<p>Hi! I'm 24 years old, and am an independent student. Last December I was laid off from a position I had held for three years, where I was making $28,000 annually. I've been unemployed since that time, and am earning $940.00 a month in benefits. I believe my tax return will indicate that I have made approximately $11,280 in income. I was wondering if anyone has any ideas about what my EFC will be. Is it likely that I will be eligible for grants? I live in Washington state and have nearly completed my AA degree. I am trying to make financial arrangements for my approaching transfer into a four year college.</p>
<p>Other information:</p>
<p>Single
No children
No assets
Not the first to attend college</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>EFC for an independent student is usually about 1/3 of their income, so somewhere in the ballpark of $3500 is my guess. You should be eligible for a Pell grant for a few thousand.</p>
<p>Washington state also awards the State Need Grant, but lots of folks are getting left out these days. Make sure you get your FAFSA filed, and to the school you choose ASAP next year. If you miss the deadline, you won’t get it. It’s first come, first served, so get it in well before the deadline.</p>
<p>A single person household with less than $21,000 annual income can be awarded about $6500 at a public 4-year (more for WSU and UW). The new income limits and grant amounts just passed with the budget, and the SNG manual isn’t posted online yet. Here is the link to the most current info (a slideshow made for financial aid officers).</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.hecb.wa.gov/news/newsmanuals/documents/SNG11-12-Presentation.pdf[/url]”>http://www.hecb.wa.gov/news/newsmanuals/documents/SNG11-12-Presentation.pdf</a></p>
<p>If you qualify and are awarded both Pell and SNG, it can cover the cost of tuition, fees, and possibly books at the lower cost 4-yr publics.</p>
<p>And isn’t there an unemployment program that allows you to go to school and continue receiving UI benefits without looking for work? If you haven’t checked into that, you might. I believe there is a time limit getting into that program, which starts from the day you’re laid off.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for your help! I will schedule a meeting with a financial aid advisor at both the college I am currently attending, and the University of Washington. I really hope I can get the state needs grant, as it would make a huge difference in my ability to attend school.</p>
<p>Income protection for an indeoendent student is currently $8550. (There may also be some additional allowances for taxes paid etc.) 50% of income over the after allowances goes to the EFC. So with an income of 11,280 I would expect your EFC to be around 1365. Maybe a little less if you paid any taxes. That would give you a Pell of around $4300.</p>
<p>Are you talking about going to school next fall? If you are talking about this fall, your EFC for this fall would be based on your 2010 income of $28,000, so would be much higher.</p>
<p>I will be completing my AA degree this Fall and Winter quarter without the assistance of financial aid. I am hoping to transfer into a 4 year college this spring, and would like to secure grants and financial aid at this time. I will be submitting my tax return as soon as possible so that I can also complete my new FAFSA application.</p>
<p>While we’re on the subject, I have one more question. The total amount of financial aid I have used is about $4,500 to complete my degree. I set up an online account so that I could begin making payments on the amount, and discovered that I am currently responsible for twice what I took out which totaled to over $9,000. I only filed for one quarter and did not turn in any of the necessary paperwork or cash any checks for any additional amounts. Has anyone experienced this problem before? I am planning on calling Great Lakes (the organization managing the loans) to resolve this issue, but am concerned about the error. Could it be that the check was stolen or used by someone else?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>I haven’t found any information about tuition reimbursement for those attending four year colleges. Apparently most funding is for provided to those in worker retraining programs?</p>
<p>Spring 2012 will use the 2011-2012 FAFSA, which will use 2010 taxes. So if your income was $28k in 2010 your EFC will be quite a bit higher than it would be based on your 2011 income. Too high for federal grant aid. But you may be able to ask the school for a special circumstances adjustment to reflect the loss of income - it is at their discretion.</p>
<p>Call great lakes about the loans. And check with your school. Its unlikely a check was stolen as the money is disbursed direct to the school and the amounts have to be verified by the school.</p>
<p>That is disheartening… so even though I will have spent the entirety of 2011 unemployed, the 2012 FAFSA application will go off of my 2010 earnings? Does that mean I will have to wait until 2013 to use my 2011 income information?</p>
<p>Spring 2012 does not use the 2012 FAFSA. FAFSA is done by school year, not calender year. The current FAFSA is the 2011-2012 FAFSA. It covers the 2011-2012 school year which starts in 2011 (fall 2011 for most schools, summer for some) and continues into 2012 (end of summer or end of spring, depending on the school). It requires 2010 taxes. So spring of 2012 comes under 2011-2012. The FAFSA that is available January 1st 2012 is the 2012-2013 FAFSA for the 2012-2013 school year which starts fall (or summer) 2012 and goes through summer (or spring) 2013. That requires 2011 taxes.</p>
<p>So for spring 2012, FA would be based on the 2011-2012 FAFSA and 2010 taxes. As I said above, you can ask the school for a special circumstances adjustment to reflect your loss of income. I would try that first. If they won’t do it, you may have to delay starting till the new school year.</p>
<p>I also started Spring quarter in a similar situation as you. Unfortunately, you are already way too late to get a State Need Grant for next school year at a major public (which includes Spring 2012). I received Pell only for Spring, which was based from the year I had more income. So not only did I receive hardly any Pell, but I also missed out on the State Need Grant. I just received my award package for 2011-2012: It included a much better Pell, and the State Need Grant. I should have just waited instead of taking loans and paying out of pocket.</p>
<p>I think you would be very well served to file your FAFSA in January 2012 with your 2011 income, take spring off, and re-start courses in Fall 2012. If your income stays the same the rest of this year, and you get your FAFSA filed early, you stand an excellent chance of getting the state need grant. </p>
<p>Don’t forget to check out other in-state schools. UW is great, but it’s getting trickier to get accepted and pay the tuition. There are some great schools here that are much less expensive. It would be prudent to apply to a few state schools early on, so that you have options (and have a good chance of being offered the State Need Grant at all of them). Because once the financial aid deadline passes at any school, you won’t get it. i.e., if you find you can’t afford UW, it will be too late for getting the State Need Grant at other schools if you haven’t planned ahead.</p>