i am asked to enter bills paid on my behalf

Paying for College
1

<p>if i report all the bills paid in my behalf will i get more financial aid as opposed to if i didn't report any? thanks.</p>

2

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<p>Just be honest about the answer regardless of what you "think" it might do for your financial aid prospects. You cannot just answer the question one way or another in hopes that your financial aid prospects will improve. You have to put down the HONEST answer and let the chips fall as they may.</p>

3

<p>If you have bills paid in your behalf, you probably are low income. In that case, you most likely won't be affected by the amount you report, anyway. But as thumper1 says, make sure you are honest. </p>

<p>Are you undergoing verification? Did you say you had no income? They are trying to get a handle on how you can actually survive with no income. Just be honest.</p>

4

<p>It's interesting to see how different people look at that question. When I first saw it, my first thought was if you listed a large amount of money for bills paid on your behalf it would actually have the opposite effect from what the OP was inclined to think. I thought if someone was paying money on your behalf, that was in a certain sense additional income --or at least potentially less need-- for the applicant.</p>

<p>Obviously the best thing is just to write down whatever the reality is.</p>

5

<p>Money paid on your behalf ... such as someone making a payment on a car loan that is in your name, or a rent payment on an apartment when your name is on the lease ... is treated as additional income. It reduces your need, but not dollar for dollar. The amount goes into the need formula. </p>

<p>If a student is dependent, his parents have responsibility for him (from the financial aid point of view, anyway). If mom & dad pay for the kid's bills, that is not money paid on his behalf. However, if grandpa & grandma pay for his apartment & his name is on the lease, then it's reportable as money paid on his behalf.</p>

6

<p>Thanks, kelsmom. That's pretty much what I was thinking must be the case.</p>

7

<p>My son is applying to grad schools and we cannot help him with the tuition. We did pay his tuition to college. Does he report payments that we made last year on his behalf for tuition?</p>

8

<p>I assume you paid for undergrad & he was a dependent student. You were <em>expected</em> to foot that bill, so you don’t need to put that down as a bill paid on his behalf.</p>