I think just unsubsidized. The point is that schools DO have discretion with those WS funds, that is all. They get to decide how to allocate them.
@intparent Schools do not have that kind of discretion when it comes to fed work student. there has to be “need” according to FAFSA EFC. If FASFA EFC says (for example) $65,000 and the school’s COA is 65k, then the school has NO discretion in regards to fed Work Study with this student.
I agree that students must fill out FAFSA and indicate that they are interested in federal work study. But I can’t find anything online that dictates to colleges how to distribute that money among students. Let me know if you have a link. The descriptions all seem to be pretty generic.
As @thumper1 mentioned above some schools will require filing of FAFSA/Profile for their merit $. They can require it because it is their money. My D1 had a NMF scholarship for which we had to file (only freshman year). But in that case the school will let you know that you need to file.
Maybe the work study covered a small amount of need.
We did not qualify for Pell, but had a sub loan in the package and a state grant (both require need), no work study. Maybe without the grant we would have qualified for work study. I don’t know if there are rules which need based aid takes preference. I would assume work study before loans.
Here (http://www2.ed.gov/programs/fws/index.html) it states you have to fill out the FAFSA and uses the word “assistance” both of which imply you must have a need.
Here
(http://www.finaid.wwu.edu/studentjobs/students/resources/ws_faq.php#Eligible it states:
( a specific college FAQ, so I am assuming the same everywhere, but I include it because here it’s said much more directly “Are eligible for Financial Aid” and uses the formula both of which support the requirement of “need”)
Thanks everyone for your responses. Based on what all of you have said, I think I will apply for FAFSA just in case, even though I doubt I will get any money. I have applied for merit scholarships at almost every school that I applied to, so I’m hoping that maybe 1 or 2 of these schools will offer me some merit scholarship money.
@thumper1 Yes, my parents will be helping me out financially. They have been saving up money since I was a young child, so I do have a little bit of money already going towards my college education. However, if I end up attending a school that charges any more than about 20K or 30K a year, I will end up having to take out student loans. I also have a younger sibling who will be attending college in a couple years as well, so not all of the money that my parents have saved up will go to me.
You may qualify for financial aid in the years you overlap. And I think I’ve heard people say on these boards that at some schools, if you don’t apply for FA your first year then you can’t apply in other years. So in this case, it would be wise. (Can someone else confirm this?)
Are you aware of the limits on the loans YOU can take? Are your parents going to co-sign loans?
Chapter 2 of the [Federal Student Aid Handbook](https://ifap.ed.gov/fsahandbook/attachments/1213FSAHbkVol6Ch2.pdf) covers the Work Study Program. Student eligibility is covered in [Federal Code 34 CFR 675.9](http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&SID=89d5048ebca12c33e51192c59f9901ea&rgn=div8&view=text&node=34:3.1.3.1.38.1.39.5&idno=34). Title 34, Part 675.9(c) says a student must have: “financial need as determined in accordance with
[part F of title IV of the HEA](Home - Trellis Company)”(page 52-82).
According to one of the employees of the [Federal Student Aid office](https://fafsa.ed.gov/), families fill out the FAFSA and colleges use that to determine whether or not they’re eligible for Work Study jobs. Income limits are set by individual colleges and disbursement of the federal funds is at the discretion of the financial aid department of each school. She said you do not have to qualify for Pell to receive Work Study.
It sounds like “financial need” just means that if your EFC is above the COA of the school, you have no financial need so you wouldn’t qualify for Work Study. But if the COA is $65k and your EFC is $40k, by their definition you do have financial need and could be eligible for Work Study. Funds are limited, though, so I wouldn’t count on getting any.
Yes, “disbursement of the federal funds is at the discretion of the financial aid department of each school.” Aiui, they get a pool of funds to manage. And it’s one of the easier ways to support a kid; that and loans can spare their own grant pool for the needier or neediest.
If OP’s parents can only afford 20-30k, he needs to be seriously exploring how the numbers will add up, where he has certain financial safeties, low cost or guaranteed merit. $35k loans/year is not the answer. Most times, we say, nothing more than the govt student loan amounts, $5500 for freshman year…
Yes, this is accurate, at least as far as institutional aid is concerned. Bryn Mawr is the most restrictive that I’ve seen in this regard, but Smith and Colby have similar policies.
This is true for a small number of colleges for U.S. Citizens and permanent residents. In most cases, however, for U.S. citizens and permanent residents, this is not the case,
Belknappoint points out a couple of schools where this is the case. I believe there are some restrictions at Skidmore as well.
Now…for intrmational students…in the MANY more cases, if you don’t apply as an incoming freshman, you cannot apply in subsequent years for need based aid.
You need to check the polices of each college. ymmv.
Financial aid is given out by the financial aid office; merit aid is giving out by admissions. In the case of the 11 colleges to which my daughter applied, not a single college required her to fill out financial aid forms in order to be qualified for merit scholarships. They all told us that if you do not qualify for any aid, and are not interested in loans, there is no sense in wasting time filling out forms.
For both of my D’s, I contacted the FA office of every school on their list, asking if my D’s needed to apply for institutional aid for their freshman year in order to be eligible for future years if our finances changed. In our case, we never came across any examples where they needed to submit FAFSA/Profile to guarantee future access. Other schools, as we’ve seen above, have different policies. Those policies can change, so don’t rely on statements from previous admissions cycles.
I would be especially careful about applying for FA at a need-aware admissions school if you expect to be (and are OK with being) full-pay. This isn’t the OP’s situation, but worth noting for others who are reading this thread.
But also to your point, ST, you need to see how need-aware admissions uses financial need and/or at what point.
True, true. I was using “especially careful” as shorthand for “do a bunch of research and ask a lot of questions”. 