<p>I'm desperately trying to finish up my taxes (just got the W2 a few days ago) so I can do the FAFSA and Profile. When looking at the W2 I realized that a signing bonus my husband got for his new job which was should have been paid in Dec 2009 was actually included in Jan 2010. Which is terrible of course for the FAFSA, etc. This was a one time signing bonus which he won't be getting again. Of course I'm going to contact the financial aid offices of any of the colleges my daughter gets admitted to, but I'd like to see if anyone has experience with this kind of situation and knows how to best be prepared.</p>
<p>Should I have my husband's company supply some kind of letter stating that this was a one time bonus that will not be included in our future income? Or do I just need his regular pay stubs? </p>
<p>Plus, my husband thinks that when I call them I should also talk to them about the fact that we have had very high medical/therapy costs for our 2nd child who is autistic. Again, our 2010 taxes don't really reflect this, because she has not needed as much for the past year or two. but her therapies (at their highest, around $20,000 out of pocket annually) definitely impacted our ability to save for college. And of course we're in dead zone where our EFC will probably just about match the full cost of colleges.</p>
<p>Thanks for any info or advice anyone may have!</p>
<p>A letter from your spouse’s employer describing this as “one time income” and will not occur again, it happened in 2010, and will not happen in 2011. That could be a special circumstance. </p>
<p>Documented out-of-pocket medical expenses for 2010 are all they will look at, I am sure.
If they exceed a certain percentage of your AGI, a private school school may consider those medical expenses & give you an allowance on that. </p>
<p>It is highly unlikely a private school will consider out-of-pocket medical expenses in the future, as they haven’t been incurred. High medical expenses from 2011, will be considered for your child’s Sophomore Year. (School Year 2012-2013)</p>
<p>I should also talk to them about the fact that we have had very high medical/therapy costs for our 2nd child who is autistic. Again, our 2010 taxes don’t really reflect this, because she has not needed as much for the past year or two.</p>
<p>If you haven’t had much/any med expenses for the past year or two, I don’t think you’re going to get an adjustment. I realize that the past expenses may have affected your ability to save, but many families have various issues that also limit ability to save for college…past bouts of unemployment, one parent being unable to work for various reasons, etc. </p>
<p>you can try to get some consideration for the one time bonus. Not sure how colleges will view this. Others have said that one time severance checks after losing their jobs has hurt their chances for FA…even though the severance was really needed to pay for living expenses after losing their jobs.</p>
<p>I included a note with my daughter’s financial aid application to a college that doesn’t use the CSS profile on which I indicated that my husband received a one-time payout as compensation for accrued vacation time. I doubt that it will make much of a difference in our case, because our income is still quite low and the payment was only a few thousand dollars, but I decided it was worth pointing out.</p>
<p>It kills me these folks just string you along making you do more paperwork and giving you hopes for a very very very slight chance of return with little chance of results. I don’t string folks along and I tell it quick and dirty… so please forgive me for being blunt.</p>
<p>Anyway, just because that vacation payout/bonus was a one time thing does not mean you didn’t get it. No school is going to make this adjustment for you (at least any state school) because it IS income and yes he did get it. The W2 put it on 2010 so that is where/when it is to be reported.</p>
<p>As for the medical expenses…
If you have/had unusually high PAID medical expenses in 2010 then you can take proof of those PAID bills into the schools fin aid office and they MIGHT help you, but if “she has not needed much” in the past year or two, then don’t expect “much” of an adjustment (if any). Example, you show them you paid a 250 doctor bill for the entire year for her autism, that isn’t going to do anything and will get filed away.</p>
<p>snoozn, all you can do is try & give them the documentation! </p>
<p>It is up to the Financial Aid Officers to determine whether or not you will be given a break on this one-time income! </p>
<p>At some privates, I have seen that out of pocket medical expenses may be considered if it exceeds a certain percentage of your AGI: I have seen 5%, 8%, 10%, it will vary. </p>
<p>We send documentation every year on our medical expenses, have been doing so for over 8 years now, it has helped us with our EFC’s. (Private schools) </p>
<p>For a school to make an adjustment to FAFSA the medical expenses must be over the amount allowed for medical expenses in the income protection allowance. This amount can vary as the income protection allowance is based on the size of the family and the number of the family that are in college. As far as I can recall the % of the protected income allowance considered to be for medical expenses is around 11%. So if you are a 4 person family with 1 in college the protected income allowance is $24,970 and 11% of that would be around $2700. Only medical expenses over that would be used for a special circumstances adjustment. </p>
<p>We did have one once. They told us to list everything including out of pocket prescription costs (very high for my husband) and even our insurance premiums. We sent them a stack of papers about 2 inches thick. I have no idea what items they actually included in the adjustment to income on our FAFSA, but our EFC was reduced at least a couple of thousand dollars, maybe even 3,000 (it was a while ago). It made us eligible for more Pell and for a State grant that had a low EFC cut offf.</p>
<p>Always worth trying.The worst they can say is no.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies! I was thinking that they probably wouldn’t have much sympathy for the medical bills, since they aren’t currently at super high levels. I’m still going to look further into that protected income allowance though – med bills are no longer $20,000, but might be enough to document them.</p>
<p>I am going to tell them about the signing bonus being a one-time thing and see if husband’s employer can give us a letter. Yes, we did get that money, but I still feel that the W2 makes it look like next year’s salary (which is what we’ll be getting when actually paying for college) is going to be as high as 2010. But I think it would really suck if the money making you look richer was a severance package–yikes!</p>
<p>Your financial aid is based on LAST year’s earnings. And yes…even though that signing bonus was a one time thing, you did receive it. Did you perhaps reserve a small portion of it to help you pay college costs? </p>
<p>Your 2011 salary will be used to determine your student’s financial aid for the 2012-2103 school year. And yes…if your husband happens to get a work bonus during 2011, that will be included as income for that year.</p>
<p>“It kills me these folks just string you along making you do more paperwork and giving you hopes for a very very very slight chance of return with little chance of results. I don’t string folks along and I tell it quick and dirty… so please forgive me for being blunt.”</p>
<p>A “burned out” financial aid professional is my guess! </p>
<p>No one is stringing anybody along, posters ask for advice & other posters try to help!
If the OP gets an allowance or an adjustment in their EFC or they exercise professional judgement, then what is wrong with that? If the financial aid officers say “No”, then at least the OP tried to get the best possible scenario for her child.</p>