<p>hey guys, i got a quick question. my cousin is going to be an international student this coming fall at CMU, and my dad is his "support/sponsor" thing. My dad is going to be paying his tuition, so my family was wondering whether my cousin counts in the total of "kids in college" and "family members", for the EFC calculator. thanks for the help.</p>
<p>no...................</p>
<p>my dad is going to be his legal gaurdian in the US though? could you explain why. thanks</p>
<p>Is your father going to pay more than 50% of your cousin's expenses? Can he claim him on his income tax? Legal gurdianships don't count. If that loophole existed, every one would become guardian of every college kid.</p>
<p>Your cousin would have to sever his relationship with his parents to be declared in the count for your family. Simba is right. If it were that easy, lots of folks would do the same.</p>
<p>In short, your parents would have to adopt him/her.</p>
<p>The FAFSA Q66 "Number in Household" question has nothing to do with claiming dependents on income taxes, or legal guardianship. He wouldn't have to sever any relationship with anyone, or be adopted by anyone.</p>
<p>If cousin is living in your parent's household at time of application, and parents are providing more than 50% of his support, and if this support is expected to continue through June '08, he counts as a household member for Q66.</p>
<p>Now, for Q67 "Number of College Students in Parent's Household," if cousin qualified in Q66 AND he's attending college at least half-time in '07/08, he qualifies here as well.</p>
<p>sblake: how would the dynamics change if the cousin is a non citizen or non-immigrant?</p>
<p>"If cousin is living in your parent's household at time of application" - does this mean that on his application he has to declare address in US ('06)? if he did that how could he continue his high school study in another country?</p>
<p>For purposes of Q66, doesn't matter if the potential household member is US Citizen, or not. "Time of application" refers to the date the FAFSA is submitted. What cousin puts on other forms isn't relevant to this question.</p>
<p>I don't think International students are eligible to complete FAFSA. I think you have to be a US citizen.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Who is eligible to receive Federal Student Aid?
To be eligible to receive federal student aid, you must meet certain requirements. You must:</p>
<p>Be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen
Have a valid Social Security number (unless you're from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of Palau)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't know what an eligible non-citizen is though.</p>
<p>Now whether he could be counted as a member of household on the OPs FAFSA - interesting question - I have no idea.</p>
<p>The question wasn't about cousin applying for aid-- it was whether cousin could count as a household member. If he (or grandma, or the homeless guy the family brought in) meets the requirements, he counts as a household member.</p>
<p>so if the OP's parents are paying half (~25 k) towards her cousin's expenses he can be counted as a member of household? The cousin will be living on CMU campus. Does that count as 'living' with?</p>
<p>a good link with info:</p>
<p><a href="http://tinyurl.com/2cwjte%5B/url%5D">http://tinyurl.com/2cwjte</a></p>
<p>It does say that "other people" can be counted in household numbers</p>
<p>"The cousin will be living on CMU campus. Does that count as 'living' with?"</p>
<p>So long as cousin was living in parent's household at time of FAFSA application, and so long as min. 50% support is expected to continue through June '08, cousin can be included as household member on Q66.</p>
<p>When I read the OP's comment, it seemed as though the family was NOT trying to get finaid for the cousin, but rather wanted to list the cousin as a college attending member of the family for a future FAFSA filing (perhaps for a future college student)...this increasing the number of students attending college and therefore lowering the EFC. I'm sorry, but contributing to a cousin's college education is wonderful, but it does not make that student a member of the household. If you look at the list of questions on the FAFSA, they go in order. How many people live in the household? How many of those will be college students? A student who is living on a college campus and getting tuition support from a distant family member would not count, I do not believe. Perhaps Nikki will read this thread and comment. I believe contributions to those who are not members of your family, while very kind and generous, do not make this person a member of your family for either finaid or tax purposes. BUT I've been wrong before.</p>
<p>first, thanks for all the replies. my cousin isn't going to be filing for FAFSA, and the looking at the link provided in an above post, i am still a little confused about the "live with" part. when he comes to the US, he will be coming to my house over short vacations and such. he didn't live with us at the time he applied to CMU.</p>
<p>Thumper1:</p>
<p>"Household members" for purposes of Q66 do not need to be family members. In fact, they don't even need to live in the household to qualify. And the parents don't need to provide over 50% of the support.</p>
<p>This is a question where I believe lots of families do themselves a disservice. It's not "household members" in the normal sense of the phrase, or "dependents" within the meaning of either the IRS or FAFSA. It's a different question entirely-- and should be answered based on a careful reading of the instructions.</p>
<p>So, for example, a 22 year old child of the parents (and sibling of the prospective student who is filing FAFSA), who has moved out of the family home and is fully supporting himself, qualifies as a "household member" within the meaning of Q66, and will result in potential increased aid to the FAFSA applicant. This not because he is a "household member" in the common sense of the phrase, but because he is a child of the parents who can answer "no" to FAFSA questions 48 - 55 (he would not be considered "independent" within the definition of FAFSA).</p>
<p>In another example, a non-family member of any age who is residing with the family at time of FAFSA application, and receiving 50% of his support from the parents, qualifies as a "household member" if the support is expected to continue through the next school year.</p>
<p>In divorce cases, a parent can claim a child as a "household member" even if the child doesn't live in the household at all, so long as that parent provides 50% or more of the support.</p>
<p>All of these examples seem counterintuitive-- which is why it's best to read the FAFSA instructions carefully rather than relying on the common meaning of the phrase "household member."</p>
<p>
[quote]
All of these examples seem counterintuitive-- which is why it's best to read the FAFSA instructions carefully rather than relying on the common meaning of the phrase "household member."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I second Sblake! Actually, I'll take it a bit further: It's best to read the FAFSA instructions carefully rather than relying on the common 'knowledge'.</p>
<p>Despite the often repeated claim that the FAFSA is very complicated and somewhat nebulous, I maintain that the FAFSA is very straightforward. Contrary to the IRS instructions, the documentation and explanations of the Education Department are complete and easy to follow. </p>
<p>As I wrote before, it is pretty easy to calculate your own FAFSA to the ... penny by simply following the complete instructions.</p>
<p>I will defer to Sblake on this issue. But I am still weary of it. It sounds to me like the OP's family is contributing to the cousins education, then is planning to add the cousin as a family member attending college so that they can gain some finaid need. I'm sorry, I do think this will be carefully reviewed by the college finaid departments. Yes, there is a difference between family members for tax purposes, and family members for finaid purposes. We all know that. But this usually applies to the offspring of the parents...you can't be independent of your parents if you don't meet the six question test on the FAFSA. I'm not sure about BECOMING a dependent for FAFSA purposes. The reality is this cousin is not living with this family, will never live with this family, has a family in another country, and through the generosity of his uncle is receiving a tuition check. I do think the finaid folks will wonder where this "extra" person attending college came from, and will want some kind of verification of the situation at the very least. Simply put, they could say "so why did you decide to pay for Cousin Joe instead of saving the money for your own child." The questions related to this particular issue are a bit muddled in my mind. We don't know the cost of the tuition. Who is paying for room/board/other expenses? If you want to use the 50% or more test, is it on the expenses in the country where this cousin comes from, or the US? I guess I wonder why this is different than the questions we've had here re: families who are supporting (and I mean supporting) grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc who live overseas and want to know if this can be considered when the finaid folks are making decisions. In every case, the posters here have said the same thing....it's a choice the family made even if they are providing 100% of the support. Choice. I view this family's decision to pay the cousin's tuition as a choice, and a gift...not as a way to add another person and thus reduce the EFC by 1/2. I'm probably wrong by all the other posts here...but is just seems fishy to me.</p>
<p>"The reality is this cousin is not living with this family..."</p>
<p>Well, if he wasn't living with the family when the FAFSA was filed, he doesn't qualify as a "household member."</p>
<p>In order for an "other person" (as opposed to the parents and their offspring) to qualify as "household members" within the meaning of Q66 they have to:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>live with AND receive more than half of their support from the applicant's parents at the time of application, AND</p></li>
<li><p>expect to continue to receive that support from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>That's it. If the person meets these requirements, count him. Has nothing to do with dependency for taxes, or family overseas, or adoption, or anything else. This same two-pronged test applies to families supporting aunts who live overseas (they don't qualify since they don't live with the parents when the FAFSA is filed), or the cousin from overseas who may (or may not) live with the parents when FAFSA is filed.</p>