<p>Hello,
I am considering going to school as a 'returning adult' in my mid 40's. I also have 2 daughters currently attending a 4 year and 2 year state school. I would be attending a 2 year to pursue a RN Degree, and then continue to a BA using a 'completion program' that is very popular in out area.</p>
<p>With my daughters, they both qualify for Pell, and Subsidized Stafords. The one at the 4 year also gets around $2500-$3000 in other state grants, and the one at the 2 year has not yet got her whole package back (she is a freshman). Their EFCs were around $2800 - $3200 I believe. </p>
<p>My questions are;</p>
<p>1) When filling out the FAFSA for myself, would all my income fall under the 'student' I assume?
2) Would my portion of the FAFSA be roughly 1/3 of what is generated by my income and assets
3)Would I qualify, assuming the criteria are met, for an automatic Zero EFC as a 'non traditional' student?
4)Would I be eligible for a similar amount of Staford as a student who's parents are turned down for a Parent Plus, since I am both the student and parent? (I assume I cant do a Parent Plus since I am not my own parent :).
5) Are there any particular places to search for grants or loans for either a 'returning student', a displaced worker, or a male pursuing a RN Degree?</p>
<p>Thanks, djd</p>
<p>Your income (and your spouse’s if you have one) on your FAFSA would be listed under student income. You can include your daughters as members of household in college on your FAFSA (assuming they live with you). You can not include yourself as members of household in college on their FAFSAs. So on your daughter’s FAFSAs you would have 2 in college, on yours it would be 3. The calculated EFC would be based on allowances for student income and assets for an independent student and would be divided by 3. </p>
<p>As an independent student with dependents other than a spouse, you are eligible for the automatic 0 EFC if you meet the criteria. But, if your daughters did not meet the criteria for auto 0 you probably won’t either as their eligibility is based on your income (AGI <$31,000 plus one of the other criteria - being a non traditional student is not one of the criteria). If your EFC is low enouigh, you would be eligible for the Pell, assuming you do not already have a bachelors degree. </p>
<p>Your Stafford loan eligibility for would be based on you being an independent student: Freshman - $9500 of which up to $3500 may be subsidized, sophomore $10,500/4,500, third year and up $12,500/5,500, aggregate limit $57,500/$23,000. (Yes, these are the same amounts as a dependent student whose parents are denied a PLUS). As the student, you are not eligible for a PLUS loan for yourself (you are as a parent for your kids).</p>
<p>You need to go talk to your financial aid advisor, there are too many variables including: your state (and if there is state aid) choice of public or private, the ages of children and if they are eligible to be FinAid independant. The fact that your kids do not qualify for an EFC of 0 leads me to believe that maybe they are too young?</p>
<p>
The OP returning to school does not have any effect on his childrens dependency status. They will still be dependants for FAFSA. The OP will be independent.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. Helps put things very clear in a small space :).</p>
<p>Although we (my kids) dont qualify for the zero EFC, if I were to go back also, our income would drop dramatically, and might be under that 31K mentioned above. Is there a good link to what the other criteria are? I seem to be having a hard time finding one that talks specifics.</p>
<p>I also need to do some looking into the Simplified Needs Test [FinAid</a> | FinAid for Educators and FAAs | Simplified Needs Test Chart](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid) This might be more likely to help in our case if I were to also go to school. The income limits is 50K I believe. There are MANY things in the above link that could make a person that otherwise might qualify ineligible though. Some, such as the ‘state tax refund’ could be easily dealt with using a little planning. In our particular case, it would be the assets that would be nice to not use in the calculations, as I might consider selling our house in order to help fund this, so would have a large part of that lump sitting in an account that would usually be figured in.</p>
<p>Thanks Again,</p>
<p>djd</p>