Financial Aid Updated Each Year?

Paying for College
1

<p>Hey, I'm the first one off to college in my family and we're all new to this financial aid business, which is very important to my family. </p>

<p>My father has not had a job for over 2 years, so that will give us a lot of aid (mom makes ~85k before taxes). However, if he gets a job while I am in college, what will happen to my financial aid scenario?</p>

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<p>

Spend as much time as you can reading the posts in this forum. You have some big misunderstandings about FA. With a family income of $85K you will be eligible for (probably) unsubsidized Stafford Loans. That’s $5.5K as a freshman. Some very select schools will meet your need (which will be based on the $85K income AND family assets). You need to fill out a FAFSA forecaster to see how much your EFC will be. Then look at your stats to see what kind of schools you can target.</p>

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<p>My father has not had a job for over 2 years, **so that will give us a lot of aid<a href=“mom%20makes%20%7E85k%20before%20taxes”>/B</a></p>

<p>sorry, but that is not true.</p>

<p>Most schools don’t give much aid…most don’t have much to give. And, you are NOT low income.</p>

<p>AND…your mom’s income is too high for you to qualify federal grants, unless you have a couple siblings in college as well.</p>

<p>You need to prepare yourself for the likelihood that you WON’T get the aid that you need.</p>

<p>Also…since it’s likely that your dad will be re-employed sometime during the next 4 years, that will also reduce any aid that you might get.</p>

<p>In cases like yours (parent unemployment and likely re-employment at some point), it’s likely that once your dad is re-employed, the family will not be able to immediately respond by paying more for college, since his new income will likely be going for things that got left undone during his unemployment years (home/car repairs, debts paid, etc).</p>

<p>And, because of this unemployment, does that mean that your mom will not likely be able to pay an EFC (probably at LEAST $12k per year or more if there is a funding gap)??</p>

<p>How much can your parents pay each year for college costs?</p>

<p>What are your stats? Are they high enough that you would qualify for big merit scholarships at various schools? If so, that may be a more safe choice since that money won’t disappear if your dad gains employment.</p>

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<p>I posted information in another thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1166176-need-based-fa-how-much-how-much-more-can-i-get.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1166176-need-based-fa-how-much-how-much-more-can-i-get.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;