financial aid woes

Paying for College
1

<p>Last year I filled out FAFSA right when the forms came out in january just like every councilor told me to do. It was hours of work for my parents. I tried to help, but it's my parents financial information and they know a lot more about it than I do. They now hate FAFSA. </p>

<p>It seemed like we were going to get at least a little help. My family is lower middle class, and I have three siblings. We're comfortable, but money is tight and I wanted to go to a UC which isn't cheap. </p>

<p>After waiting forever I heard back from FAFSA. I qualify for absolutely nothing but loans. Now I go to community college because it's all my family can afford without help.</p>

<p>I know students with families better off than mine who received financial aid. How does that happen? Is there some secret trick to getting money from FAFSA</p>

2

<p>First…FAFSA doesn’t “give” money. It is a financial aid application form that is submitted to the colleges. The FAFSA primarily determines eligibility for federally funded need based aid. The full Pell grant would be awarded to you only of your EFC was below $5500.</p>

<p>Second, you should have gotten an EFC on your SAR (student aid report) when you submitted the FAFSA. You really don’t have to wait for that. It would have give you a minimum number that your family would be expected to pay.</p>

<p>If you are from California, your income must have exceeded $80,000 (which I dont see as lower middle class) a year as below that, you would have been eligible for a Calgrant. With an income of greater than $80,000 a year, you would not have received a Pell grant.</p>

<p>If you are not from CA, you need to know that the bulk of their need based aid is Calgrant aid, which is for CA residents only.</p>

<p>Re: your friends who got more aid…maybe they had more than one sibling enrolled in college at the same time. maybe their income and assets are just not as high as you think they are.</p>

3

<p>FAFSA does not give you money. It is just a calculator that takes your family income, assets and other factors and gives you a family Expected Family Contribution, or EFC. If under $5K or so, you ar eligible for some funds from PELL, up to $5600 for a zero EFC. It also qualifies the student for up to $5500 in Stafford loans, and makes your parents eligible to apply for a Direct Parent Loan (known as PLUS) if they qualify. That is all the federal government guarantees.</p>

<p>California has state money for those who make under $80K a year, I understand, but you do have to file for those grants. Did you do so? Then the colleges arll look at the EFC and decide how much they will throw in of the own money. I don’t think ANY college that just uses FAFSA will guarantee to meet 100% EFC and they don’t often do so. They usually gap. THose schools that guarantee and tend to meet need, will ask for more information, usually requiring a form called PROFILE that asks for even more information like the value of the fillings in your teeth (just sort of kidding, but if your parents think FAFSA is bad, well, it’s nothing compared to PROFILE), and will come up with their own dolllar amount that they expect your parents and you to pay, usually more than the FAFSA EFC. </p>

<p>The trick is not “getting money from FAFSA” but from colleges. They are the ones that set the prices for their schools and give out the “discounts”. And discounts they give to those they want the most. The trick is to find the schools that want you and are willing to pay for you. If you are a top grade student with test scores near perfect and a high GPA , you have more choices than many others for a academic scholarship. In such cases, even schools that do not guarantee to meet full need, will likely scramble to get your need covered if you have any. You also would be in position to get accepted to the schools with the most money for need. And you will be eligible for merit money. You look for schools where you are in the top pool of students. There are also those who qualify for athletic scholarships if they can be a big deal contributor to a school team. You have to find a school that would want and need you enough to pay for you either fully or in part. If you are a National Merit Finalist, there are schools that will give you a deal. </p>

<p>What was your EFC? I am concerned that you did not fill out what you needed for California state money. I am not well versed in your state’s grants, but I now CA has them, as does my state, but they are not automatic. You have to apply for them. Could you share with us what the UCs offered you and what your EFC was? What your family ncome is? </p>

<p>Because your family, as does mine, lives in a state with very high housing costs, it can cost a lot more to get the same standard of living. My brother lives in the San Francisco area, and his little ranch house that would cost under a $100K in the midwest where he and I used to live is a $2 million dollar piece of real estate. Kinda puts a crimp in the budget. Especially when you’ve just moved there so you are buying at today’s prices. </p>

<p>I believe there are programs in CA where you can transfer to a UC or other state school if you do well in com college and even get some preference over those directly applying. But you do have to follow the directions and meet deadlines and apply to those grants available.</p>

4

<p>You can go to CC in California and use the TAG program but the GPA required is high. If you didn’t apply for cal grants then you need to see an academic advisor to see if you are still eligible. California has the blue and gold program which you might be eligible for but you have to meet deadlines.<br>
You are lucky that you were eligible for loans, most people in CA don’t qualify for anything if they own a house in California.</p>

5

<p>I didn’t learn what the Cal or Pell grants were until it was too late, my high school was very fafsa focused so i didn’t know what they were. Live and Learn. </p>

<p>Mostly I’m just venting, I have a friend whose, now deceased, grandparents have money in another country, so neither of her parents work and they live off those investments. Because of some legal things, that money doesn’t get counted for financial aid. She has a tendency to brag about it which really bugs me.</p>

6

<p>You know that your CC has a financial aid office and you can still apply for aid through that FA office? Cal and Pell Grants could still be available but you have to walk in and talk to a FA counselor.</p>

7

<p>OP, it’s not too late for PELL. Look at the SAR from your FAFSA and it will tell you if you are PELL eligible. Your college would likely have picked it up. To get an PELL money, your family income does have to be very low. </p>

<p>I would not count other people’s money. Not anything that makes you feel any better and a waste of time. We know a lot of people with more and less than we do from all sorts of sources that we do not have. My neighbor’s father is a house contracter/builder, so she lives in a similar home custom built for her family and any repairs need to be done, all she has to do is virtually snap her fingers. So what? That’s a benny that she has gotten out of life. Not anyone’s business, and good for her.</p>

8

<p>Hours to complete the FAFSA? If you have your tax return and your bank balances in front of you it is a 15 minute form to complete!</p>

9

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<p>OK…please clarify. The above says LAST YEAR you filled out the FAFSA. Last year? That would have been for the current school year 2012-2013. </p>

<p>Did you fill out the FAFSA for the upcoming school year 2013-2014?</p>

<p>For this year 2012-2013, you can still complete the FAFSA. If you are Pell eligible, you will still get those funds.</p>

<p>You say you missed the info about the FAFSA and Calgrant…I understand that for the FIRST year…if that is what you are talking about. BUT what about for NEXT school year? Did you miss this again?</p>