<p>but what about </p>
<p>
[quote]
Answering lfk about 10 posts up, a dollar earned work study is worth about $1.50 earned off campus, when you take into account the hit that ordinary wages get on the next year's fafsa.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>written above. I had always heard this was true, but I do not see how it works...maybe I am being lame and have blocked that part of the FAFSA!</p>
<p>there are three worksheets I think on Fafsa- A-B & C
Ibelieve that you enter the money that was earned in workstudy on worksheet C where it says taxable earnings from need based employment programs such as Federal work study...
You do pay tax on it but for FAFSA it is not counted as income as it was part of your aid package for previous year
so it is indeed deducted from income</p>
<p>thump1: </p>
<p>W-S wages are most definitely subtracted from income on the Fafsa.</p>
<p>W-S wages are reported to the IRS for tax purposes. But a dependent does not have to file a tax return unless earned income exceeds $5000 (for 2005). Then up to about $15000 the tax rate is only 10%.</p>
<p>Also I believe that soc sec taxes are not taken out of work study unless the student is working full time (can happen for summer work study) and not taking a full time load of classes. They are taken out of earnings for FAFSA consideration.</p>
<p>Emerald: you are right, I recall seeing that now! Jami, no fica was taken out of my kids check- you should ahve heard the whout when she got her first check from an outside employer- who the heck is FICA and why does he take all my money?</p>
<p>My DD has had two work study jobs and found neither was quite as flexible as she'd thought they would be. Also, on a large public school campus, it is tougher to find ways to meet people, so DD actually took an off-campus job with many young people working their to expand her exposure- her WS jobs involved her being the youngest by 8-10 years- no good chances there. She has, though, realised the differences in pay and the off-campus job works because the pay $2/hour more than the WS jobs, so it is revenue neutral, approximately.</p>
<p>ok my dad makes a combind income of $100,000. Chances for aid?
1.Scholarships a. merit [gards aren't that good} grants--how does one aquire thoses?</p>
<p>I am a single mom with no child support who makes over 100,000, have two kids at private schools and get decent aid for both. My EFC is around 16,000 and I finance part of that through home equity...it is a struggle, even at a relatively high income, because as a single parent I have sole responsibility for all of the things that other families split between two incomes...and yes, my kids are graduating with some debt-- but we think it is worth it.</p>
<p>Hi freps,
Not to begrudge you your good fortune of low EFC, but how did that happen? You probably make more than we do (unless you make like #101K.) Yet, our EFC was nearly $40K. Most people that I know with incomes similar to ours at slightly over $100k got EFCs ranging from $35K to $45K. How did you get it down to $16K? Can anybody explain this to me?</p>
<p>I am self employed and own an "S" corp. My actual W-2 wages were more like 85K, while the rest was profit that ends up being retained in the biz. The FAFSA is sensitive to that distinction. Furthermore, I have not much in the way of investments...and again, am the sole support so there is a bigger chunk alloted to me for living. Household size of 3 with 2 college students, and there you have it....oh, and if it was not clear, that is 16K PER KID. I assume next year, when child #1 graduates I will have a substantially higher EFC for child #2. Thankfully, child #2 has some decent merit aid racked up.</p>
<p>If she has two kids at private schools- I believe that is accounted for on PROFILE-- but yes that does seem like a low EFC
Our combined income is about $60K for a family of 4 but our EFC is about $15,000.</p>
<p>My husband said that he should quit his job and drive a bread truck! LOL! But sadly, maybe we'd be better off since we've already saved for retirement.</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification Freps- I was thinking that your kids were currently in private K-12 schools.
An EFC of $32K is much higher obviously than $16K and does seem high for your income.
Unfortunately you are right- I expect that next year when your oldest graduates you will have a much higher EFC not only will you not have them in college but you probably won't be claiming them as a dependent on taxes.
Everyone gets stiffed on FAFSA but it seems to especially penalize those with their own businesses :(</p>
<p>We know a lot of kids who have been accepted to the colleges of their dreams only to have to go to a state college when their parents realize they aren't eligible for any financial aid. I think the colleges are partly at fault for advertising that they will make it "affordable." In some states, you can't live on the $30,000 they "protect" in their estimates; in some states home have appreciated a lot but it doesn't mean you have an extra $160,000 available. Parents who are close to retirement age are at the peak of their earning and savings, but if they go through their savings and/or go into debt, they don't have any years left to recoop. Young parents are more likely to be eligible for financial aid and also have years to recover from debt and to save for retirement.</p>
<p>EFC's don't matter that much. My FAFSA EFC was about 18k, but I have to pay 30k.</p>
<p>Celebrian,</p>
<p>If you are faced with the divorce situation, your FAFSA information (the federal methodology) will take only your custodial parent's income into account. However, if you are going to apply to private schools, most of them also look at the non-custodial parent's income through the Collegeboard's Profile form: the NCP statement (non-custodial parent's statement) which looks at everthing that parent has, ie. assets and income. Also, some private schools get at that info with their own institutional forms if they don't use Profile. Their websites and financial aid links would fill you in on their procedures.</p>
<p>I do believe that dividing the parents' finances as is done in separation and divorce may LOWER the EFC somewhat, since the colleges recognize that it costs more to support two households than it does for one. If parents do remarry, the income of the stepparent is also considered in most cases, though some schools are in the 568 Presidents Working Group and claim they look at two parents only. Yup, it gets complicated!</p>
<p>I am sorry you are having to face this sort of stress on top of the other things you are considering, and I hope you will be able to go to the school of your dreams. It is wise, though, to look for a safety you can love. Best wishes!</p>
<p>I have a question - If you are given a work study, will the on-campus job limit you to that amount? And my work study right now is ridiculously low at this moment ($50) and I would like to get a small job on campus.</p>
<p>Our neighbor's son's custodial parent doesn't make much, nor does his father, but his step-father has a good income, so he is hit with full tuition that his step-father has to pay (or refuse to pay).</p>