<p>i just submitted my fafsa and my EFC went up by 600 (EFC was at zero before). i was very shocked. i deduced my mistake was saying i had 2,500ish in my bank account when it asked me to sum up my money as a student in cash, savings, checking etc. last fafsa i didn't even have a bank account so it was applicable. the 2,500ish was the money i received in student loans this year as part of my financial aid that's in my bank account. i am guessing if i didn't report that amount in loans i would have received an EFC 600 less. its unfair that they counted this (if they did) because the 2,500 is the financial aid i am currently living off of.</p>
<p>could anyone confirm that this is the case for the big change in my EFC?</p>
<p>what should i do about it, should i contact them?</p>
<p>can anyone give me the pdf to find out how the find the value of the EFC in relevance to family income?</p>
<p>Yup. Students get no asset protection allowance (parents get about 40K, typically before they start assessing assets). So they multiply the student's reportable assets by .20 and add it to the EFC. Student assets of 2500 will increase the EFC by $500 (and reduce the potential aid by the same amount.).</p>
<p>Use the calculator at FinAid to see where the other $100 in increased EFC might be coming from.</p>
<p>Best to plan before submitting the FAFSA, and submit on a date that your bank accounts are relatively low-- you could pre-pay some upcoming bills or tuition, or make a necessary purchase ahead of time in order to show few assets on the date you file FAFSA.</p>
<p>Not much you can do at this point. I've previously done FAFSA corrections and changed asset amounts to reflect the revised asset amount on the date of the revision. It went through-- but I've recently learned that the Dept. of Education guidelines only allow asset corrections to reflect incorrect input, not to reflect updated asset amounts on the date of the correction. So I can't recommend that any longer.</p>
<p>Per our financial aid dept, any proceeds of student aid which are sitting in your account, unspent, should NOT be included in available cash & assets!! Go back and fix the amount as it was an error</p>
<p>I also saw this somewhere on the FAFSA or a FAFSA advice page in writing, besides an email from our university's financial aid department!</p>
<p>If I were you I would also document what you did and keep those notes, prrof of loan amount, etc in whatever file you keep your other records on which you based the FAFSA #s.</p>
<p>I've always thought students get no asset protection but today when I was filling out FAFSA (our first renewal - my DS will be a sophmore next year), a screen came up that said "based on your answers you can skip the questions about students assets". I was quite surprised (pleasantly). Though it did say that some schools require student assets and I'll be calling his school tomorrow to find out (no matter how tempted I am to leave it and let them call us, I'd rather not delay his finaid package). Does anyone know if they don't want info on his assets because he didn't work in 2006 or ? Just curious to see if anyone knows.</p>
<p>Do you qualify for simplified needs test perhaps? (Income below $50,000 and eligible to file 1040a or 1040ez). That is the only thing I know of that causes assets (student and parent) to be ignored by FAFSA.</p>
<p>Good info about the student aid money not being reported - I must have read that 10 times and never picked up on it. Now to remember it next year.</p>
<p>"Total current cash on hand, and savings and checking account balances. Include the balance of your (and your spouse's) savings and checking accounts as of the date the FAFSA is completed. Do not include student financial aid."</p>
<p>Crimson - are the parents eligible for 1040a? It is parents income 1040a/1040ez eligibility that count fot simplified needs test not the students. (not sure if you are a parent or a student).</p>
<p>Federal Work Study = Financial Aid.....as do Stafford Loan monies. In most cases, reporting any FWS funds currently in your account means that the money is being counted TWICE....once as an asset and once on your Worksheet C.</p>
<p>The financial aid reported on the Worksheet is INCOME, not asset. And it's reported there to deduct it from your total income, so that it doesn't count as income at all.</p>
<p>I understand the FWS is income...and is then deducted from the income becuase of the worksheet. But, placing the funds both on Worksheet C and as an asset isn't correct either. The initial poster said that he/she had included the FA funding that was in his/her account as Cash in Checking/Savings Account. FresnoMom specifically asked about FWS...which would not be counted as Cash but would be placed on Worksheet C. Placing it in both places means the funds are being counted twice and actually hurt your total EFC.</p>
<p>my parents are eligible for 1040a, i've never filed taxes.</p>
<p>okay i sent in a corrections but it still says my EFC is 600. why is this? is it because my parents make $16k last year but 23k this year. i thought the rise in my EFC was due to the fact that i accidentally included my 2500ish worth of financial aid money left over in 'student's assets.' i changed the 'student's assests' amount to $33 and my EFC still stayed the same (600 as opposed to zero last year).. can anyone tell me why? or maybe my estimated EFC by fafsa is incorrect and it may be lower as things become processed?</p>
<p>sounds like your assets were already excluded then. Simplified needs test does not neccessarily mean zero EFC. The income has to be below $20,000 and qualify for 1040a/ez for automatic zero. So the $600 is probably based on income alone. Are you a family of 3 with 1 in college? If so the EFC may be correct. Run your numbers through the finaid EFC calculator and it will show you how the number is arrived at.</p>