Hi all, how would we go about availing federal grants for our US citizen kids. I currently live overseas and I used to work in the US years ago and I have a ssn, I have a US bank account with some funds and have a home loan on an overseas house. I also have some funds in my current country of residence. My funds will not add up to what is needed for a 4 year degree. I assume that asset declaration excludes personal items like jewellery.
You need to go to the college websites for the colleges your U.S. citizen kids are interested in attending. Look on the financial aid section, and you will see what you need to submit to the colleges for financial aid materials. Your kids are citizens, so they will be able to complete the application forms required on the college sites.
That you worked here a while ago doesn’t really matter unless you currently earn income in the U.S.
@kelsmom how do families like this complete the FAFSA…since overseas earnings won’t be able to be imported using the IRS Data retrieval tool?
Your kids will each need their own FAFSA ID number. Get that ASAP. I’m not sure what you do now…as I don’t think you can get one but @kelsmom can explain that as well.
Some private colleges and a couple of public ones also use the CSS Profile or their own school form. That is submitted online.
Re: assets…regular jewelry like your wedding rings and earrings aren’t usually reported as assets…unless they are Hope Diamond types😉.
But the financial aid application requirements are on each college website.
Re:affordability…if you want suggestions on potentially affordable colleges here, I would suggest you start a chances thread. That actually might be more efficient than starting a separate thread for each college your student has interest in…plus you might get some good suggestions for other schools.
Also…you wrote this on your Cornell thread…which suggests your kid is NOT a U.S. citizen. Which is it?
SAT 1490, non US freshman, soph gpa 4, junior 3/4
And yes…your kids will be paying out of state rates at all public universities here because your family resides elsewhere.
By non US freshman, I meant he is in high school overseas…
Thank you. Then he applies for financial aid as a U.S. citizen…so just look at each college website to see what is required and check the deadlines for submission.
The FAFSA won’t be available until sometime in December this year. Profile will open up on October 1.
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The 2024-25 FAFSA asks several new questions related to parent income/tax filing that will reveal whether they earned income in a foreign country. The answers will allow the parent to manually enter income instead of using the IRS transfer, and it will allow financial aid offices to understand why the parent can’t use the IRS transfer
Parent will need to get an FSA ID. From the federal website:
“Starting in December 2023, parents will be able to get an FSA ID (account username and password) without having an SSN.
On the 2024–25 FAFSA form, if the parent is completing their own section and doesn’t have an SSN, the SSN will be blank or prefilled with an assigned pseudo-SSN.
On the 2023–24 FAFSA form, if a parent doesn’t have an SSN, the parent must enter all zeros without dashes (e.g., 000000000).“
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This poster parent has a SSN from when he worked here. Should he use that…since he has one?
Yes. I missed that.