It appears that New Jersey is an At Will state, so an employer can fire w/o reason.
“Notice is not required by either party based on the fact that New Jersey is an “employment at will” state, meaning that an employer or employee may terminate the relationship at any time, without a reason, without cause”
I think the only exceptions would be is if the person can prove he was fired for illegal federal reasons, such as race, gender, etc.
An employer can fire for no reason, but cannot fire for a protected reason. Smart employers don’t give any reason for the dismissal unless it is for cause like stealing. Most employers just eat the unemployment claim.
But for these purposes, it doesn’t matter. Fired, laid-off, closed the plant, terminated…all are dislocated workers. Sybbie’s book is what the college has, not the person filling out the form. If you click on the ‘help’ button on the FAFSA, no definition of dislocated worker appears. There is no guidance about why employment was lost or changed. Nothing to exclude an underemployed person or one who is working only temporarily and making much less.
But as said many time above, being a dislocated worker is one of 3 qualifiers for the ‘simplified assets’ test, and it doesn’t get you much unless you make under $50k and have a lot in assets that could hurt you for need based FA (pell grant, subsidized loans).
the financial aid administrator handbook information that I posted came from the
Federal Student Aid Handbook - IFAP - U.S. Department of Education
@lesjubilants Have you applied to Rowan University? It is in state for you and gives significant merit aid, so that $50,000 you have saved would get you through with very little debt. I know it isn’t Ivy, but in these circumstances, you could be cream of the crop there in the major and honors college, have the ability to afford it and move forward to grad school with no debt. My two kids are there and it is very nice (they are doing the above^^)
Rutgers gives out some merit, but not as prolifically as Rowan. With your stats you would likely qualify, so that may be a good option too.
Best of luck!
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The only other option I see…if the money is not forthcoming from the list of colleges this student applied to…take a gap year. Do something worthwhile in that time…and see how the family finances sort out.
If dad does not find employment, then make sure you apply next year to schools where your excellent stats will guarantee you significant merit aid…not income dependent at all. And to some schools where your chances for merit aid are high.
Looks like this student applied to instate Rutgers so should get a lot of merit there with her 1550 sat unless they’ve changed their merit policies.
I got a $24,000 merit package from Miami U-Ohio, which makes COA $27,000. I was also accepted into South Carolina Honors College with a scholarship that grants me in-state tuition and additional merit scholarships (notification in March), so that makes COA maximum $26,000. I also applied to Rutgers and am expecting Honors College admission and merit, but I honestly hate the campus. I just don’t know if I can get over going to a not-so-good school for less money, which is why I didn’t consider Rowan. Up until my dad’s unemployment, I was all set to go to the best school I got into or the one I liked the most- now it looks like I’m going to have to settle, and not only settle, but settle WITH some degree of debt. I’m frantically applying to outside scholarships now, so hopefully I can get a few extra thousand from that!
You can only borrow ~$5500/year. Can your parents afford to pay the difference for OOS schools? If not, you need to seriously consider your state schools.
At this point the OOS schools mentioned above are cheaper than Rutgers, my instate school @austinmshauri
In state cost of attendance is 30,000 a year for Rutgers, Rowan, TCNJ etc.
The point is - how do you pay? If the 4 year total is 120,000 and you have 50,000 saved, that leaves you 70,000 to pay. 27,000 of that can be from loans for you. Where is the other 43,000 coming from? Do you understand how much of a 10 year monthly payment that 70,000 comes out to?
Outside scholarships are unlikely to arrive. That is a fairy tale kids start to believe in around now.
I hear you saying Rowan (in your opinion) isn’t a good school and Rutgers’ campus you don’t like. I advise you to take another look and make yourself happy. Rowan gives out phenomenal merit aid to highly qualified candidates, which you are. You can also do exchange, apply for Fulbright international travel etc. It isn’t Harvard, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a great education from professors (not grad students) teaching classes in areas they are passionate about.
I hear that you are disappointed. I understand that you live in an area where all the other kids are wealthy and going to big name schools. I’m sure this is hard, and I’m trying to find some compassion for you.
The OOS schools aren’t cheaper than doing 2 years at a cc then transferring to a 4-year school. The federal student loan would cover 2 years of cc tuition, and the loan and your $50k college fund would cover the last 2 years of residential college at NJ public universities. If you’re near one of the 4-year colleges you may be able to commute all 4 years. Or live on campus for a year and commute for the other 3. Given your family’s situation, I think you need to be flexible.
Heavens, I am ancient … some days, reading what young folks post gives me quite a jolt!
I appreciate all of your suggestions, but I’m definitely not going to community college or an in-state school unless it’s Rutgers New Brunswick. Not saying that community college or Rowan or whatever isn’t a great option for other people, but it’s just not and option for me or my parents.
A clarification: my parents have about $50,000 saved (which will probably be around $60,000 by the time I enter college), but they would’ve been able to contribute additional money per year as they went along. Before my dad lost his job, we could afford $30,000 a year, savings and additional money combined. If my dad doesn’t get a job, I’ll probably have $20,000 a year, maybe a little more. I was just wondering how my financial aid packages would be affected (enough to pick up some of the slack of my dad’s unemployment?) and how I would go about contacting the colleges. The latter point has been addressed, but if anyone has any insight about the former–without telling me to go to community college or to be more flexible–it would be appreciated.
A lot will depend on how the colleges calculate your financial need. Even without your dad’s income, your family contribution at many colleges will be in the $20,000-$30,000 range. Unless you receive a generous merit award someplace…your family WILL be expected to pay the family contribution. Colleges do NOT give need based aid to fulfill the family contribution.
At some very very generous colleges…HYPSM…the need based aid is very generous, and you might get enough need based aid to fund your studies IF the college financial aid department grants your special circumstances request…and deletes your dad’s income from their need based aid calculations. Many of these very generous colleges would have net cost in your prices point with an income of $120,00 or so per year.
BUT hurdle one is gaining acceptance. These very generous schools have acceptance rates in the single digits.
A number of folks have already suggested that you contact EACH college you have applied to, and find out how they deal with special circumstances considerations. Every school has a process…find out.
You will need to provide documentation of the lay off. The schools will each tell,you what to do…and when.
Some might grant you this…and others might not.
You still have a family income of 100K, was that right? You still have assets and savings. And you want to get to paying 20K a yr?
The most probable outcome you may get from a “very very generous college” is they will ask for your family’s 2017 tax return and will recalculate your finaid based on that.
If what @Tanbiko says is the best that can happen…your income won’t be reduced by 20% for,the full year…since your dad wasn’t laid off until Oct 2017.
What you need to HOPE is that the school will reduce your family income to reflect nothing from your dad.
Oh…is he collecting unemployment? If so, that will be used in the calculations.
You really can’t guess at what a school will do. I was laid off just before my kids graduated from high school, so I had about 1/3 of my income for that year. I filed an appeal at each school, and one gave my child the full pell grant (as if I hadn’t worked at all that year) and the other school gave the other kid about 1/2 of a Pell grant. Same parent, same financial situation, just two different financial aid officers viewing the information.
This student likely wouldn’t have to consider going to a cc since stats are so high that rutgers will likely offer generous merit. The student would lose those opps if they went to a cc first.
Not sure how the family is going to save another ten thousand between now and school starting since they just lost a chunk of their income. I think the student needs to talk to the parents to find out exactly how much they’ll have saved for college and how much they can spend per year.
@mom2collegekids Over 40 years old is another protection. Exempt from “at will” are those under employment contract such as union members and executives. If Dad was offered severance, I’m guessing it was in exchange for waiving other rights (such as signing agreement not to compete/disclose or to sue, etc.). People who refuse severance packages often do it for those reasons and not just that the package offered was measly.