FAFSA.....really? no Pell grant?

I guess because we still have some $$ left in cash from selling our house, not much at all but wish now we’d put it into the house? FAFSA says No Pell Grant. And we can pay a good portion of fees. Thankfully I am not full time yet or Im guessing they would assume we could pay the entire costs? Does CSS help any here? Work study? School institutional loans? Thanks for any info. We can’t pay full freight for privates, looks like they expect full for instate?

We don’t get a Pell Grant. But our kids go to instate schools where we get a state grant and they get merit. They also take their student loans and work.

@Mom2DDstheArts

Your FAFSA EFC would need to be less than $6000 to be eligible for even a teeny bit of the Pell Grant.

The FAFSA uses assets at 5.6% or so…so you would need to have $100,000 plus whatever your asset protection allowance is to get an EFC of greater than $6000 SOLELY because of money in the bank.

If that is the case…then for just this year, take $6000 of that house profit that is in your bank account, and award it to your kiddo to pay for college.

Will the Profile “help”. How? The Profile actually asks for MORE financial information than the FAFSA. Some Profile schools will also use a portion of your home equity in the calculation.

Most colleges don’t give institutional LOANS. Your kiddo might get work study…but even if she doesn’t…most colleges have on campus jobs that are available to all students.

If you are approved, you parents can take Parent Plus Loans up to the cost of attendance, but frankly, I would NOT recommend doing so.

Your kiddo will get a $5500 Direct Loan as a freshman.

I’m a little confused…you say you are not yet full time? Does this mean you will be planning to attend college part time in 2019-2020? If so…your need based aid will be prorated for part time attendance.

Or do you mean you aren’t a full time employee yet as a parent? If paying college costs is an issue, perhaps you should consider less costly colleges, as well as parent full time employment to help with the costs.

It is more likely that your income prevented your son from getting a Pell grant than your assets.

There is an asset protection for the parents. You don’t count your retirement (401k, IRA), except that the amount contributed during the tax year would be part of income. Assets would include any cash you have from the house sale.

Thanks! Figuring this all out. I will need to work full-time once DC starts university. Still trying for reaches, but finances will definitely play a part.

Here’s the formula. Print it out and work through the numbers on paper so that you can see which aspects of your financial situation have the greatest effects. https://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/1920EFCFormulaGuide.pdf

What was your EFC??

What state are you in?

What type of colleges are you looking for? What are your child’s stats?

I suggest that you have a sit-down with your kids and let them know EXACTLY how much you can spend each year. Then work together to find affordable choices.

Your FAFSA EFC doesn’t tell you the whole story…often it’s WORSE!!!

Run the Net Price Calculators on various schools’ websites.

Pell grants are for low income folks.

Your screenname suggests that your DD’s will be studying the arts? Don’t know what you’re looking at, but art schools notoriously give lousy aid, so you might want to start working more hours to pay what colleges won’t cover no matter how low your EFC is.

Definitely going to have to do that, youngest has 2 years left at her performing arts school for which we carpool so that affects my availability at the moment. We are trying for awards and scholarships too. Thanks for info. We are looking at London too as school is 3 years there versus 4 here (have family there). EFC was ALOT more than I expected it would be! full price instate pretty much.

Ahh, so your income is FAR ABOVE what would get a Pell Grant.

Your FAFSA EFC has to be less than $6000 to qualify for even a little bit of the Pell Grant. If you are full pay at your state public university…your EFC is likely far above $6000…right?