<p>I have a few questions about FAFSA:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Whats the difference between CSS Profile and FAFSA?</p></li>
<li><p>Which year's taxes should my parents show? The ones filed in 2010? </p></li>
<li><p>My dad JUST recently became unemployed, so how can I reflect that on my FAFSA? Wouldn't it hurt me since the income taxes show he is still making money?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
FAFSA is a free application for federal aid. Most schools require FAFSA. It is used to determine eligibility for federal aid and sometimes state or institutional aid. CSS is a much more detailed application required by only about 300 colleges. It is not free. Colleges that require CSS will use it to determine their own institutional aid, and FAFSA to determine federal aid.</p>
<p>
it is the 2010 taxes. The ones that will be filed by April 15th of this year.</p>
<p>
The actual 2010 income must be shown on FAFSA. there is no way of showing potential reduction of income on FAFSA. You can ask each school for a special circumstances adjustment to reflect loss of income. It is at the discretion of each school. Most will not make an adjustment until the employment has been ongoing for a while.</p>
<p>In reference to your answer on question #3, the school has the power to adjust how much aid I will get from FAFSA?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>First…you won’t get ANYTHING from FAFSA. The FAFSA is a financial aid application form. The FAFSA folks do not dispense money. The schools are able to upload your financial information from the FAFSA you submit. Mostly this info is used to determine the amount of federally funded need based aid for which you qualify. Schools that use the FAFSA only sometimes also use this information to award their institutional aid.</p>
<p>The colleges CAN make an adjustment to your FAFSA figures…this is usually done via a special circumstances request. You send your request to the financial aid folks at the school and document the changes in your financial situation. SOME schools will honor these requests and some will not. It is up the school. </p>
<p>To the finaid experts out there…if this kiddo’s dad was recently laid off, would he qualify as a dislocated worker?</p>
<p>You don’t get any aid from FAFSA. FAFSA calculates your EFC and sends it to the school. The school determines what aid you are eligible for based on your EFC. It is the school that will award you financial aid, including any federal aid you are eligible for.</p>
<p>A school can make adjustments to FAFSA when there are special circumstances. Special circumstances include things like high medical bills, loss of income, loss of benefits etc. It is the schools decision whether they will make an adjustment and each school may have different policies. If a school does approve an adjustment they can adjust FAFSA data and a new EFC is calculated based on that.</p>
<p>
Probably. But unless 2010 income is under $50,000 (for simplified needs) or $31,000 (for automatic 0 EFC), being a dislocated worker makes no difference.</p>
<p>^The income isn’t below 50,000. What is a dislocated worker?</p>
<p>Thanks for your help!!</p>
<p>A dislocated worker is basically someone who has lost their job. FAFSA has some special formulas for dislocated workers whose AGIs fall below $50,000 or $31,000. If the AGI is not below those amounts then being a dislocated worker does not make a difference on FAFSA.</p>
<p>Wait a minute. If the 2010 taxes are going to be filed April of this year, how will I possibly meet the February FAFSA deadlines for colleges?</p>
<p>2010 taxes have to be filed by 15 April but they can be done earlier. Alternatively, use estimates of the information and say you WILL FILE. Then you have to update each (CSS and FAFSA) after you do file.</p>
<p>You should actually fill out your tax forms now, if possible; if not, get the numbers that you will use for filing (from W-2 forms, investment account websites, etc.) and use those in the applicable places on FAFSA and indicate “will file” in the place that asks for the status of your 2010 filing.</p>
<p>This is NOT the year to wait until April 15 to do your taxes. Get them done as soon as you can!!!</p>
<p>I filled out the fafsa and Profile using estimated numbers for 2010 from the last pay stubs from our (H and me) jobs. My H lost his job in Oct. and I listed him as dislocated worker (from my understanding you have to be laid off because your job was eliminated or because of the economy and you are supposed to be receiving unemployment). D had already gotten a tentative award from Northeastern via her EA app. I emailed the fin aid officer and he told me we will have to fill out a “dislocated worker” form in the spring. (D has not committed to this university). For other colleges D has applied to (9 total) I am writing letters to explain the change in circumstances and projections for 2011 (not good).</p>
<p>Remember dislocated worker status only applies if your income is less than a certain amount. If it’s over that threshold, you can’t use that status.</p>