Fafsa and private disability

Paying for College
1

<p>I've never received a definitive answer to this question: Do I have to report private disability income on the FAFSA? I know about line 92i and untaxed SSDI that must be reported. Contacting the FAFSA Help Desk was absolutely a waste of time; essentially they told me to follow the directions on the site. Well, duh! I wouldn't be asking them for help if I could figure out the answer!</p>

<p>With an AGI of $12315 and $39500 of untaxed income( if I report the private disability) I get an EFC of 4405. Isn't that still too high? According to them my son is eligible for only $1100 of Pell Grant assistance. Any ideas out there?</p>

2

<p>Untaxed SSDI is never reported but private disability is. It’s either included in AGI (but not in your case, it seems) or entered as untaxed income. Here are the detailed instructions for 92i:</p>

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<p>As to the EFC question, there’s really not enough info given re. assets, household size, no. in college, etc. for us to know but the Pell amount is correct for the EFC given and the EFC seems reasonable for a family with over $50K in income. If you qualify for one of the simplified EFC formulas then assets would be excluded and if you qualify for Auto 0, the EFC is 0 and your son’s Pell estimate would increase to the maximum of $5550. These are the Auto 0 qualifications, so make sure you’ve answered the qualifying questions of FAFSA (I think they start around #70) correctly:</p>

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<p><a href=“http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/010512EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf[/url]”>http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/010512EFCFormulaGuide1213.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Also, your son is eligible for more assistance than the Pell. It’s likely he would qualify for work-study and perhaps Perkins loans, SEOG, instutional grants, and some state aid in addition to Stafford loans.</p>

3

<p>Thanks. How about my qualifying as a dislocated worker?</p>

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<p>I was self-employed but due to illness( and economic conditions I suppose ) I had to close my office. Now I can only work 10 hrs or so a month for someone else. Am I a dislocated worker? And define " economic conditions"? Are they MY economic conditions or the world’s economic conditions? ;-)</p>

<p>Thanks again for the input.</p>

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<p>I believe they are referring to general economic conditions (ie. recession) rather than a personal downturn. You seem to be unemployed primarily due to illness and if you’re working anyway I don’t think that would qualify. Depending on your family size, your son may qualify for the reduced lunch program. If so, you can call the school and request an application. The requirements are here:</p>

<p>[Income</a> Eligibility Guidelines](<a href=“http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/notices/iegs/IEGs.htm]Income”>http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Governance/notices/iegs/IEGs.htm)</p>

5

<p>The only thing dislocated worker status does is ignore assets. If your assets are lower than the threshold, it doesn’t make a difference, anyway.</p>