New to CC. Freshman student 2021. Single income Husband laid off 12/2019. I know that her FAFSA will require 2018 taxes. 2019 taxes will not reflect lay off. If he hasn’t found a new position before we do college apps in the fall this year, is there any way to submit ‘change of circumstances’ when filling out FAFSA?
I hope your husband finds a job!!
If your student is starting college fall 2021, the 2019 tax year and income will be used…not 2018.
The FAFSA for the 2021-2022 school year uses 2019 tax year data. You will need to use the 2019 tax year income on your financial aid application forms. There are no exceptions to that.
But you can contact each college and ask what it takes to get a special circumstances consideration if your spouse doesn’t find a job.
Do you have a job? If so, is your income alone such that you wouldn’t be eligible for a Pell Grant?
Will your child be applying to schools that guarantee to meet full need for all?
Did you husband receive a severance package in 2020? What about unemployment? Will he collect that?
TY! Me too! And hopefully it will happen soon.
I don’t have a job, and not sure how Pell eligibilty is figured. Husband’s 2019 tax info will be horribly skewed since they cashed out his unused vacation time. We’ve put that onto our mortgage. He did get severance (thank goodness), and is collecting unemployment. I’m trying to game plan ‘worst case scenario’ as far as college costs.
Daughter hasn’t focused in on specific schools as yet, and b/c the way the taxes will read I know EFC will not be in our favor. I will plan to contact the school financial aid offices when she does her applications. Those guarantee’ing full need met are in the mix as well as good merit: not a national merit, but A’s, good SAT (1530), ton of ECs.
Make sure you are thoughtful about any retirement accounts. I won’t give financial advice over the internet, but many people do stupid things in a panic when they become unemployed (not that you would, of course).
Big hugs, hope he finds something soon. You may want to consider looking for a job for yourself that has health benefits. You’ll be paying cash bucks to continue his coverage, and it’s likely more expensive than what you were paying when he was an employee since his employer likely picked up some or most of the cost. Even a low paying job for you- if it has health care benefits- will pay out. Modest paycheck for you, but less going out every month to maintain your coverage!
Make sure your mortgage servicer knows that you want the extra payment to go into paying down your principal (I assume that was your intent). If you don’t specify, it won’t… for many servicers, you’ve just prepaid a couple of months of mortgage which doesn’t do you as much good as whacking away at the principal which will lower your payments going forward.
Hugs. This is scary but you can do this.
When was/is the severance being paid?
Your daughter is in a great place for getting guaranteed merit aid. Look at Arizona, Alabama, New Mexico.
What can you realistically pay per year? If your husband doesn’t get a job.
You might want to look for a job of some sort to help get over this hump.
Thank you for the encouragement. I haven’t been able to really talk about this with anyone in our social circle. As a newbie on this forum, I’m not really acquainted with the (agree, like tagging), so thank you. We’re fortunate that his package includes full medical until 12/2020, then we’ll be ‘on the market’ for healthcare, and your tips re: me working are spot on in terms of healthcare. And of course, hitting out retirement plans will be absolutely last resort. Husband’s situation just adds a ball into the air.
Re: the 3 states, is there a specific school in Arizona (ASU?), Alabama and NM you were referring to?
If daughter gets some merit, and we can qualify for some aid w/ supplemental forms post FAFSA (since timing on all this was bad), I think we can do hopefully around 30K/yr.
Can potentially ask in-laws for help, but that might be better after college is all done (if/and/when she ends up with some loans).
Assuming your daughter keeps her grades up…she would’ve eligible for the Amigo Scholarship at Nee Mexico. Your costs would be way under $30,000 a year @WayOutWestMom can elaborate
At Alabama I also believe her costs would be below $30,000 a year @mom2collegekids
ASU is what I’m talking about. Look up their scholarships.
I’m sorry to hear about your situation. But if your family can afford $30K/year your D still has some options.
University of New Mexico in Albuquerque is the state flagship university. It offers a wide variety of majors–from ABET accredited engineering programs to business to very strong fine arts programs. Medical school is located across the street from the undergrad campus if she is interested in health profession careers.
The Amigo is 4 year renewable scholarship that will gives your daughter in-state rates at UNM, plus a $200/year stipend to be used as your D sees fit.
https://scholarship.unm.edu/scholarships/index.html
COA, including tuition, fees. room & board, is under $20K/year.
https://financialaid.unm.edu/coa/19-20/index.html
The Amigo is automatically awarded for stats, no essays required. Your D needs to apply before March 30 to UNM to be eligible for the scholarship.
Amigo requirements:
23 ACT (1130 SAT) and 3.5 Cumulative GPA
or
26 ACT (1230 SAT*) and 3.0 Cumulative GPA
Your daughter would need to maintain a 3.0 GPA and take 15 credits/semester to keep the scholarship.
ABQ is large city, pop. ~900K residents in the metro area. International airport.
Feel free to PM if you have questions about UNM.