<p>Hi,
My daughter is going to a state school. Here's the story.....She didn't like the school she went to last year, so we applied as a transfer to another school where her brother goes. We were told if she applied as "undecided", she would be accepted with no problem. Her GPA isn't bad. We rented the apt. underneath her brother, and continued in our process of setting her up in the town she would be going to school in. Well guess what, of course they didn't accept her, so she is going to continue at her previous school. this means driving an hour daily to get there, which is OK, and it's what I did when I was in nursing school. but it means a lot more money in gas, car maintenance etc. My daughter is also pregnant, so there is going to be a few more expenses- all of which is acceptable under the financial aid standards. (I used to take financial aid to pay for daycare- which is a legitimate use of financial aid money). Anyway- we carefully added up the money she would need to accomplish this until she is accepted at the new school. She needs 15,000 at least, so that's what we put in for. We called her financial aid dept. to discuss this so they wouldn't reduce the loan. Well, they are reducing it to 7000. this isn't even close, and they have no idea when disbursement will be. so how do we pay the rent, buy food, pay for about 50dollars of gas weekly etc etc? I need advice about what to do. We were approved for 15000 through sallie mae, and approved through other companies for outrageous interest rates and origination fees, so declined them. Somebody please tell me how to handle this. I never had this happen with my son. thank you!!</p>
<p>You may want to speak with the Financial Aid Manager or Dean to determine just what is going on with your daughter's aid. One thing to keep in mind...since she is pregnant, she should qualify as an independent child AND you can count the unborn child as a member of the household, which should help the financial aid picture a bit.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>since she is pregnant, she should qualify as an independent child AND you can count the unborn child as a member of the household>></p> </blockquote>
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<p>Nikki, I thought that to become independent when you have a child, the STUDENT needed to be supporting the child, not their parents.</p>
<p>But the daughter is obviously still a dependent so her child, by proxy, is one of the parents' dependents.</p>
<p>Yes...if the parents are supporting the grandchild, then that child could also be a dependent. BUT I don't think the mother can be an independent student status unless SHE is supporting (providing 1/2 of the support) for her dependent child. I could be wrong about that.</p>
<p>Now...another question I have...is this daughter planning to take some time "off" from school when her child is born? How will this impact her schooling and finaid? Just a couple of questions.</p>
<p>Actually, parents are allowed to claim their children as dependents regardless of amount of support if no one else objects. The 50% rule is for children of divorce etc. Also, the daughter would technically be contributing any amount of financial aid that is room/board, etc towards her daughters care. Now that she will be a mother, she can in fact claim herself as independent with 1 dependent child provided her parents do not claim her from here on out for tax purposes. This will not only increase the amount of aid she gets, but may even cause the financial aid officers to increase her "cost of attendance" some (varies by school).</p>
<p>I think we're confusing two different things here. One is being independent for the FAFSA, and the other is being a dependent on an income tax return. Parents are not allowed to claim their children on their income tax return unless they provide over half of their support. That rule applies to everybody. </p>
<p>There would be no reason for the daughter to claim the grandchild as a depending on the income tax return if she has no income. The grandparents can claim both. If they are supporting both.</p>
<p>Actually 3bm103, you are using the old rules for defining a dependent. As of 2004 the rule is:</p>
<p>Qualifying Children
To be claimed as a qualifying child, the person must meet four criteria:</p>
<p>Relationship — the person must be your child, step child, adopted child, foster child, brother or sister, or a descendant of one of these (for example, a grandchild or nephew).</p>
<p>Residence — for more than half the year, the person must have the same residence as you do. (More than half a year means, at minimum, six months and one day.)</p>
<p>Age — the person must be</p>
<pre><code>* under age 19 at the end of the year, or
* under age 24 and a be a full-time student for at least five months out of the year, or
* any age and totally and permanently disabled.
</code></pre>
<p>Support — the person did not provide more than half of his or her own support during the year.</p>
<p>TIPS</p>
<pre><code>* The qualifying child must live with you for more than half the year.
* The old rules stated that the taxpayer must provide over half the support. The new rules state that the qualifying child must not provide more than half of his or her own support. The change makes it easier for families relying on public assistance, charity, and gifts from family members to claim a dependent.
* If a child does not meet the criteria to be a "qualifying child," you may still be able to claim the child as a dependent using the tie-breaker tests or the qualifying relative tests.
</code></pre>
<p>Tie-Breaker Tests for Claiming a Qualifying Child
If two or more taxpayers claim a dependent as a qualifying child in the same year, the IRS will use the following tie-breaker tests to determine which taxpayer is eligible to claim the dependent. The tie-breaker tests are listed in order of priority.</p>
<p>The child will be the qualifying child of:</p>
<pre><code>* the parent,
* the parent with whom the child lived for the longest time during the year,
* if the time was equal, the parent with the highest adjusted gross income,
* if no taxpayer is the child's parent, the taxpayer with the highest adjusted gross income.
</code></pre>
<p>TIPS</p>
<pre><code>* A child can be the dependent of at most one taxpayer.
* There are normally 365 days in a year, so chances are the child will spend at least one day more with one parent than the other parent.
* If the child spends exactly equal time with both parents, the parent with the higher income will be able to claim the dependent.
* The non-qualifying parent can claim the dependent ONLY IF the qualifying parent releases his or her claim to the dependency exemption using IRS Form 8332, Release of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents (PDF document).
</code></pre>
<p>So there is no confusion of the two issues. As long as the parent chooses to claim them, they can (see that parental rights override all others in a tie-breaker if two people claim a child).</p>
<p>If the student claims her baby she is independent for FAFSA because she has a dependent. This will greatly affect her aid. I have no income other than financial aid, but I can guarantee you when it comes time to fill out financial aid forms and I have to put how many dependents I claimed on my taxes it makes it very worth while to have claimed them. And there is no guarantee that they are supporting both, I saw no mention of the amount contributed by the parents and she is in her own apartment. Maybe she can support herself and the baby for the most part with aid....</p>
<p>OMG, I am really confused. well actually I understand but I just want to know where I can get more money for her now. I support my daughter at present. We are hoping to get enough loan money to pay for the apartment and living expenses, because I can't cover all of that. But the school is cutting the loan by half, which will NOT be enough money, and since it's sallie mae- who knows when the school will chose to disburse the loan- I have had these schools give my kids their refunds 2 weeks after the semester ended. So, I really need to know where we can get this money from, if you have had any luck with private lenders that send the money directly to you, and if that can also be reduced by the school. We did call the financial aid office. They told my daughter that she could only borrow $7000 for the year, which isn't coming close. Next year we'll deal with who claims the child, if my daughter can be independent, which I was told she can't since I support her and most likely will continue. I appreciate all the information, but she just needs money now, and I need to know how to get it. can we in some way challenge the financial aid office?</p>
<p>Ames - did you increase the number of people in the household on FAFSA to include your daughters unborn child as Nikkil suggested? That will decrease the EFC a little which may help a little. Every little helps. Don't know much about the loans I am afraid. Good luck.</p>
<p>The thing is, ames, that financial aid loans are not meant to cover transportation, which would explain why the school is loathe to increase the loan amount.</p>
<p>
[quote]
that financial aid loans are not meant to cover transportation, which would explain why the school is loathe to increase the loan amount
[/quote]
Actually the cost of attendance at many schools includes an element for transportation so financial aid loans can be used for that (my Ds school for instance includes @ $1700 for transportation for the year - her financiaaid package is based on the COA including that transportation)</p>
<p>Ames - is the extra loan you are trying to get taking you over the COA? I am a bit confused about you applying for a certain amount in loans and the school halving it. My experience is that we completed FAFSA and the difference between the EFC and COA is what the financial aid package is based on - is there a gap between the 'need' and what your daughter is being offered?</p>
<p>I think it is the COA that is bugging me, and I don't understand. The true cost of attending a school varies for each person, so how can a University cut financial aid based on that? For instance, I attended college as a mother of 2 small children, and my school was an hour away. I was also in nursing school, so had to have a car, (mandatory for program), uniforms, stethescope etc etc. So my cost of attendance was much higher than for a kid living on campus who walked across the street to the hospital we interned in. Yes, they are cutting it based on the COA- however they are going strictly by tuition. They aren't considering the apartment, (but when she was in dorms they did consider it, I am really confused on that one), food, travel, child care in spring, books/supplies etc. This is the only school that has done this, mine didn't, my son's 2 schools didn't.</p>
<p>Ames - now I understand where you are coming from. My D is at a large State U and the COA includes room and board whether or not you are living on campus - I thought all schools did it that way. It stays the same whether they live on or off campus though I think it does get adjusted if the student is living with parents. Also includes books, travel and miscellaneous expenses. Her aid package is based on a figure including all those things. Federal laws allow for these things to be included. (and I believe they allow COA to possibly be increased for child care expenses).</p>
<p>Is there a written policy anywhere on their web sit that explains the policy? I am as baffled as you are. Oh you say your son goes there also? Does his COA include his room and board, books etc?</p>
<p>Was your daughter living on campus last yr and will be commuting now? I think room & board is only included if these are "additional" costs to the family. So if a student is living at home, then those costs would be the same whether the student was attending college or not. If a student is living off campus (but away from home), then those costs are additional and would be counted. I don't think transportation costs are factored in for commuting students since it's variable. Maybe that's why we see kids living at state schools 1/2 hr from home - with FA, maybe it's really not that much more expensive to do so...</p>
<p>Most schools have a cost of attendance on their website. This shows costs for dorm residents, and commuters. The SCHOOL computes the cost of attendance for everyone. If you happen to live on the opposite coast and you like to fly home monthly, the school will NOT change your COA to reflect this. Likewise, the school computes a COA for off campus (and some schools also have a different COA for students residing at home recognizing that off campus students probably have rent while at home do not). Again...the school makes this computation and my guess (and I'm guessing) is that this is reflective of the average costs for students in the area. In other words, if you happen to live in a much more costly area or own a more expensive car, or drive further, the school would not adjust your cost of attendance.</p>
<p>I think you need to contact the director of FA as well as a formal appeal process. But you must contact someone higher up than the original financial aid officer. </p>
<p>Something doesn't add up, you deserve an explanation for what 'factor' resulted in the decrease in financial aid (resident vs commuter, dependent vs independent) Recalculated commuter from home COA most likely. </p>
<p>You are definately missing a piece of information here. Even if you were approved for 15000 for the whole year only 7500 would be dispersed for the first semester.</p>
<p>But gosh you can't let her starve or have no roof over her head . Try a preganacy counselling agency - maybe they have emergency housing funds.</p>
<p>hope something works out</p>
<p>I'm bumping this because there have been a few questions about this thread that have been bothering me...</p>
<p>There are many questions being asked about the school and its responsibility to pay increased financial aid to this daughter. Please don't think I'm being critical...I just have a couple of questions.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The daughter is pregnant. This poses several questions for me. First, where is the father of this unborn child, and why isn't he responsible at least for the financial support (partially) of this child?</p></li>
<li><p>Also, having a new baby is challenge enough. I know this student is trying to continue college, but I can't help but wonder how this will happen with a LONG commute, and a new baby. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Where I live, even non-custodial fathers can be required to help support their children. I think this option should be pursued too.</p>
<ol>
<li>Was any consideration given to breaking the lease on this distant apartment and finding some place to live that was closer to the school this DD is attending? </li>
</ol>
<p>And lastly...this is a state school. It is unlikely that the university meets full financial need. This means that basically, they can dole out their institutional aid in any way they choose and in any amount they choose. The only aid the OP's daughter would be entitled to would be federal aid based on the FAFSA and that typically doesn't come close to covering the cost of attendance including room, board and tuition...never mind adding car expenses, costs of gasoline, etc.</p>
<p>There is a lot of questioning about the finaid situation on this thread, and little addressing the needs of a young, single, new mother who will be living a long distance from her campus.</p>