<p>Do undergraduate schools ever consider the fact that parents may be helping an older child with graduate school when determining EFC for the undergrad?</p>
<p>Hmmm…</p>
<p>I think undergrads consider helping an older child with grad school as a “choice.”</p>
<p>I think you can claim the kid as a dependent on the FAFSA form. I read somewhere that if you are paying for a kid in grad school that is taken into account that way, but it is no big ticket item discount like having 2 kids in UG studies.</p>
<p>I KNOW you have to contact the undergrad school and find out their policies as this varies from school to school. Some schools WILL count the grad school student and others will not. We know this because DD became a college freshman when DS was a college senior and we ASKED everywhere she applied. There were schools that were very clear…NO they did not count a grad school student. There were schools that did. No way to know but to ask…this was not anywhere on a website that we found.</p>
<p>The FAFSA DOES allow you to count the grad school student as a family member AND as a college student pursuing a degree. BUT colleges can make the decision NOT to use the grad school student. This is up to the schools. </p>
<p>U of San Diego, for example, is a FAFSA only school that told us point blank…they do NOT count the grad school sibling in the student count when they determine need based aid and our kid’s aid would have been significantly reduced for years 2, 3, 4.</p>
<p>The school DD attends DOES count the grad school kiddo in the head count.</p>
<p>So…call and ask.</p>
<p>Thumper, do you happen to know if that applied to kids in combined programs (did they even ask)? I’m curious as my D will be considered a grad student for FA purposes during the last 2 years of her program, after only 3 years of UG, but will not have received a bachelor’s degree yet. So I’ll have a two years of overlap with my youngest. He’s hoping for a substantial athletic scholarship, but it would be good to know in case of injury! How do FAFSA schools adjust the EFC…by adjusting the number in college? How would they know to do this?</p>
<p>sk8rmom, has the school specifically said that D will be considered a grad student for FA purposes? My D is also in a program where she began the graduate program her senior year so that the credits earned that year fulfilled the remaining requirements for her undergrad degree and were also credited towards her graduate degree. The school sent specific instructions indicating that because she was still fulfilling undergrad requirements, her FAFSA should be filed as an undergraduate.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s a 3+2 program with year-round course/field work starting after her sophomore year (next year). It seems that they don’t award the BS portion until after the 4th year but they do charge grad level tuition after spring of year 3 and all the required coursework is at the 500 level. It’s a large public univ and they do their other combined programs (PharmD, DPT, etc) this way too - all are undergrad for 3, then grads for FA and for billing!</p>
<p>Oh that’s too bad, though I guess as grad students they can qualify for larger amounts of subsidized loans. But does that mean that they are not eligible for Pell since those are undergrad awards? D’s at a private school and the grad school tuition is the same as undergrad so maybe that is why they do it differently. My other daughter is in a similar program at another school. I guess I can’t necessarily assume that she will be considered an undergrad for her senior year which will make a difference for us since we already know D3’s school doesn’t consider siblings who are grad students. Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>It’s all very tricky. You need to contact the school’s financial aid office to find out about their policies. They definitely vary by school. And the whole when-is-the-student-considered-a-grad also varies. This really is kind of all over the map. Never assume!! If money is an issue, call and ask to speak with a financial aid officer for questions like these (no disrespect to student workers, because they can be awesome - but it’s best to find out “for sure” about the answers to these questions).</p>
<p>I found 3 schools (also just fafsa) included my son in grad school this year. (marist was one)The difference was very noticable in the EFC. Others said No, some said “maybe” but it didn’t look promising. By maybe some mean if the student is living home, some, don’t specify. My son happens to be living home this semester, but I don’t know if that will continue.</p>
<p>Not only the student FA workers - my query to FA resulted in “call the department”. The dept responded, “call FA”! It’ll be a little mystery to unfold down the road I guess as, rereading the pre-prof handbook, I just realized that they do not actually specify when the BS is awarded for BA/MS students (only for BS students who don’t make the cut for the professional program). Our state has cut the relatively small funding they had for grad students as well but her department does have some scholarships for years 3-5 which she’s hoping may help a bit. The consolation is that our instate publics are very affordable, even at grad rates, and she’s stockpiling her undergrad loans and reserving her college fund in anticipation of needing them down the road…we projected everything out on a spreadsheet, using conservative numbers, and determined that was the best course for now given the lack of concrete info.</p>
<p>I’m also curious what happens to FA for the Grad student if still a financial dependent and under 24?
Is the parents’ income considered for the grad student and also factoring in that there’s still another undergrad?</p>
<p>How does the grad under 24 declare financial independence for grad school- or is that impossible?</p>
<p>For FAFSA purposes, the student is considered independent upon receiving his/her first bachelors. It does not matter if they are under 24 years old.</p>
<p>If your child attends med/law school, many schools will use your income and assets to determine their financial aid until they are 27 years old (some schools until they are 30). This is even if they are married.</p>
<p>A person can be of any age and still be a financially dependent upon you.</p>
<p>sybbie, a student is not necessarily considered independent for FAFSA after the first bachelors degree. The student will no longer get Pell or SEOG (and many schools will not award undergrad institutional grants) … but if the student is doing post bach work or a second undergrad degree, the usual undergrad dependency questions still apply.</p>
<p>In addition, while many grad/professional schools will still request parent income info for the independent student … many undergrad schools will not allow that same student to be used in household size and/or number in college due to the fact that the student is his/her own household/# in college for financial aid purposes. Confusing, but important to know!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Financial aid for grad school (regardless of the student’s age) is VERY different than financial aid for undergrads. Most grad students are independent for financial aid purposes. BUT there are no “meets full need” schools for grad school. Most grad school financial aid is merit based, meaning it is awarded based on your accomplishments academically in the form of scholarships, assistantships, fellowships, sometimes work study (not all schools award WS to grad students) and Stafford loans. There are no Pell grants or the like for grad school. </p>
<p>Having a $0 EFC on the FAFSA for grad school really means not much. Many grad students come right out of undergrad and they ALL have $0 EFCs or darn close to it.</p>
<p>Some law and medical schools DO require parent information on the FAFSA regardless of the student’s age or marital status. Check with the schools to verify.</p>
<p>Re: second bachelors degrees…I don’t believe most schools award need based aid for second bachelors degrees.</p>
<p>THanks thumper</p>
<p>So what happens to the EFC of the undergrad if the parents are supporting the grad student? Any impact one way or the other when the undergrad becomes a grad student?</p>
<p>I know with us, with some colleges our EFC was based on 3 in school. When my son graduates with his MA, it will drop to 2 and be quite a difference. By the time my girls are in grad school, he will be out of school for at least a year. (unless he goes for his PhD.)
I was surprised how different every school looked at the situation and for some families, it could make or break a decison.
A friend of mine had her EFC be 11000 at UConn and 17,000 at another school that didn’t count her daughter in grad school. The savings she had at UConn maybe weren’t overly dramatic, but over the years, she saved a lot.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It depends completely on the policy of the school. Some schools do NOT count the grad school student in the count and they don’t care WHO is supporting the student. Some do. You need to call the school(s) and ask them. YMMV.</p>