<p>What have I done--or maybe what I should say is, what should I do?</p>
<p>I recently was asked to clarify our family make-up for my 19 year old, and when I did they re-calculated his EFC (on the FAFSA) from something like $4700 to $12240.</p>
<p>Our situation: 7 total family members (incl. one minor child who we are guardians for),
1 full-time parent (not working)
1 part-time working parent-$74K annually
1 full time child age 19 (5300K last year)
1 full-time child age 24 who we no longer claim, is "independent" (but we
still help him with lots of expenses)
3 children still in middle/high school</p>
<p>I put down 6 family members, and 3 in college the first time around. Now they say I have to put 1 in college. </p>
<p>My husband gets some Perkins and Stafford money, but we are barely making it right now as it is, (I am slammed in a full-time fast track nursing program and he works full time while finishing his degree online) and we cannot get approved for PLUS money because of our credit history (job losses/late payments lowered the credit score)</p>
<p>If my son's estimated annual costs are $17900/tuition $2500 at our state school (he didn't receive any scholarships this year, either), what can we expect to be able to receive totally in loans? Is he eligible for a Perkins loan, which his father gets? We can't even offer him a place to live right now--our house is full!!</p>
<p>I've seen so many good comments here, I'm hoping to get some ideas. I am now freaking out that the little money my husband gets from Perkins and Stafford will be taken away somehow, too. I really did not realize that I was filling out my son's form wrong, and I'm quite frankly too scared to even look at my husband's. </p>
<p>Oh my God I am so worried I can't even eat my dinner....:-(</p>
<p>Who is in college? For your kiddos…the kid in undergrad school is counted as a person in college. If the 24 year old has finished undergrad school, your other kid’s college may NOT consider him as a college student (if he is in grad school). That is up to each school to determine. If one of the PARENTS is in college, that does NOT count on the student’s FAFSA…The student in college WOULD count on the PARENT’s FAFSA (I believe I have that correct).</p>
<p>Is the 24 year old still an undergrad in college? If not…he probably doesn’t count per your other kid’s college. The parent doesn’t count on the kid’s FAFSA.</p>
<p>SO…that leaves ONE in college for your kiddo’s FAFSA.</p>
<p>There would be TWO in college on your husband’s FAFSA unless HIS college allows grad students to be counted and if they do…then it would be three in college.</p>
<p>My understanding about these grad school kids in college is that they MUST be dependents on your taxes and be counted as members of your household. If your 24 year old is NOT dependent on you…he cannot be considered a member of your household. If he is not a member of your household, he cannot be counted in the number of folks attending college.</p>
<p>If your 24 year old is NOT in college, he can’t be counted as a student in college no matter HOW MUCH you are contributing to his support.</p>
<p>The problem is that parents in college do not count for their kids FAFSA. He does count for your Fafsa and your husband’s though - so no problem there. Since his EFC is now over $12K, he will probably only be offered Stafford loans by a state school. Have they told you when his revised award will be issued? I would have him make an appeal for more aid, it will be more effective than coming from you, but it’s very late in the game for them to have other funds left. They may be able to come up with work study though. Where has he been living?</p>
<p>Sorry…I missed that the OP was in nursing school. Sk8 got it correct. The parents cannot be counted on the childrens’ FAFSAs as “in college”. So for the son, only ONE in college. BUT for the parents, there would be three in college (two parents, and one student).</p>
<p>You mention that you are in a nursing program. That makes two adults in college and a child or three in college. But neither parent’s college status is going to affect the child’s FAFSA. Perhaps, it will help in your expenses, however.</p>
<p>You may have to go to the college and appeal in person. Perhaps some funds can be found. Otherwise, he may need to take a leave from school, perhaps take some courses at local college so that he does not lose time and work part time. I know a number of kids who have done this to help with expenses.</p>
<p>Agree with the above comments. The FAFSA rules state quite clearly that parents in school cannot be included in the number in college on the students FAFSA. The kids can be included in the parents FAFSA. I have recently gone back to college and my 2 kids are in college also. On their FAFSAs we enter 2 in college (kid plus sibling) but cannot include me. On my FAFSA we enter 3 in college - myself and the 2 kids.</p>
<p>Allowing a 24 year old in # in college is not cut & dried. My school does not allow even an undergrad 24 year old to be counted … because he is independent for financial aid purposes. We also do not allow grads to be counted in # in college. Some schools do allow it, from what I hear. It is always best to find out from the school what they will allow when a sibling is independent due to age. As this case illustrates, having a person removed from # in college can really make the EFC skyrocket. Better to know upfront.</p>