FAFSA, questions?

Paying for College
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  1. The sooner sent in the better correct? Will submit tomorrow. OR is it that it should be submitted by Dec 31? (Financial aid night at my daughter’s school was not clear on this and left many of us confused).
  2. 529s of which we are the owner, beneficiary both children, are part of OUR assets? correct? (But if they were my parents for my child, not counted?)
  3. The financial aid guy mentioned the magic number of $99,999 or less. Said if above $100,000 no funding. We think he meant the EFC number (meaning I guess someone who made a lot of $$ could still qualify their child for loans as long as EFC was below $99,999). Is this correct or did he mean assets?

Thanks for any help, first kid off to college :slight_smile:

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@Mom2DDstheArts

If you complete a FAFSA, your kiddo is eligible to get a $5500 Direct Loan for their freshman year…and this is NOT income dependent…at all. Multimillionaires can get these loans if they complete the FAFSA. Same is true for Parent Plus Loans…which are available up to the cost of attendance.

I have no idea what that $99,999 “magic number” means.

If you are lower incme, and hope your kiddo will get things like SEOG or Federal Work Study…then applying earlier is better as these have limited funding per college campus.

My free advice…submit as soon as you can unless there is a good reason not to…and get it over with.

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thank you!

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  1. Usually it is best to send the FAFSA as soon as possible, but sometimes people set it up to send on the date when the assets will be the lowest. If you are buying a house, buying a car, paying off a big date, it might be better to wait a week or a month. Make sure you watch for any early deadlines set by the school. The deadline for filing fafsa is the end of the academic year for which it is use, usually 18 months away.

  2. I don’t think two kids can share one 529 account. If the parent owns accounts for multiple children, all count. If the grandparents own, you do not report the accounts but any funds paid during the reporting period.

  3. $99,999 used to be the highest EFC issued from the FAFSA filing. That changed several years ago and now can be higher, but an EFC of $99,999 would make it unlikely to receive need based financial aid. That’s not income, that’s what the Estimated Family Contribution would be, just a portion of the family income and assets. Loans are available for any income, but probably unsubsidized.

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@twoinanddone well…sort of…

This is only for the federally funded Pell Grant entitlement …and the Direct Loan. And the FAFSA has to be filed and given time for the processing before the end of your academic year.

BUT…and this is important…some schools use the financial information on the FAFSA to determine if you are eligible for their institutional need based aid. MOST colleges do not require anything BUT the FAFSA for this purpose.

You MUST adhere to the deadlines published on each college website if you want to be considered for their institutional need based aid…and have your award in time to make a May 1 matrictulation decision.

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That’s why I said

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Thank you, helped clear up issues :slight_smile: I will check school deadlines and send next week after paying off a car loan that only has a few months left.