Twogirls,
Our high school does not rank.
Blossom,
Thank you for the suggestions. He is taking the ACT again in October to try for a better score. His current composite of 31 did make him eligible for merit aid at Miami of Ohio - not sure about other schools.
I think Miami also has the Miami Tuition Promise, where the costs will stay frozen at the rate of the year you matriculated.
And Ohio University has something similar https://www.ohio.edu/guarantee/
Thumper 1,
Our 2016 profit sharing from our c-corp business went directly into our 401k account, and was not reported as dividend income. But these retirement contributions will be treated as income on FAFSA?
Here is his list of schools he’s interested in:
Visited and talked to admission reps -
Penn State - main campus
Miami University Ohio
Ohio State
University of Washington - Seattle
University Colorado - Boulder
Michigan State
Indiana University (a reach for business school)
University Wisconsin - Madison (reach, but he’s a legacy if it counts)
Haven’t visited yet, but very interested in these schools -
Clemson
Montana State
I’d also like him to consider University Iowa and/or
Iowa State, but he has zero interest at the moment.
For UW-M alumni relation is considered but not important https://uwmadison.app.box.com/s/hzyaescuownnk8umh0y96si9xub477z5 so more of a tip factor.
401k contributions are added back to income for the year in which they were earned.
Those retirement contributions made in 2016 will be added back in when the fafsa does the calculations for EFC…as income.
So…I’d yoir income was $120,000 PLUS you contributed $50,000 to your 401k in 2016, the fafsa calculation will be $170,000 income…because really…that’s what it was.
Erin’s Dad,
Thanks, the UW-M report is very helpful. Where can I get access to this for other schools?
I think UW-M has become a reach school for most kids from Northern Illinois, since so many apply there they can be very selective.
I think you need to wrap your head around a couple of things…
-
FAFSA is an app for federal aid. Federal grants are for low income people…people with incomes much lower than yours.
-
you have a lot of OOS publics on your list with $40-50k+ price tags. Many, if not all, will not care if you somehow get your EFC down to, say, $10k per year. They’ll just give you a $5,500 student loan and gap you the rest. You don’t pay taxes in those states. They charge high OOS rates for a reason. They’re not going to dig deep into their limited funds to cover their high OOS rates…otherwise, why charge them?
Mom2collegekids, Thanks for your response. We’re not depending on any aid, just debating whether it’s even worthwhile to fill out the FAFSA for the loan, merit aid, etc.
- Check each college to see if the financial aid application forms are required for merit aid. At some schools...they are.
- Re: the federally funded student loans...you can complete a FAFSA later on if you want to get those during the academic year. You don't have to do that ASAP.
@mom2collegekids
The family has been taking a smaller draw out of the business than they could…leaving money in the business. However, since assets, income, and rental income is likely going to cause a very high EFC, the family may realize that it will need to pay itself a fair salary in order to cover life plus college. Otherwise, the student will need to focus on schools that will give a lot of merit for stats.
^^^^ exactly right.
@thumper1 - Thank you for the info.
Another ? - If we complete FAFSA for merit aid, would we list schools he’s applying to? And then all schools see this list, which could be a disadvantage?
Schools can no longer see other schools you have listed on your FAFSA. That change happened a couple of years ago.
Many publics do not require FAFSA for merit consideration. There are some privates that also don’t require FAFSA. Go to the scholarship pages for the schools on DS’s list and see if FAFSA is req’d for consideration. If not, then you may not need to.