Fafsa spreadsheet

Paying for College
21

2014 tax return was only used for 2015/16 FAFSA

22

@mommdc is correct:

I did not really fix all dates correctly when copying one year to the next and making the updates to the spreadsheet. I made it a point to correct the dates on the 2017-2018 FAFSA because I knew there would be more confusion there.

2015-2016 FAFSA spreadsheet is supposed to use 2014 tax year
2016-2017 FAFSA spreadsheet is supposed to use 2015 tax year -> I think this is the one I did not update the dates correctly.
2017-2018 FAFSA spreadsheet is supposed to use 2015 tax year due to new PPY (prior-prior year) rule

Looking back only, 2016-2017 FAFSA spreadsheet is wrong, where it is indicating 2014 tax year, but it really should be 2015 tax year.

23

pdf information is the correct one if it differs from spreadsheet.

24

Thanks for the links. So helpful!

25

I am interested in your spreadsheet - thank you so much for taking the time do do this -

Deleted EMail address. PM the poster for the file.
ED

26

Look at comment #26

27

Thank you for this.

I find Table A3 interesting…that income protection per student declines as number of children in college increases. Never thought about that aspect or saw the numbers in black & white.

28

Yes, it does, maybe they figure you have fewer kids at home then?

29

Yes allowance per kid in college goes down apparently increasing EFC, but then when you get to line 27 of the main sheet, you see that that 26 gets divided by line 27 (#kids in college) to generate parent contribution. So overall your EFC is lower.

30

Many thanks for your work on this! Would you be willing to share the spreadsheet password so that I could make changes for it work for my larger family?

31

just want to say that a year-plus ago i used this spreadsheet, (thanks!) and it helped us sort things out tremendously. I was confused about it all – I was on a spending spree to lower our cash on hand so our EFC would be <15K for particular need-based scholarship. DUH – not too smart – and this spreadsheet really showed how income is a big determining factor.

This is why I like this forum so much. It’s been setting us straight for the next 2!

32

Hello… I was able to download the file. Thanks for all the help. This is very helpful.

33

Thanks again for all your hard work!

34

Curious if my 2017-2018 spreadsheet is predicting EFC accurately for all those who are using it.

Please note that the Pell Grant estimate will only be accurate once Pell Grant tables get published, and Table P1 is updated with that information.

35

I have used your 2017/18 spreadsheet, the official 2017/18 EFC formula, also the Collegeboard EFC calculator (federal methodology), to calculate our FAFSA EFC.

All came up with the same parent EFC (which was $62 lower than last year because of $210 higher income protection amount, with income being the same and assets not considered because they are less than our APA).

The student EFC based on assets was correctly calculated by your spreadsheet and EFC formula. Collegeboard calculator somehow did not correctly subtract taxable scholarships reported in AGI (question 44d) from student income, resulting in a higher EFC.

36

Our 2017-18 FAFSA EFC was correctly calculated by your spreadshet ($11 higher than FAFSA EFC).

Thank you for this great tool.

37

Only $11 off is pretty good, although for my own use, it has been less than $2 off.

38

Our household has 2 parents and 1 kid going into college, and 2 minor children not yet in college. I do not see a way to enter this into your 2017-8 spreadsheet. rgolusa please help (and thanks for all your hard work on this in any case!)

39

To be clear - the parents are NOT attending college - just the 1 child.

40

Household size : 5
Children In college : 1

Cells B34/B35 in my spreadsheet

Fafsa Instructions Below:

  1. How many people are in your parents’ household?
    Include: • yourself, even if you don’t live with your parents, • your parents, • your parents’ other children (even if they do not live with your parents) if (a) your parents will provide more than half of their support between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018, or (b) the children could answer “No” to every question in Step Three on page 5 of this form, and • other people if they now live with your parents, your parents provide more than half of their support and your parents will continue to provide more than half of their support between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018.
  2. How many people in your parents’ household (from question 73) will be college students between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018? Always count yourself as a college student. Do not include your parents. Do not include siblings who are in U.S. military service academies. You may include others only if they will attend, at least half-time in 2017-2018, a program that leads to a college degree or certificate.