<p>I can't figure out whether we should do a FAFSA form. I can't imagine that we would possibly qualify for need-based aid and yet finaid.org (recommended by "Winning the Heart of the College Admissions Dean") said everyone should fill one out. I also called VSAC (Vermont's financial aid organization) and the counselor there thought everyone should too, though I couldn't understand his rationale at all. Something like "Maybe you would qualify after all." or "Maybe it would affect merit scholarships." It seems to me that not needing aid could only affect merit aid negatively, because some schools give more if there's also need.</p>
<p>If there is no hope of need-based aid, is there any reason to submit a FAFSA? It sounds like it's a lot of work and also gives colleges access to where else one is applying.</p>
<p>Some schools require the Fafsa for any scholarship consideration. Additionally financial reversals are not unheard of, and Federal Loan programs are not available to you without the Fafsa.</p>
<p>to fill out the FAFSA is not hard work at all...</p>
<p>and, you need to maybe take the time to do it because you never bloody well know if there is a little scholarship or something you child could apply for which demands they have the FAFSA filled out and all of that.</p>
<p>your question is very refreshing because you are being nice and honest</p>
<p>blankety- blank happens
For instance, my daughter began college in August of 2001. After 9/11, her dad was laid off- from a place he had worked for 15 years. While he was able to retain* a * job at the company, along with benefits, it was lower on the pay scale, and only this year was he able to find something that was more along the lines of where he was before 9/11.
If we hadn't done financial aid, we would have had to start from scratch, and there wouldn't have been as many adjustments.
* If you know* you are not going to need the money, then you probably don't need to fill it out, but if you aren't sure.....</p>
<p>OTOH, you can always apply after the fact if there should be such a change. We didn't apply for FA when my S started school. His older sister applied and didn't get it, and even though our income had gone down some, I tried calculators and again they showed we woudln't get it.</p>
<p>This year, S is about to be a junior, and we knew that our income had fallen considerably. So we applied and received some aid. Not a lot, but we expect much more next year. When I called last fall to discuss this with the FA office at S's school, they asked if we were okay for that year, as we could still apply for that year if we felt the income change warranted it. FAFSAs can be done midyear if necessary.</p>
<p>My kids were both awarded merit scholarships that were not FAFSA dependent; some are, though, so if you are applying to a school with merit scholarships, check if they need FAFSA filed. To me, that would be the only reason to do so.</p>
<p>If your student is applying to schools that require the FAFSA for merit aid or favorable loans, or if they will not give financial aid unless the student initially applies for such aid, it would be wise to file a FAFSA. To be safe, you should file a FAFSA. Most people who do not qualify for aid do not file. It's a matter of the risk you want to take in the event you need aid later due to changes in financial status or other kids going to college which could push families into the aid zone.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. In light of this info, I decided to contact all the schools and ask them specifically. For the ones I've heard back from so far, they said the FAFSA wouldn't be needed if we weren't going for loans and it wasn't tied to their merit aid. I'm glad I asked.</p>
<p>Bethie,
We did not qualify for finaid at any of the state schools that my son applied to and would not have thought we would qualify for any at private schools. We own a nice home in an upper middle class neighborhood, have no car payments, pay all of our credit cards in full on time, etc. Husband is an engineer and I work at a library. We filled out both the CEEB (right name?) and FAFSA forms anyway. It seemed like quite a few colleges asked for one or the other forms to be considered for merit aid and I had heard enough horror stories of people whose circumstances changed and then had no FAFSA info in the system. Since our daughters colleges needs the CEEB one every year, it wasn't that big a deal to add the FAFSA for son. We receive both merit and some financial aid from both of our kids private colleges.</p>
<p>Unless a student is just applying to state colleges, IMHO, it's worth the time, or at least it has been in our case.</p>
<p>I would agree with the general consensus. Completing the Fafsa may be valuable even if you technically do not qualify for need-based aid. The value of this depends on the individual colleges. Many colleges play games with aid money. They often make "merit" awards based on the family's financial status with larger amounts going to families closer to the need cutoff. Personally, I consider the tuition markup and discounting games to be disgusted and akin to dealing with sleazy used car salesmen. You can't change the system so you might try to plan the colleges' games.</p>
<p>At a Fin Aid talk offered by a non-profit group, they strongly advised everyone to fill it out. They explained that if your situation changed nothing could be done for you if no FASFA was in place. </p>
<p>The worst case scenario they described was the death of the primary bread-winner. They claimed that all schools would definately make an adjustment, regardless of your financial situation if you have a FASFA in place.</p>
<p>The only downside in my opinion, was that if you had a son they were required to register for selective service if a FASFA was in place. However, in NJ that is required to get your updated drivers license, so it became a moot issue.</p>
<p>that's scare tactics. A FAFSA can be done up until June of the current school year--in an emergency, it could be immediately filed, and the school could follow through with changes.</p>
<p>Without question, every Internet site, college, and advisor recommends filling out a FAFSA. I was curious, however, if I could find statistics on how many actually do fill it out. No idea if these numbers are reliable, but a Feb. 2006 article by the American Council on Education places the number at 59% for fiscal 2004. While the number of filers has been growing, a not insignificant percentage of people do not fill out a FAFSA. The point of the article, however, is that more should. (I would note that we are in the percentage that didn't bother.)</p>
<p>"In 1999-2000, the number of students who completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) stood at 8.2 million (50 percent of all undergraduates). For the 2003-04 academic year, the number of FAFSA filers grew to 11.1 million (59 percent)."
Source: American Council on Education
<a href="http://www.acenet.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.acenet.edu/</a></p>