<p>Hi everyone! I'm glad I found this forum. Getting a hold of anyone in my financial aid office is like trying talk to the president, and I really need some advice. I recently decided to go back to school, and have been trying to get financial aid for awhile now. Every time I submit a document and they process it, something new pops up on my student info account and I have to start the process all over again. My most recent issue is with tax verification. Last year (2012) I did not work, so I didn't file a tax return. In order for them to accept that I had to fill out a verification worksheet stating how I paid all my 2012 bills. At the time I was living with my boyfriend (daughters father), and he paid everything. That's what I put on the worksheet they requested. I'm over 24 and still considered an independent student, so his income didn't matter. Then last Feb (2013) my daughter's father and I split up. In April of this year I got a part-time job (plus the child support), and my daughter lives with me full time. On my fafsa application it asks if I will provide 50% of my daughters support for July/2013-June/2014. I'm working now, and she lives with me so I chose "yes." On my fafsa student report it said my expected EFC was 000000, but today I logged onto my student account, and it says my EFC is $1500!! I called and talked to a front office clerk who said it was because i don't have any qualifying dependents, but I would have to make an appointment to talk to a FA specialist for my questions and they aren't seeing students who aren't currently enrolled in classes until September 9th. They don't even have how much I currently make, so where did they come up with that number? Has anyone dealt with something like this before? I'm so confused and frustrated. I mean, how can a single mother working part time not have qualifying dependents? And have to pay out 1500? That's more than I currently make in a month. :(</p>
<p>Nobody can really answer this question except for the school itself. You should edit your FAFSA to reflect your current predicaments.</p>
<p>I figured they would be the only ones able to give me specific answers. I just can’t get them for a few weeks and was hoping someone had some ideas about my situation. </p>
<p>As far as my fafsa goes, all my info is correct. They asked for my income for 2012, which was 0. And if I would be providing support for my daughter from july 2013- june 2014, which in my opinion I am. Thanks for the reply! :)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t update the fafsa at this point. Do you have your fafsa SAR from before with the 0 efc? If so, login to fafsa and check the current SAR. The school may have made a change, so you can compare the two SARs line by line and see what they changed. They may be disputing whether you will be supporting your daughter over 50%.</p>
<p>Actually I just logged into my son’s fafsa and there is an option to view update history. Click on that and you can see who made a change and you can view the SARs from each update to compare them.</p>
<p>I don’t have a copy with the EFC as 0, but I can go look now. Maybe I’ll notice a difference. Thanks for the suggestion. </p>
<p>Do you think my ex providing 100% of the support in 2012 has anything to do with it? They never asked for his info and I’m over 24, so I assumed it wasn’t a issue, but I could easily be wrong.</p>
<p>See my last update about being able to view past SARs. Schools are required to verify various things on the fafsa, so yes you may have to show them paystubs from this year or otherwise show you have the means to provide 50% support.</p>