<p>I am graduating from LaGuardia Community College this Fall. At my first year, I got my full tuition covered by financial aid, and also received Federal Pell Grant. My sister goes to the same college, and she received the same financial aid as me. </p>
<p>This year, nothing significantly changed in mine and my family's financial state. My sister received same financial aid. I was declared 'not eligible' to receive financial aid. I paid my tuition by myself. I tried to figure out what happened, and received an answer that this is because of my estimated family contribution. My real family contribution is nearly zero.</p>
<p>Anybody had a similar experience, or an advice? </p>
<p>I am transferring to a four year college in Spring, but I don't know how am I going to make it without financial aid. Very worried.</p>
<p>Your “real” contribution is not relevant at all. What is relevant is your EFC per the FAFSA calculation. What was THAT EFC? Was your sister still an undergrad college student? Was there something different on her FAFSA than yours? Check immediately line by line. If you are eligible for the Pell for this academic year, I believe you can still get it.</p>
<p>I report my tax separately from my family, and my sister is on my father’s report. But it was like that last year too, and then I was even working. This year I can say that I am in a worse position because I don’t work. I checked my FAFSA several times, and can’t see any mistake. I have to call them probably, but it is very difficult to get any good information from them, since they only seem to want to get rid of people asking for help.</p>
<p>How you report your taxes is irrelevant when it comes to financial aid. Are your parents married?</p>
<p>When you did your FAFSA, how many people did you indicate were in your family? If you put a family of ONE , that is likely the issue.</p>
<p>If you are an undergrad, under the age of 24…your parents would have a family of 4 (themselves, you and your sister…unless sister has graduated from undergrad school).</p>
<p>You need to print out your sister’s FAFSA (ask her to do that for you), and yours. Then go line by line…find out what is DIFFERENT.</p>
<p>What WAS your FAFSA EFC this year? You should have received that on your SAR.</p>
<p>Your financial aid for school year 2013-2014 is based on how much you made in 2012. How much did you make in 2012, when you filed your own taxes?</p>
<p>How much did your parents make?</p>
<p>it is possible that your income + your parents income may have made you ineligible for pell</p>
Wait, do you mean your father reported your sister’s income on his tax return? If so, that is bad from an FA point of view for you as it will mean your sister’s income is being counted against you for your EFC which is should not be. It is also not a good tax decision as she would lose her standard deduction and the overall tax bill will be higher. There is no good reason for your sister’s income to be reported on your Dad’s return (unless you just mean she is claimed as a dependent by your dad? - that is different).</p>
<p>One thing to look at - was any of your financial aid taxable income to you in 2012? Did you make sure to answer those questions correctly on FAFSA (the question that asks about how much of your AGI was from taxable scholarships is asked in order for the formula to remove that from your AGI before calculating the EFC).</p>
<p>If your sister is still eligible for aid and you and she have the same basic financial information, it does sound like you (or she) made some sort of mistake on FAFSA. Can you ask her to give you a copy of her SAR so you can do a line by line comparison?</p>
<p>I think I get it. I used to work from July 2011 to April 2012, and when I lost my job, I received unemployment benefits, all that before I started to go to college. I guess I wasn’t saving enough… </p>
<p>Not that I was a big spender. Since fafsa covered my tuition expenses, I focused on studying, and from before I have saved enough for my other expenses like food, books, and transportation. I have a place to sleep, and that is my only family contribution. I didn’t believe that my father’s salary of $33,000 a year, combined with my unemployment benefits, would be enough to make me ineligible for financial aid, so I completely forgot about that. There are 3 more children in the family My sister goes to a same college,and my brother goes to an elementary school. I don’t know how did they calculate so much family contribution.</p>
<p>Families with an adjusted gross income of $50K or less qualify for Pell Grants. It appears that your statements about working and unemployment, you had an income in 2012 above $17K, plus your father’s $33K, made you ineligible for a Pell grant. Your sister’s income does not factor into your ESC/EFC, nor does your income factor into her ESC/EFC. And, you can have a different ESC/EFC than your sister’s depending on your income. The only income that would be the same for your sister and you, is the income of your father.</p>
<p>You may be able to appeal or ask for reconsideration of your financial aid package at your new school due to a change in financial circumstances–you lost your job, collected UC, and now are unemployed.</p>
<p>A dependent student has income protection of around $6000. Everything over that, 50% goes to the EFC. Additionally 20% of any student savings wold go to the EFC. Were your income and assets high enough to create that EFC?</p>
<p>I have tried various scenarios given your information, including using $20,000 for your income and $33,000 for your father’s income. I get a Pell grant amount using FAFSA 4Caster. I am wondering if you did something wrong when you completed your FAFSA.</p>
<p>Did you link directly to the IRS data retrieval tool? This is the best way to complete your FAFSA, as it will minimize mistakes. The only issue with using the tool is if there is an IRA Rollover, which has to be manually removed by the financial aid office & EFC must be recalculated on their end — the retrieval tool does not recognize qualified rollovers. </p>
<p>What is your AGI and taxes paid? What is your dad’s AGI and taxes paid? What are your assets? His assets? Number in household should be 5 (4 if no Mom in picture), with 2 in college.</p>
<p>Were you eligible for TAP? How much tap did you receive?</p>
<p>As sophomore student you can borrow $6500 in stafford loans, which would cover your tuition for you to finish at LaGuardia, with enough left over to pay for your first term a 4 year CUNY if you transfer. </p>
<p>The key is only using what you need for tuition and fees. Next term you will have $3250 (plus the balance from the fall term at Laguardia) to pay for your spring term at the 4 year school.</p>
<p>As long as you are at least a half time student, your loans are not in repayment. Once you leave school, you get a six month grace period and then loan repayment begins.</p>