On the FAFSA in the ssn field for your mother, you will put in all 0’s
In your area for your father you will put in all 0’s. Your father will need to get a copy of his transcript from the IRS in order for your income to be verified since he will not be able to use the IRS data retrieval tool. You will not get any actual aid until this is done
Depending on where you plan on attending school, getting a loan may be unavoidable, especially if you plan on living on campus. Most schools do not meet 100% demonstrated need and loans are part of the package
Your dad doesn’t really have a SSN. He may have a tax ID number. Or he may be using someone else’s SSN. He doesn’t have a SSN that is really his.
Put all 0000s as mentioned.
As for getting grants, etc…you’re a US citizen and you’ll get whatever aid a school can give you. Many schools do not have much aid to give. Nearly ALL schools will give you loans as well. Unless you have the funds to cancel those loans, you’ll need to take them.
For the FAFSA, just to reiterate put all zeros for your parents’ SSNs. The FAFSA will flag it as a possible error on review, and you can click through it. You’ll have to print out a signature, because your parents (neither) are eligible for a FSA ID, and you’ll mail it in, which will complete the FAFSA.
If your EFC is 0, you’ll qualify for a Pell grant of up to ~$5k/year and a NYS tuition assistance (TAP) grant that’s also ~$5k/year (if you attend a NYS college). That would cover the tuition if you commuted to a SUNY. If there aren’t any 4-year SUNYs near you, start at a community college and transfer.
The SUNY system is pretty affordable, but even here most people can’t dorm without having to work, take student loans, or both. I understand wanting to focus solely on your studies, but that’s a luxury most students don’t have. If your parents can’t help you pay you’re going to have to earn the money yourself, either through merit or working, or you’re going to have to borrow it.
If your father is an illegal alien, how can he have a SSN to use for paying taxes? If he is filing taxes under a social security number and then you instead put “000-000-0000” for his SSN on FAFSA I assume that would be deceptive. If his SSN is not legitimate, than using it on your FAFSA would be a different problem.
As stated above, enter all zeros for SSN of parents (they don’t have them). You will not be able to link to IRS for them, so will need to follow directions, which will probably be to get a tax transcript for your father and a statement of non-filing for your mother.
It’s just extra steps, but shouldn’t change anything as far as your grants and loans go.
@Dude20 My students have had parents who do not have a SSN. They notified the school of their parents situation and the school had the parent fill out a form/declaration stating that they did not have a SSN and earned no income in the relevant year for FASFA. Also the parent who did pay taxes had to submit a copy of their tax return to the school. My students received financial aid so the lack of a SSN for a parent did not prevent a financial aid award. Just be sure to stay on top of your emails- sometimes my students “blew” off responding to emails from the financial aid office and it turns an easy situation into a difficult one. Good luck!!
Your college is not going to help you complete the fafsa.
You just need to complete it. The directions are pretty clear. You will enter your parent income, and taxes , etc from the 2015 tax return. Make sure younhave the right one…2015.
In the SSN section, you will put all 0s.
You will NOT be able to link to the IRS Data Retrieval Tool…because no SSN is on the form. @itsv I’m not sure how your student would,have been blue to do,this?
You also cannot electronically sign the form…so you will need to print out the signature page…and sign.
You will likely need to request a tax transcript for your colleges. THAT is a question to ask each college.