<p>Both FSA contributions and medical/dental premiums are pre-tax so they aren’t part of AGI. Health care isn’t considered optional like retirement savings are so neither is added back in.</p>
<p>The FAFSA instructions explicitly say to <em>not</em> add back in benefits from flexible spending arrangements.</p>
<p>Remember, flexible spending accounts are use it or lose it accounts. Either you the money you put aside to pay for health related expenses OR you lose the money at the end of the contract year. </p>
<p>That FSA money is not added back as income.</p>
<p>Did it used to be added back in?
I seem to remember having money taken out for tutoring expenses for my D when she was in grade school, because the way it was explained to me when I set it up, that fell under child care.
But then I couldn’t access the money in the account , and no one could explain to me where it went, I assume it went to the state.</p>
<p>FSA money (and 401(k) employee contributions) gets added back in for PROFILE schools. The methodology assumes one will reduce/forgo those things while you pare paying tuition. Fat chance for most of us, I know.</p>
<p>Emeraldkitty, unused FSA funds revert to the employer.</p>
<p>Ok that explains it, older D was applying to a PROFILE school.</p>
<p>No, not talking about FSA dollars just insurance premium dollars, the employee portion of our insurance premiums that we pay with pre-tax dollars, which is about $5000/year. </p>
<p>sueinphilly-we are on kids 3 and 4 through this process. We’ve done the NPC and the forecaster before, which is why I was wondering what was up with the results. The figures from the current kids’ sophomore year, if we were looking at them, would be meaningless now because salaries change, etc. Also, this will be the first time we have 2 in college at the same time and I haven’t been able to get a solid answer on how that effects our EFC.</p>
<p>Say your EFC is $40,000 for one child. If I run the forecaster with 2 in college the EFC shows $20,000, for example. Does that mean we still pay the $40,000 split $20K each or is our EFC total $20K split between the 2 of them?</p>
<p>It would be easier if they had some way for athletes to run the real FAFSA before the November signing date :D.</p>
<p>Say your EFC is $40,000 for one child. If I run the forecaster with 2 in college the EFC shows $20,000, for example. Does that mean we still pay the $40,000 split $20K each or is our EFC total $20K split between the 2 of them?</p>
<p>If FAFSA EFC shows $40k for one child, then FAFSA EFC for 2 kids would be about $20k PER CHILD…$40k total. There would be NO reason for it to be $20k split between the 2, that wouldn’t make sense to pay LESS total when two are in college.</p>
<p>However, for CSS Profile schools the split isn’t 50/50. If a CSS Profile school says that your “family contribution” is $40k for one child, then if a second child goes to college, the split would be 60/60…so you’d end up paying about $50k per year total for 2 kids in college (about $24k per child)</p>
<p>mom2collegekids–from other posts on this board, many people have said that when they had 2 in college their EFC is cut in half. Also, since you have to fill out a FAFSA for each child, the EFC shows at the bottom of that at whatever figure, so again, is that $20K/child or does the form sent over to the colleges say that the EFC is $20K but they have 2 in college or does that $20K mean $20K for kid A, $20K for kid B. Your example doesn’t make sense–why would your EFC go UP for having 2 in college?? In other words…it’s just plain confusing :D.</p>
<p>We have asked FA officers at several schools and THEY can’t even answer this question :D.</p>
<p>YOUR (the parent) EFC will be the same regardless of how many kids in college. It is split in half for two kids. However, each kid will also have his/her own EFC based on his/her earnings (if over $6K?) and assets. So, yes, the total EFC can go up for having two kids in college because of the student part of the FAFSA. You can take care of that by making sure your kids reimburse you for their expenses that year and have zero in assets the day FAFSA is completed. A fund in a parent’s name and SSN to be used for payment of their things would fall under the protection allowance and only be assessed 5.6% over that allowance for the parent. 20% of student assets immediately goes towards the student EFC.</p>
<p>However a number of PROFILE schools do not calculate the contributions expected from you and the students the same way. They calculate what you, the parents, are supposed to contribute and then if there are two kids in college, instead of dividing it in half, they take 60% of the figure. They then have their own formula on what they expect the student to contribute, partly based on the kid’s earnings and assets but also includes what their own institutional expectation is. Unless is family is truly low income, there is usually an expectation for the student to contribute something. That can differ from school to school. Also some PROFILE schools will take whatever asset is sitting in the student’s account and use that as a baseline for future years as well, so that amount can make a big difference in what a student is expected to pay. If you want to see an example of that, look at the University of CHicago’s financial aid website and it spells that out very clearly. What the kid has in assets that first year s/he applies for PROFILE is a figure that is used for the next three years as a minimum. Can’t spend it all and have zero in assets in future years.</p>
<p>Your example doesn’t make sense–why would your EFC go UP for having 2 in college?? In other words…it’s just plain confusing</p>
<p>You’re confusing FAFSA EFC with CSS “family contribution”.</p>
<p>FAFSA EFC splits 50/50. So, if $40k for one, then $20k EACH for two.
(Still $40k total)</p>
<p>BUT…if your CSS “family contribution” for one child is $40k, then for two kids it will be a 60/60 split…so about $25k each ($50k total)</p>
<p>Yes, in the CSS scenario “family contribution” increases because there is a belief that families SHOULD pay out more each year for two in school. Perhaps they also assume that the family’s household expenses decrease enough with 2 away at school???</p>
<p>It’s never completely fair. If you have two in college at the same time, you can get more aid if you are in that category of being eligible and your kids both go to schools that cover the family need figures. (a relatively rare thing, by the way, in the whole picture of kids in college). For the years your don’t have two together, but they are right after each other, you pay more. I know someone with an older D and twins. They delayed college for a year for the older one, to get some aid. Didn’t work out perfectly as the schools did not guarantee to meet full need, but they did get more than they would have gotten by having all four years with three kids in college. In a perfect world, with colleges calculating need exactly right and full need being met, they could have really made out. </p>
<p>But a school that doesn’t guarnatee to meet full need may not give you a dime more in aid when you have another one in college. We have some members here on this board who have gone through this where a second kid in college resulted in a few bucks more or nothing from the colleges. Now if they both go to GW, the second one gets half off tuiton whether you have need or not!</p>