We haven’t had money problems for a while, and I’m attending a pretty expensive school, so I never filed a fafsa… but we’re looking at fees now for certain schools and they’re pretty darn expensive.
This is a ■■■■■■■■ question, but about how much do your parents need to be making to qualify for financial aid?
<p>fafsa is $100,000 or less, otherwise you only qualify for loans</p>
<p>"fafsa is $100,000 or less, otherwise you only qualify for loans"</p>
<p>Watch out for this one. I come from a family of 5 and my dad makes a little over 100k (even though we're in so much debt that we can hardly stay afloat... colleges don't take consumer debt into consideration though) and I got more than loans. At one college I got a 2K grant and at another I got a 13k grant. So, things happen.</p>
<p>You really should file the fafsa no matter what. Even if you do not qualify for government aid, which is not that significant anyway, the colleges will take your fafsa into consideration for awarding their own financial aid. Honestly, even if you make 100k+, a 40-45k per year will significantly affect your family's lifestyle. So if you're looking to attend an expensive school, you should apply no matter what. In addition, you can also appeal their award if you can prove that the cost would still be a great hardship for your family. The general philosophy is that they will make sure you can afford to go to their school (as long as you get in of course) so they'll try to meet as much of your "demonstrated need" as possible. But again, we're talking about the top 10-20 national universities and the best LACs here... Other schools have a somewhat different financial aid policy. Hope this helps...</p>
<p>oh hell, i feel so stupid. Thanks for all your input, breakaway, whitneylm and blarney stone. CC has been my eye-opener as per usual.</p>
<p>I ticked that I would not be requesting finaid on my forms (counselor told me that it would work against me, even as a US citizen - shoulda done my own research). Does this mean I can't file for aid for any of my 4 years? Or that I can't get aid for the first? Is it too late to find out what sort of aid I can get?</p>
<p>It seems as though it depends on the school. In our case, our income was about $94,000 combined, and one school offered our child $3,000 in student loans and another $1,000. She received some merit based grants due to good grades, but I dont think that reflected our finances. But I've heard that if you make combined income much over $50-60,000, they don't consider you very "need based". Even if you think yo're not eligible, do the FAFSA, so you know what they can offer you, in cases loans are needed. They offer work study stuff, which is a job on campus, too.</p>
<p>A person does the FAFSA form every year because they re-assess your financial aid situation from year to year. It's never too late!</p>
<p>Should absolutely everyone file? I did a EFC calculator and we'd have to have ten kids at a $40,0000 college before we'd get anything, so I assumed we wouldn't file. I knew we'd get nothing but I was wondering if colleges still expect you to provide the info.</p>
<p>I still recommend filing. I've had some VERY surprising information from our filing. Plus, at some schools, they won't consider you eligible for merit scholarships unless you file. And, no matter how much a person makes, I imagine scholarships are always at least somewhat welcome. ^_^</p>
<p>Man, thanks so much everyone. I felt silly for feeling I should file, now I feel dumb for having not. </p>
<p>Thanks lots again!</p>
<p>oh wow i didn't know that you have to file for eligibility for merit scholarships too!! thanks. but my counselor did tell me that everyone should file regardless of how much your parents make, b/c you can at least get loans even if you dont qualify for grants,etc</p>
<p>many schools require fafsa if you intend to apply for any aid whatsoever. Remember there are many types of aid. Gov't grants based on need, school merit aid, school need aid, subsidized loans, unsubsidized loans.
Pretty much boils down that unless you just intend to write a check for full amount, then fill out Fasfa.
The EFC( a number you get from filling out the Fasfa) must be $3850 or lower to get a gov't Pell Grant.</p>
<p>Correct that consumer debt isn't counted when figuring aid. But there's a good sound reason for that. The gov't figures that the family might have chosen a smaller house, not-so-new car, fewer vacations, fewer new clothes, etc. Has your family chosen as nice of a house as you could afford? The best car you could afford? etc? All examples of having a nice lifestyle, but in the gov't eyes- not the best money management. As they see it, those choosing options above or similar expenditures, could have instead chosen a lesser value car, house, neighborhood, and invested the savings for education. Sort of tough on the student, as they are prob not the one that chose what/how many cars in the family, what house, what neighborhood, what vacation etc., but choosing to spend on "keeping up with the Jonses" is not considered a good enough reason to claim a family has no college money.</p>
<p>mea, im in the same boat as you. at least we have next year to "redeem" ourselves by filing a fafsa! :)</p>
<p>wait is it 100.000 after taxes?</p>
<p>i think it's 100k in AGI - adjusted gross income</p>
<p>so pretty much if ur parents make over 100k you'll get like nothing in aid? </p>
<p>there is just so much to learn when starting this whole college process</p>
<p>no socksrule, read the previous posts....</p>
<p>Okay, that's so not true. My parents make a little over 100k per year combined, I have one sister in community college and no other siblings, we have no debt and a fairly large savings, and my EFC is 13500. That's about a THIRD of the cost of most of the top colleges.</p>
<p>Maybe a part of it is that our house has a very low value? I know they take that into account. I think my family is one of the very few in America that actually lives within its means. It seems that manifests itself in various intantibles when it comes to EFC.</p>
<p>There is absolutely no way to tell. EVERYONE should fill out a FAFSA...even if your parents make 400K. You never know until you get the form back. If they say you need $10 in aid...then that's $10 you and your parents don't have to pay. EVERYONE should fill out a FAFSA.</p>
<p>Well, there are some generalizations. $155K seems to be the outer reach, unless you have extraordinary expenses, for getting any money at all. You'd need to have more than one kid in college and not much home equity at that salary.</p>