<p>I'm new to these forums, so please let me know if what I'm asking has been answered somewhere else. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I'm the child of a single mother, currently going to an out-of-state public school. Last year my EFC was about 10,000, as my mother had a well-paying job at a nice school district. Last June, however, she quit her job and cashed out her pension. Because that was all counted as taxable income, and because she had received a substantial portion of her yearly income already, her tax liability was very high for the 2012 year. </p>
<p>After several snafus (she had to send in extra information in June, so my FAFSA wasn't finalized until the middle of July), I got my accurate EFC, which was about double last year- around 18,000. My mother is still in the midst of a career change, and has almost run through the pension from her previous job. The 2013-14 year promises to be difficult for her financially, and I'm worried because of my increased EFC.</p>
<p>I'm going into my senior year of college, and I'm doing what I can to reduce expenses. I haven't yet received my financial aid award letter from my college, since my FAFSA processed so late (and I'm sure that didn't help things). </p>
<p>I'm mainly wondering that, if my aid is significantly reduced this year, there's a method of appeal, either through the FAFSA or directly through my college. Obviously I know my college best, and I'll probably email the financial aid office something similar to this post, but I want to hear from people who've been in similar situations. Did your college take the troubled financial situations into account?</p>
<p>It all depends upon the scool, and yes, some schools will tak that into account. If your mother has and is unemployed, she can be classified as a displaced worker and some consideration can be made for that. FInancial aid officers do have some professional judgement they can use in the situation. So do appeal.</p>
<p>I do know of similar situation, however, where two schools involved for two kids, would not budge. The family decided to have the kids take personal leaves of absence that year, because the cost differential was that great. They found a lot of useful things to do that year, and there were no regrets. </p>
<p>If you take off your fall semester, you can take your full student DIrect loan in the spring, by the way, which might reduce the sting a bit.</p>
<p>One thought … taking a gap year would “hide” the pension payment from the income look of the FAFSA calculation. (Any remaining money from the pension would still be in the asset calculation but that hit is minor compared to the income hit).</p>