I am starting to look into fafsa since i have one college that requires it to consider merit aid. I am a beginner. We werent intending to file any since we will not be seeking financial aid.
For the one college that requires it for merit aid, it is due in February. Is it correct that i can use a tax tool to provide the numbers directly onto the form? If so, my numbers (investments, bank statements, 529) are obviously not current. If i choose to not use the tax tool, is it correct that i use my bank statements, investments, 529 as of the date i file? For example if i file fafsa on February 1, 2020, am i stating my assets as of feb 1?
The IRS Data retrieval tool will pull your tax return information from your 2018 tax return to populate those fields in the 2020-2021 FAFSA.
Your investments, bank accounts and any other assets…you report the values of those as of the date you submit the FAFSA form. You will enter this information yourself on the FAFSA form. So yes, go online and check those balances that day.
The IRS Data Retrieval Tool has nothing to do with your bank accounts etc. that information isn’t on your tax return.
If you’re looking for merit aid, that means you are seeking financial aid. Merit aid is one kind of financial aid.
If money that wouldn’t otherwise be available is being provided to a student to help defray the costs of higher education or to make college more affordable or financially possible, that’s financial aid.
maybe I should’ve said we are not seeking need based aid. @BelknapPoint . Is that the right phrase? The college i am talking about is fordham. My child would be seeking one of their full tuition merit based scholarships. She meets their criteria since among her achievements she is a National Merit semifinalist. They have a special tuition award for semifinalists with her corresponding gpa and stats.
Fordham requires fafsa for everyone seeking merit aid, so they say. Over the years, fortunately, we put away a good amount of savings and investments such that no college would give us need based aid. We are not asking for need based aid anywhere. Fordham is the only college to which we would submit the fafsa. If fordham wont accept her with full tuition she would go elsewhere. She already got into our state college and into a few safeties with full merit tuition.
Hopefully fordham wont be put off by our savings and offer her nothing but an acceptance. In that case she will take her education elsewhere.
Is the savings in real retirement accounts like IRA or TSA or whatever…or is the savings in regular bank accounts? If in authorized retirement accounts, the balances IN those accounts are not listed on the FAFSA form. The contribution you made TO those accounts in 2018 will be added back in as income if they were made to tax deferred accounts.
Schools that require FAFSA for merit aid sometimes are doing so to demonstrate that you do NOT qualify for federal grants. Schools don’t want to tie up their resources if you can receive federal money. In other words, it shouldn’t hurt her that you don’t qualify for aid.