<p>Geez. Sorry. I’m a maroon. :(</p>
<p>As to my post 18- It should have read @$20k COA (after OOS waiver) -$2500 merit-$5500 Stafford= @ $12,500-$13,000 out of pocket, some of which will be covered by WS (if available). This is what I was told yesterday, but I’ll verify today.</p>
<p>Here’s a link (I have no idea what increases will be next term)</p>
<p>[UA</a> Financial Aid Cost of Attendance](<a href=“http://finaid.uark.edu/Information/cost.htm]UA”>http://finaid.uark.edu/Information/cost.htm)</p>
<p>Seems like something is happening on the “independent” front to maybe allow for more FA given a finding of “independent”? Look at the R+B numbers.</p>
<p>I’ve run EFC numbers before, and $19k for $90k income and younger sibs is consistent with what I’ve seen. Curm, I think if he doesn’t get the independent status, then it’s going to come down to who was considered custodial for 2008 and what their numbers look like. Whether it’s dad or mom, the EFC is gonig to be in the mid/upper-teens if he’s considered dependent.</p>
<p>The R&B numbers are interesting. Wonder if those assume the independent student has dependent family members? Does this student have health insurance? Through which parent?
Curm, you may want to PM some of the resident FA gurus (kelsmom, sybbie, swimcatsmom) to come take a peek and offer advice.</p>
<p>CD, that’s what I’m seeing also. I’ve just never dealt with this
before. I think once TK sees what we’ve come up with she’ll be able to go back to the high school and then move from them to U of A’s Financial Aid folks . I’m going to suggest that the son be with the high school counselor when the high school counselor makes the call to FA (and maybe even have a conference call with mom patched in if possible).</p>
<p>As to health insurance …it’s pending further review.;)</p>
<p>Hey I dug up this thread about declaring homeless and supporting it with proof:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/634518-moving-declaring-homeless.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/634518-moving-declaring-homeless.html</a></p>
<p>Some stuff may not apply since the OP in that case was still in HS.
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<p>Good stuff, fiona. Thank all of y’all very much.</p>
<p>(TK, are you following all this? Call me on the cell.)</p>
<p>If the cost to the family is less than $19K, they would not receive a nickel of need based aid. This student does not have that amount of NEED. ($20k minus $2500 in merit aid is $17.500 which is LESS than $19K).</p>
<p>So…this student needs about $13,000 to attend college. The student should be able to earn some money this summer even if it’s mowing lawns and babysitting…say $2500. Then there is the money the mom was paying for child support (whatever that amount was…she could add that in). What is the balance after that?</p>
<p>Still short about $8K if my math is correct.</p>
<p>As to this “Trust”…</p>
<p>Was the creation of the “trust” a legal requirement or just a family rumor? You don’t have to declare family rumors on FAFSA. </p>
<p>Now if there is reason to believe it does exist, a simple legal action (if the person repsonsible for administering it can be identified) can force a declaration of the value of the assets and then a disbursement from the trust (subject to the rules of the trust). </p>
<p>Now if he has violated the rules of the trust (by moving out for example) and he is permanently excluded from the trust by rule, it is no longer his trust and not a FAFSA concern.</p>
<p>If disbursement is determined by the administrator’s judgement, that is a different can of legal worms to get that to happen. Back to court to force a someone’s hand.</p>
<p>I do agree that the mother’s info on FAFSA cannot be ruled as valid as she cannot be a custodial parent by the court decision. The question of emancipation will be interesting.</p>
<p>I am assuming the student updated his FAFSA & checked unaccompanied youth (homeless). When this happened, he would no longer need parent info & the question of custodial parent would be irrelevant. My guess is that updating in this way triggered verification … and I also am guessing that the student hasn’t gotten an aid package because he hasn’t submitted the required verification documents. </p>
<p>What address is the college using to communicate with the student? Is information being sent to his dad’s address, in which case he is not getting it? Or does the school communicate online, through the school system/email? That is what we do … if we need info, we request it through the school email. If a student doesn’t bother checking, he’ll never know we are requesting documents. </p>
<p>Here is my suggestion: The student needs to get a letter/document from his counselor certifying that he is an unaccompanied youth. He needs to KEEP A COPY for the future. Do not turn in a copy of this letter UNLESS the school requests documentation. The student should call the school to find out where his financial aid stands. Even a student assistant can tell the kid if he has info to turn in to complete his file. He should ask, “Have I been selected for verification? Are there documents that I need to turn in? What are these documents?” Students call asking these questions every single day.</p>
<p>I am not going to debate whether or not this student should be considered homeless. If his counselor can certify that he is, this is acceptable in the eyes of the feds. There shouldn’t be any issues with that, unless the school is not going to accept the counselor’s certification. If that is the case, though, they need to be upfront about that - the student will then be required to file as a dependent student. The school may just set the student’s “good” FAFSA to the earlier, dependent FAFSA in that case … or they may ask to have it updated all over again.</p>
<p>I imagine Curmudgeon can use his lawyerly knowledge to help the family with the trust thingy!</p>
<p>I was at U of Arkansas a few days ago. We were told that next year’s tuition and fees at U of Ark–Fayetteville would remain the same as this year’s. (I don’t know about room and board.)</p>
<p>For in-state students, and OOS students granted the waiver, total tuition, fees and room and board are $13,822. For certain majors, there are additional fees. (This is from the information sheet we were given by the admissions representatives.)</p>
<p>EDIT: Suite-style dorms are more expensive, as I remember.</p>
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<p>OK…now I’m REALLY confused. So in the case of the OP…would this mean that his TOTAL billables from U of A would be about $14,000…and that he would then subtract the Stafford and his merit aid from THAT? If so, he would not have a very high balance left and should be able to earn most of that during the summer. Then he could earn spending money during the school year by working a small amount of hours. AND perhaps his mom could continute to contribute the amount she has been paying in child support too. If that is the case, this is “doable”. Perhaps the $20K number includes personal expenses, etc which can very much be under the control of the student and family AND are not billed to the student from the U.</p>
<p>^^^I am guessing the $20K number does include estimated personal costs, books and supplies, travel (if state schools throw that into the COA figure…)</p>
<p>I am wondering if there is an additional merit award on top of the tuition waiver, or if cur’s friend is confusing the two. (There are a number of additional awards for good gpa and higher than average ACT scores, though.)</p>
<p>See link in #22 for numbers.</p>
<p>^^^ I think the estimates on that link are higher than necessary. I don’t know where the student in question lives, but the “transportation” estimate of $1594 seems excessive for students who are in-state or in one of the ‘neighboring’ states that get the in-state rate (given certain gpa and ACT scores). The personal expenses factor is highly variable, of course, but a lot of students get by on less than $2034 while at school. So, I guess I’m suggesting that $18,462 is definitely the higher bound for COA.</p>
<p>The room and board numbers for “independent” students is odd.</p>
<p>EDIT: Yes, cur, you are correct that I failed to check the link before posting. I was skimming-before-typing, and not too thoroughly at that.</p>