<p>I'm in a tricky situation. I have about 8000 dollars in my checking account (money I've saved up over the span of 3 years) I don't mean to sound like I want to cheat the system but I really need some emergency fund for housing and shelling out 1000 dollars per semester will seriously put a strain on my financial situation. So since FAFSA only cares about snapshot in time, what happens if I just take out 5000 dollars in cash and only put 3000 on that question?</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter where you have that money the day you file your FAFSA. If you have it, you MUST report it, and that includes cash.</p>
<p>If you are the student, the FAFSA asset assessment is 20% so for $8000 it would be $1600 for the year.</p>
<p>But would they know if I don’t report how much cash I have? Let’s say I only report that I have 3000 the day after I take out $5000 from my checking account, would they know?</p>
<p>You said you didn’t want to cheat the system but now that’s what your proposing. Which is it? You would be committing fraud.</p>
<p>Starting out your adult life with federal fraud is not the way you want to go. The chances of getting caught are small, but if you are, there is hell to pay. Yes, you can go , and folks have gone to prison for this sort of thing. You don’t mess with the feds.</p>
<p>Even more troubling is that you are contemplating cheating. This sort of mindset is what gets a lot of people in trouble. There are legal ways to deal with this and you should. You can open a joint account with a parent, his/her name and SSN primary, which would mean the assets are reported as parental ones. Parents get a protection allowance and get assessed 5.6% of assets over that. You can look into opening a student 529 account as well.</p>
<p>
No, they don’t. But it’s cheating and you said
</p>
<p>You guys are right what I said was wrong. It’s just that I wanted to have a cash cushion, I’ve been supporting myself since I was 18 and it took me so long to save up. Sometimes I get funny ideas because I’m not used to spending so much in such a short time. </p>
<p>So, what does the 20% rule mean exactly? Is having 1600 efc bad?</p>
<p>
Are you an independent student? See [FAFSA</a> and the Independent Student - Fastweb](<a href=“Federal Financial Aid and the FAFSA Independent Student | Fastweb”>Federal Financial Aid and the FAFSA Independent Student | Fastweb)</p>
<p>Leakingbattery, just FYI, if caught, getting financial aid due to fraudulent reporting is fraud. You would not only lose (or need to repay money received) but also would likely lose your admissions spot. There is a fine as well.</p>
<p>Colleges frown on dishonesty.</p>
<p>Congratulations on saving some money for college. Another thing you can do is purchase something you need for college…a new computer or something like that. It will reduce the amount you have in your account.</p>
<p>As an FYI, this financial fraud you are considering might not net you much anyway. Is your financial situation so tight that you can’t afford housing? If so, you should consider a college to which you can commute.</p>
<p>Are your parents planning to help you pay for college? </p>
<p>Any chance you would qualify for a MERIT award at a school that would reduce your overall costs?</p>
<p>There are many HONEST ways to reduce college costs. Hiding assets is NOT one of them.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I don’t qualify as an independent student.</p>
<p>
Having 1600 for an efc is ok - you could qualify for Pell Grant. However, your EFC = Your contribution + Your parents’ contribution. Have you calculate how much your parents could contribute to your education?</p>
<p>
Realistically, my parents won’t contribute to my education but they have about 4000 in the bank.</p>
<p>If you do as I suggested, it won’t up the EFC a penny, since your parents’ asset allownce is going to be far higher than your money and theirs combined. With $8k in your name, your EFC will go up to $1600. And that’s about what you’d lose in PELL money.</p>
<p>
It is the FAFSA’s assessment on the students’ asset. The assessment on the parents’ asset is 5.6% (approx.)</p>
<p>So FSFSA will assess:
$1,600 from your savings (20% of $8000) toward your EFC
$224 from your parents’ savings (5.6% of $4,000) toward your EFC</p>
<p>See <a href=“http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/091312EFCFormulaGuide1314.pdf[/url]”>http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/091312EFCFormulaGuide1314.pdf</a></p>
<p>RE: Post #11 – “Having 1600 for an efc is ok - you could qualify for Pell Grant. However, your EFC = Your contribution + Your parents’ contribution. Have you calculate how much your parents could contribute to your education?”</p>
<p>RE: Post #12 – “Realistically, my parents won’t contribute to my education but they have about 4000 in the bank.” </p>
<p>If you are a dependent student for financial aid purposes… which I believe you said you are… your parents income and assets will be taken into account when calculating your EFC. This is the case whether or not they would actually be able to contribute anything towards your education.</p>
<p>Have you run the NPC on the websites for the schools you are applying to (inputting all of the information for your parents and yourself) in order to find out your EFC?</p>
<p>Assets are only part of the equation for calculating EFC.</p>
<p>Leaking…the amount of money your parents have in the bank, and the amount you have in the bank is only part of the equation. Your parents’ incomes are more important. The EFC formula is much more weighted towards income.</p>
<p>But your and your parent’s income is the biggest determinant of EFC. You get around a $6000 income protection allowance and your parents get a larger allowance depending on the number in the family and in college. The fafsa formula guide for 2014-15 is:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/091913EFCFormulaGuide1415.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/091913EFCFormulaGuide1415.pdf</a></p>
<p>Are you just planning to start college or have you already attended? The link looks daunting but it’s not so bad.</p>