<p>First off, I'd like to thank everyone on this message board for using their time and knowledge to help everyone out. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. I'll do my best to be brief.</p>
<p>I'm 23 years old and am now looking at returning to school. From what I've been reading, anything under 24 is basically considered dependent. Thing is, I've been "on my own" for a couple of years. I actually purchased a condo about 18 months ago. I'm hardly dependent. My questions were 1) Would I be considered independent in any way? 2) Would being listed independent even be helpful for maximum aid? My mom (single parent) who I most recently lived with is in very bad financial shape. She's a small business owner but, as many small business owners are, she's struggling badly. 3) Next year when I do become 24 and I'm independent on the FAFSA for sure, what would transitioning be like into reapplying?</p>
<p>Also, my other question was about how FAFSA (if it does at all) consider bills such as mortgage. Truth is, after paying my essential bills and my mortgage, I don't have much of anything left. How can this (if at all) effect my EFC?</p>
<p>Unless you are 24, served in the military, are married or have a dependent child that you care for you are still dependent for FAFSA. Independent might help you in lowering your EFC but it also may not. It depends on your income, your mother’s income, and the value of the small business (small business owners take it in the shorts for asset valuation). Mortgage and other bills are not considered by FAFSA. That is a lifestyle selection.</p>
<p>Erin’s dad has it right. Being independent is really not a panacea either. An issue for you is may be your income. If your mother qualifies for an automatic zero EFC, you may do much better as a dependent. See if that is the case with her. , though as a small business owner it is doubtful.</p>
<p>When you do become independent, you will find that if you have a big bill like the mortgage or a car payment, you are not cut any break for that. Those students getting aid have little or nothing. You aren’t going to be given any consideration for owning luxuries.</p>
<p>I’ll probably make about 50k this year, which I’m guessing may be too much to be considered worthy of any need based aid. </p>
<p>I’m not going to complain if I don’t get much aid. For me, home ownership was probably a bigger goal than finishing school at the time I made my decision, so I won’t regret it. But now that I’m getting the itch to go back to school, I want to find the best possible routes. If the FAFSA doesn’t take these things into consideration, in your guys experience, do schools?</p>
<p>I just want to know what to expect so I can carefully plan my return to school and not get any surprised.</p>
<p>Sounds like you’re doing very well financially, and an income that high will not net you much FA. No matter what you’ll be able to borrow a Stafford Loan ($5.5K for freshmen going up to $7.5K other years). As a non-traditional student I don’t know if you’ll have to send the SAT or ACT, or even HS grades. Is there a specific school you are looking at? You can contact their financial aid and admissions offices for help.</p>
<p>As an independent student the loan limits will be higher - $9500 for a freshman, $10,500 sophomore, $12,500 3rd year and up. With that income you will not be eligible for federal grant aid.</p>
<p>If you go back to school will you still be making $50k/yr. If that will drop down a lot when you enter school your FA offer for years 2-4 might be much better although it them makes living month to month a lot tougher (paying the mortgage etc)</p>
<p>I have a little over 20 credits from my first year to transfer over. I loved my old school, but it’s very inconvenient for my commute. The school I’m now thinking of is in my town - about 3 minutes away. My first school probably (I hope) has all my transcript information, including HS GPA and my SAT scores.</p>
<p>If I started school, I could theoretically make less, but that wouldn’t have to do with me being at school. It would simply be due to having a bad year at work. I’d stay in the 40k+ range though, regardless.</p>
<p>I have to find the most affordable route. I’m just scared to death of coming out of school $40,000 in debt. </p>
<p>What discretion do schools have in offering their own merit/need based aid?</p>
<p>Completely depends on the school. Some schools offer institutional need based aid. Many only offer federal and state need based aid. But with your income I honestly think need based aid is probably going to be fairly unlikely. Remember at FAFSA only schools your need is based on your FAFSA EFC, not what you think you need.</p>
<p>Merit aid is also completely at the schools discretion. Merit aid is usually based on your stats, but a lot of the time merit aid for freshman is much more generous than that for transfers.</p>
<p>The school you are considering should have information about their need based and merit programs available .</p>
<p>Thanks for your help. Sounds like the best thing I can do is get a meeting with one of the financial aid people at the school I’m considering, just to see what would be what.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who contributed in any way. You’ve all been extremely helpful.</p>
<p>You make more than the financial aid officers with whom you will be meeting (and will still be making more when your income drops) … :)</p>
<p>You will be eligible for loans. You will still be a freshman first semester, so you will be eligible to borrow $9500 (half each semester). You most likely will not get any additional need based aid. You could be eligible for non need based merit scholarships. Definitely check the financial aid website for automatic scholarships. Some schools have transfer scholarships that are awarded based on GPA at the previous school. Once you matriculate to sophomore status, you would be eligible for another $1000 in loans; this may be available to you spring term if you have enough credits.</p>
<p>I don’t really understand why you would need to borrow so much money. How much is the tuition at this school? Are you married with kids? Frankly, you make a lot of money for a single person. Surely you can finance your tuition costs with this income?</p>
<p>No, not married and no kids. I understand that I’ve made a lifestyle choice, but a great deal of my money goes towards my home payment, association dues, etc. I don’t have tons left over. It’s something I’m going to do…with or without need based financial aid. I’m just trying to figure out what options may be available to make this as feasible for me as possible. </p>
<p>As I’ve said earlier, I’m looking into this school mainly because it’s incredibly convenient to my home. My work can take my anywhere, and since I’ll have to make my school schedule fit my work schedule, having my school close to my house would be incredible. I suppose if I needed to, I could pick a less expensive school, but that would make actually getting to class much more difficult since it would be a big commute.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to come off quite the way it sounds … sorry. </p>
<p>Is it possible to bring in a roommate while you are in school? That could help you make money for tuition. Also, consider a payment plan that would allow you to pay some each month … that can allow you to pay without borrowing but is less painful than paying a lump sum up front.</p>
<p>The roommate idea is a great one, but the main reason I got my home to begin with was because I enjoy my privacy. Still something to consider though.</p>
<p>I think a combination of some payment plan with some loans would probably be most reasonable. I just don’t want to be stuck with student loans for years like others I know.</p>
<p>Going to a community college to get GE’s out of the way would (I’m guessing) be an option. I suppose I’d have to ask about their transfer policies.</p>
<p>a lot of community colleges have transfer articulation agreements with state colleges and even some of the private colleges. if you know the name of a convenient community college, you can just Google its name + the prase “transfer articulation agreement” and it should generate a list of the relevent schools. Good luck!</p>