<p>Hi there! I recently just completed the FAFSA using estimated tax numbers since my parents will not file theirs until late February. Our EFC came out to be just under $6000, and it says that I am only eligible for a direct loan on the confirmation page. Does this mean that I don't qualify for a Pell Grant (based on the estimated numbers)? </p>
<p>I know that the EFC could change when we update the FAFSA when my parents complete their 2013 taxes, but I was wondering if this means that I don't qualify for a Pell Grant as of right now, if it doesn't state so on the page? </p>
<p>We are new to the financial aid process, so thank you very much for any help!</p>
<p>Ah darn… thank you so much though!
I was really thinking that I’d qualify for a Pell Grant, so this came as a surprise. Maybe when we update the FAFSA with the actual numbers, it’ll go down. Is there an EFC cut-off limit that determines whether or not you qualify for a Pell Grant? Was it okay for us to file the FAFSA before filing our taxes? I read that it’s best to file in January, and the numbers we used, according to my parents, are going to be close to what the actual numbers turn out to be so I thought it’d be good to get it done early…</p>
<p>The maximum Pell-eligible EFC for 2014-2015 is 5081. At the upper ranges of EFC, Pell can sometimes not actually be available for less than full time enrollment (normally, it is prorated based on enrollment). The maximum award for 2014-2015 (with a 0 EFC) is $5645; the minimum (with a 5081 EFC) is $582.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s okay to file with estimated numbers & update when the actual info is ready. It’s best to do that, because sometimes aid is awarded to students on a first-come, first-served basis. For example, work study can go fast, as can Perkins loans. Filing early makes sense, and you just update later.</p>
<p>Oh! I understand that now. That makes so much more sense, haha. Now I know why I did not get a Pell Grant, since our EFC was just a couple hundred above the maximum. So close! Maybe it’ll change when we update it. Thank you!</p>
<p>My dad was wondering one thing though. My brother still lives at home, and he’s 20 (and he files his own as of last year). My parent’s currently don’t claim him on their taxes, but my dad said he still legally can. He was wondering if we should claim my brother this year, or if that would be bad/wrong/not helpful to do?</p>
<p>It makes no difference whether he claims him on his taxes or not. He can list him as a member of household on FAFSA as he would be a dependent for FAFSA purposes if he were going to college. (assuming he is not otherwise independent for FAFSA - married, a veteran etc).</p>
<p>From a tax perspective, for your dad to claim him he would have to be a college student (or disabled) and not provide more than 50% of his own support. Or if he is not a college student, he would have to meet the gross income test - which means he would have to make less than the individual exemption ($3900 in 2013). (but remember, dependency for taxes and dependency for FAFSA have completely different criteria</p>
<p>If your dad can legally claim your brother as a dependent (qualifying child under the age of 24 and a student, parents provide more than half of his support) on his tax return, then this could definitely affect your financial aid, I would think, since dependents are part of the calculation of your EFC. Since you are so close to the Pell Grant limit, it sounds like it would be worth your dad’s time to run the numbers including your brother.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for that link!! I’ll let my dad look at that.</p>
<p>Also, sorry if this is a stupid question, but we can update the FAFSA online after my parent’s finish their taxes, correct? I want to make sure we didn’t make a mistake by submitting early, aha.</p>
<p>Oh, thank you guys! So my brother would have to be in college to be able to be claimed at 20? He currently is not in college, and most likely will not attend, and he makes about $16k a year at his current job. I don’t think my dad knew that, haha. I’ll let him know. Thanks again!!</p>
<p>Yes, you will update the fafsa with actual tax/income info after taxes are filed and processed by the IRS. When you filed fafsa now you should have indicated a tax status of “will file”. When you update you will change that status to “have filed”. Beginning in February there will be an IRS Data Retrieval Tool available on the fafsa site that will automatically bring over the info from the IRS to your fafsa. Have you received your SAR yet? Is there an asterisk by your EFC? That means you have been selected for verification and using the DRT later is the easiest way to satisfy verification in most cases.</p>
. Dependency for taxes and for FAFSA are completely different. (for instance, we could not claim our son on our taxes, but when he went back to school at 22 he was still our dependent for FAFSA).</p>
<p>Phew, okay! Yes, we did the “will file” and submitted it just today. So when they finish their taxes, we just change it to “have filed” and update any numbers that might need it? I’m expecting to get the SAR sometime later this week, so I’m not sure whether or not we’ve been asked to verify.</p>
<p>Is the IRS DRT available for everyone filing taxes? When we update it to “already completed,” will there be an option to use this? Is this easier than correcting the numbers manually? One of my FAFSA deadlines is February 15, which is around the time my parents will file their taxes. Would the IRS DRT take longer?</p>
<p>And back to my brother–we did say that he was a member of the household (since he is still dependent on my parents), but my dad didn’t claim him as an exemption on the FAFSA (because he didn’t last year on his taxes). So he can’t be claimed as an exemption, correct?</p>
<p>I apologize for all the questions haha. I’m just extremely confused with this! Thank you!</p>
<p>Your brother would have had to be a full-time student for a part of 5 months in 2013 to be claimed by your Dad on taxes for 2013. If he was a full-time student last spring from January to May for example.</p>
<p>But you do understand that he can be listed on FAFSA as one in household, right? That should reduce the EFC a little (not much probably).</p>
<p>It is the taxes where he can not be claimed because he fails the gross income test (and is not a student so needs to pass that). Wouldn’t make a difference for FAFSA if he could be claimed. (Actually it would - it would reduce your dad’s taxes which would increase his available income on FAFSA. The EFC would probably increase a little if he claimed him on taxes.)</p>
<p>Yes, thank you! We did list him as part of the household number, just not as the exemption (which was what my dad was wondering about). He’ll be happy to know that it wouldn’t help to list my brother though, even if he could have, haha! It’s just frustrating to be so close to the cut-off for the Pell Grant… so here’s hoping we might have over-estimated the income just a little, though I don’t think we did, since my dad said it should be close to what the actual numbers are aha.</p>
<p>But thank you everyone again! I really appreciate all your help! I am much less confused now too. One less thing to stress over–for now! Now to move on to the CSS later this week.</p>
<p>Classic…you would not get the full Pell Grant unless your EFC was $0. The Pell is prorated based on your EFC. The closer to that $5000 EFC mark, the less Pell money you will receive.</p>