Fafsa and private disability

[CrazedParent]

<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>

[sk8rmom]

<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>

<p>

i. Other untaxed income and benefits. Enter your parents’ untaxed income or benefits not reported in items 92a through 92h, such as worker’s compensation or disability benefits, interest income on educational IRAs, untaxed portions of railroad retirement benefits, black lung benefits, the untaxed portion of capital gains, and foreign income that wasn’t taxed by any government. Also include the first-time home buyer tax credit from IRS Form 1040—line 67.</p>

<p>Don’t include student aid, earned income credit, additional child tax credit, welfare payments, untaxed Social Security benefits, Supplemental Security Income, Workforce Investment Act educational benefits, on-base military housing or a military housing allowance, combat pay, benefits from flexible spending arrangements (for example, cafeteria plans), foreign income exclusion, or credit for federal tax on special fuels.

</p>

<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>

<p>

Anyone included in the parents’ household size (as defined on the FAFSA) received benefits during 2010 or 2011 from any of the designated means-tested Federal benefit programs: the SSI Program, the Food Stamp Program9, the Free and Reduced Price School Lunch Program, the TANF Program10, and WIC; OR
The student’s parents:
• filed or were eligible to file a 2011 IRS Form 1040A or 1040EZ11,
• filed a 2011 IRS Form 1040 but were not required to do so12, or
• were not required to file any income tax return; OR
the student’s parent is a dislocated worker.
AND
(2) The 2011 income of the student’s parents is $23,000 or less.
• For tax filers, use the parents’ adjusted gross income from the tax return to determine if income is $23,000 or less.

</p>

<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>

[CrazedParent]

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

<br>

<blockquote>
<p>was self-employed but is now unemployed due to economic conditions or natural disaster; </p>
</blockquote>

<br>

<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>

[sk8rmom]

<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>

[kelsmom]

<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>