<p>I wasn't sure where to put this, but I have a question about filling out the fafsa for grad school. It has a section where it asks if you want to put your assets down. If you say , Yes, it has you list your bank account amounts. I don't have more than 5,000 total, but what is the reason for doing either? I know for parents, it isn't an option. Would it hurt you to not?
Thanks for any help.</p>
<p>When you are completing the FAFSA, you MUST complete all the required fields. If you have assets (that would include bank accounts) you MUST include the balance in those accounts. It is FRAUD not to do so. </p>
<p>In addition to income, your assets are also assessed as sources from which to pay for college expenses. I don’t believe independent grad students have asset protection…as parents do when they file for their undergrad students.</p>
<p>This applies to grad students who are filing a FAFSA as an independent student…as well as to anyone else filing a FAFSA who is required to list assets. Some FAFSA filers have income below a certain threshold (this applies to undergrads who are dependents for finaid purposes) and do not have to list assets. BUT I believe the FAFSA TELLS them that (others will have to verify).</p>
<p>Independent students don’t start having asset protection until they turn 26. But an independent student may be eligible for the simplified needs test (if you meet the criteria (mainly income under $50k and be eligible to file a 1040a or 1040ez). If you are eligible for simplified needs then assets will be ignored in the EFC formula.</p>
<p>If you are asked for your assets then yes of course you are required to report your assets. If you were not they would not ask for them.</p>
<p>I have no problem listing my assets, but they seem to give you a choice, they say, do you wish to list your assets, yes or no. If you choose, yes, then a drop down screen comes that lists places to put your savings, etc. That was confusing, or maybe it was just too late at night. I know for my parents, there wasn’t a question like that when I was in my undergrad years.
I do fall under the simplified needs test, being 21 and I file the 1040ez.</p>
<p>Oh that’s completely different then. It sounds like you qualify for simplified needs so you are being given the option of entering your assets or not (this varies by State, oddly. In our state we do not have the option of omitting the data - no idea why as our small need based State grant is completely FAFSA EFC based). That being the case it is completely up to you. I would probably not enter them (unless you know your school will want them). It should not affect the FAFSA EFC either way.</p>
<p>Your parents probably never had the option because they did not qualify for simplified needs.</p>
<p>Thank you, I didn’t know if would seem like I was hiding anything, I don’t have a lot of money in savings either way. I will check to make sure there isn’t anything on my grad school sites that indicate they want more info. I live in Ct and am applying mainly here.</p>
<p>BRJ…just an fyi…you do know that financial aid for grad students is NOT the same as for undergrads, right? There are no federally funded grants (like the Pell). Really, the only “federal aid” for grad students is Stafford loans (others will certainly correct me if I’m wrong). I live in CT too…and I don’t think there are state funds for grad students based on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>Most grad school funding comes in the form of merit aid…assistantships (teaching or reseach or grad), scholarships, school grants, fellowships, and the like. And Stafford loans.</p>
<p>Your EFC from FAFSA will be zero…but remember, for most grad students right out of undergrad school…the EFC is zero. Schools don’t meet “need” in the same way for grad students as for undergrad.</p>
<p>May not be zero. The OP qualifies for simplified needs (assets ignored), not automatic 0 EFC. SO it will depend on income. But likely only loans either way.</p>
<p>How hard is it to get assistance etc at Grad school thumper? My daughter is thinking grad school (it is a couple of years off so that may change). I think (hope) she will have good enough stats to get into grad school, though I am not knowledgeable at all about the requirements. But her GPA has dropped below the 3.5+ she had been maintaining comfortably - amazing how a couple of Cs will tank the GPA despite everything else being As and Bs - & more As than Bs. I am wondering how competitive she will be for any Grad school financing now. I imagine it is quite competitive, but I am quite clueless to be honest.</p>
<p>Yes, I understand that, but they still tell you to file. UConn for instance has a University of Connecticut Tuition Remission Grant. Southern CT has this:
Graduate Connecticut State University Grants:</p>
<p>Beginning with the 2008-2009 award year, SCSU has established a need-based, institutional grant for eligible graduate students. There will be a limited amount of funds available to eligible graduate students. The awards will be offered to students based on the earliest filing date recorded on their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA). To be considered for this need-based grant, you must meet the following criteria.
I know everything is a longshot, but I hope by filing early, I can be considered for anything they might have besides loans!</p>
<p>Good luck. It is nice that they have some need based University grants.</p>
<p>It is nice that CT has some grants for grad students. Also, the costs of instate grad school are quite modest at SCSU. Good luck…I hope you land one of those grants.</p>
<p>Re: the competitiveness of grad school money…it depends on the field, and the school. Swimcatsmom, your daughter will likely need to take the GRE (graduate record exam) and that will factor into award based money along with GPA and letters of recommendation. </p>
<p>Some grad school programs have significantly more funding than other programs. AND some programs have more funding at certain schools. Many PhD programs are fully funded for students who are accepted and those students also have research/teaching responsibilities as well. Master’s programs…well…it will depend.</p>
<p>Some folks try to find jobs that will pay for a portion of grad school studies. That is certainly an option worth considering.</p>
<p>Well I guess it is up to her to figure it all out. I need to stop worrying about it (I have really been trying!!), but she is one for dealing with the “now” and thinking about what is needed for the next step when she gets there! She is currently thinking OOS for grad school as the field she is interested in is not available where we live at all. I told her she would probably have to move and work a while to try and be eligible for instate. Luckily she will have minimal debt for her undergrad.</p>
<p>You are correct about that, Univ of Hartford only gives loans unless you are lucky enough to get an job as a research or teaching assistant. The worst thing you can do is assume one college is like another, they really do vary.
If I get into Southern’s and decide to go, I can live home to save money, at least the first year.</p>
<p>And U of Hartford is MUCH more expensive. It’s a private university. SCSU is state funded. Do they have your area of interest at UConn or CCSU?</p>
<p>I want School Psychology and that is NASP approved at just 3 in our state, 4, if you count Fairfield, but they have a very new program. Central has Psych but not that area. I am applying to UConn also, they have a good program, it’s just far and I’d have to find housing.</p>
<p>Tell any and all potential grad students to file the FAFSA early. My DD applied for an unfunded masters; she got a work study award of $7500 which covered a huge amount of her living expenses and as a grad student, her professor hired her to work in his lab doing the research she would have needed to do any way. She was the first student they had seen get a work study as most students seem to wait until they have chosen a school to attend before filing the FAFSA.</p>
<p>DD also began unfunded and by the spring term she had been chosen as a paid TA with tuition remission, converting an unfunded situation into a funded one.</p>
<p>I think many grad students, especially masters students, hear “all loans” a lot, which can be true, and figure they don’t have to file right away. I think, as you do, it’s worth putting out the effort early.</p>