A friend of mine who attends Villanova University wrongfully informed the financial aid office that his father pays a $3000 rent a month when he applied for financial aid last year. He advised me to do the same thing, as he has gotten away with it. What should I do? Any input is much appreciated!
Lying to catholics? Not a good idea.
He can lose his FA and get kicked out of college of they find out. Not clear to me whether he lied on his FAFSA or not, but take a look at this link:
https://www.■■■■■■■■■■/hq/articles-and-advice/financial-aid/fafsa/Dont-Lie-on-the-FAFSA
Don’t even think about it.
I doubt he got more aid due to that. Schools don’t really care how much you pay for rent or home mortgage. Those are life-style choices.
Dumb idea. Not to mention dishonest and wrong. Even if you have a 100% guarantee that you won’t get caught (which you DON’T), you shouldn’t lie to your school about your financial situation. And why would Villanova’s FA office have cared what this kid’s dad’s rent was, anyway?
Here is a little more information. He actually told me how to do it (I found this quite shocking coming from him). He emailed Villanova’s financial aid office and told them the rent is paid in cash. To my knowledge, there wasn’t a way for the school to verify this. As @mom2collegekids mentioned it doesn’t really affect FA so is there really a point of doing the same? I’m wondering why wouldn’t living expenses such as “rent” be taken into consideration (I’m just curious)? Thank you for the comments thus far!
You have a point ^^
Is there a point in lying? Really? Aren’t you the kid who has a thread how students get their acceptances rescinded? This is how. And if colleges don’t find out you lied until after you get your degree they can rescind it and demand you repay any money (including federal aid) you received.
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I’m wondering why wouldn’t living expenses such as “rent” be taken into consideration (I’m just curious)? Thank you for the comments
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Because there is a standard used to cover living expenses… I don’t remember the number, but it’s somewhere around $25k for a family. If someone is spending more than that, then it’s considered a personal choice.
Thank you all so much for the words of wisdom. I won’t follow in my buddy’s footsteps!
Yeah, it doesn’t matter how much your family’s living expenses are. They don’t actually care. So he has been lying for no good reason, I suspect.
Now’s the time to stop worrying about what others do, get, spend, steal. You need to worry about your own situation and decisions. If you want money, earn it. If you want to gamble, buy a lottery ticket.
So you are thinking of lying and come her eto ask if it’s ok? It’s not. Just don’t. Even if it wont afffect your FA and wont make a difference- just don’t. And you know that.
I would suggest you smile and nod. You can thank your friend for thismadvice…but thennpolitelymsay it’s nit the case with your family. Then change the subject to toothpaste.
Honestly…the amount paid for rent is NOT even considered for financial aid purposes. So…like I said…smile and nod and walk away.
And to answer your question…cost of rent or mortgage is considered a choice. One can find a less costly place to live. And as noted upstream…EVERYONE has living expenses of some kind.
Where exactly did your friend put this on his financial aid forms? I honestly don’t recall a spot for “amount of rent paid”. Definitely not on the fafsa. Profile?
@BelknapPoint where would a person put their rent amount on the current Profile?
Oh…and your friend has “gotten away with nothing” because the financial aid office doesn’t consider this number. He could call and say his rent is $10,000 a month…and it wouldn’t matter!
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