-old incoming college freshman for Fall 2017. I do not work at the moment, nor have I ever, but do plan to during the school year. I will be turning 18 in a few months. I filed my FAFSA as a dependent child on time before the March 2017 due date and completed all the requirements for financial aid. I know approximately how much aid I’m receiving and I know approximately how much my tuition fees will cost for the upcoming school year. So that’s all been done weeks and weeks, if not a few months, ago.

Today, my dad took me to open my first bank account and I deposited $500 into the account. (I have that money saved up over the years and wanted to deposit it so I wasn’t going around carrying so much cash.) I will be attending Sac State, and I linked my new bank account to enroll for eRefund, to have refunds from financial aid directly deposited into my bank account. When I told my mom of my deposit, she freaked out and said that I should have done just $50-$100 because that much money in my bank account would decrease my financial aid by a lot. Because she freaked out, I got scared out of my mind and was told to withdraw the money.

I know I must honestly tell FAFSA of the financial information concerning me and my family, and I did not report false information when filing FAFSA back in February. Basically, my question is “Will $500 in my new bank account that was opened awhile after I filed for financial aid through FAFSA decrease the amount of aid I’m receiving for Fall 2017 and Spring 2018, or affect it at all?”

2

It’s fine. You report money in your bank accounts as of the day you file your FAFSA initially.

Where was that $500 when you filed your FAFSA? If you hadn’t yet earned it…no problem. Lots of rising college freshmen have summer jobs. The money they earn goes to buy books, and things they need for college.

Your need based aid for 2017-2018 won’t change at all because there is money in your bank account now. Not by one dime…your mom is wrong.

You WILL want to use that money for college related expenses or something before you file your 2018-2019 fafsa. Student assets are assessed at 20% of their value for FAFSA EFC calculation purposes.

So…for,that $500…if you have $500 in your bank account when you file your 2018-2019 FAFSA, your EFC will increase by $100…but you will HAVE that $100 as part of your savings.

ETA…when you sign up,for direct deposit via e refund…this gives the college the ability to deposit directly to your account. It does NOT give them access to,your,account information…like account balances.

3

She said she didn’t earn the money. She said this:

It sounds like she had the money in cash when FAFSA was filed. If so, it should have been reported on FAFSA as a student asset. It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t sitting in a bank account when FAFSA was filed.