<p>My parents filled out the FAFSA and CSS Profile, chose which colleges to send them to and won't let me see any part of it. Is it normal for the applicant to have no part in this process? Should I just trust them? Or should I ask to see that they filled out my personal info right?</p>
<p>Seeing as your parents are probably the one paying for your college expenses anyway, I guess they have the right to fill out the FAFSA/CSS Profile by themselves. But I do think it's a bit unusual that they don't let you see it at all...maybe they want to keep their finances private, but I think that you should at least get to see which colleges they are sending them to, and verify your own information. It never hurts to ask ;)</p>
<p>I sort of have the opposite situation, where I'm the one filling out the financial aid forms and my parents are just giving me the minimum amount of help. =/</p>
<p>You should be privy to anything that you sign- ie. the FAFSA and if I remember right there is a sig on PROFILE as well-
your PIN is your online signature-which is why both you and your parents require seperate PINS
I did the finaid forms, but D has copies</p>
<p>My parents wouldn't let me see mine either..they just said it wasn't important and whatnot but now that I'm looking more into this college app stuff it seems like it might end up being kinda important...</p>
<p>If the parents are paying for college they absolutely have the right to keep the financial information private. Even if you have to "sign" with a pin, I disagree with you emeraldkity4...it's great that you are open with your DD on this stuff but it is not her "right" to see the numbers. I never knew what my parents finances were when I was growing up...it wasn't any of my business. I didn't want to know about their money or their sex life...lol.</p>
<p>I did the FAFSA's for my kids and didn't show it to them, but I would have if asked -- I guess they were both like ebeeee and simply didn't care to know. My feeling is that they needed to know the bottom line -- both as to what I was wiling & able to pay, and as to what our FAFSA EFC was -- but there was no particular reason for them to know other details. </p>
<p>I think the process is confusing because it asks for the student's signature, yet (for the under-23 set) mandates that parental info be provided, and there are a variety of reasons why some parents may not want to share financial data with their kids. Really, I think that if FAFSA defines the kid as a dependent, then the form should be submitted under the parent's name, not the kid's -- and if FAFSA says the kid is independent, then the parent should have no part of it. So really there should be a worksheet for determining dependency status, and the result of that should dictate who does the FAFSA.</p>
<p>My son is now 23 so I emailed him and told him that FAFSA now considers him independent and he will have to fill out the forms by himself this year. I have no desire to be in control of the process... I just like being in control of my own money.</p>
<p>I don't think students have "the right" to see the completed FAFSA, but in my opinion, it should be shared. This is a private family and parenting issue, however, and there may be good reasons why parents may not want to share their financial info. My reasons that it should be shared is that this is a milepost in the student's life where he is possibly going away to college, and he should fully understand where his family's finances are since college costs can impact them pretty severely. Also, the student is transitioning to a point in time when he will be completing such forms, and this is a good time for him to see what is involved. Also, if there are any appeals or discussions with financial aid once the student is on campus, he would be in much better position to handle them if he knew what was on the FAFSA. When I was in college, I made several trips to FA regarding my aid, and appealing for more, or asking about some scholarship I had heard about. Often opportunities crop up when you are in school. My husband did the same thing. Not knowing what your parents put down on the FAFSA would handicap the student severely in such cases. Because the results of FAFSA can make a big difference in where a student applies to college, it seems to me, the student should know what is in his app for aid. Also knowing the family financial picture can impact what the student chooses to do during college, summers, and for the future. You can give generalities and reasons all you want, but the actual numbers have much more impact.<br>
Again, I feel that it is a personal decision and there can be some very good reasons why a family chooses to keep this info private. However, the student may have access to that info if he really wants it. I think he is legally permitted to get a copy of the info, and the school fin aid office is going to have the info, I would think. (Not 100% sure about this one, but I am pretty sure a student can get the info if he really is motivated to do so)
I agree with Calmom, wholeheartedly, that the process is confusing, and should not be done the way it is, but the whole dependency issue up to age 24 is cockeyed, in my opinion anyways. The only reason that age limit exists is because of the colleges lobbying for this. I wonder if it would survive a serious legal challenge, given that it appears to be a financial issue that the age 24 definition of adulthood holds. Can't get their record, they are adult in just about every way, except they are considered depended for undergraduate student aid. Makes no sense to me at all.</p>
<p>The first year when my son was still at home and in the middle of preparing for exams, I did them totally. The second year as he had been working during the fall and away at school, it became a group project. This year after son had worked all year and during the summer, he took over filling out the forms after I gave him my tax information. Then he explained what he did and it sure bets the first year!</p>
<p>What a wonderful transiton, Overseas. Ideal, I would say. Haven't gotten there yet, but that is the goal. I guess that is a reason, I think kids should see their own FAFSA. We are not getting any younger, either, and they may have to fill one out on their own. A first step in getting them able to do so is to let them see what is on it.</p>
<p>I filled out both the fafsa and css profile and did not show it to my daughter. On the other hand she never asked to see it either. Did you ask to see it. The only reason I can see for a parent not wanting their child to see it is either they don't want you to see what they make per year, savings etc or worst case scenerio they did not send it to a school you might be interesting in. I have a feeling its the first reason. Good luck.</p>
<p>My kids read the whole FAFSA and Profile before the PINs were used. Their PIN signifies that THEY are verifying the information as accurate. With a clear conscience, I could not just hit the "submit button" without them reading it. We had to "share info" to complete the form (needed both theirs and mine...and as they got further on into college, I had less of their info at my fingertips).</p>
<p>I think Thumper's approach is the most sane . Because of the tendency to make errors has such high costs , I do them , and double-check all the numbers , and then , they look at it and verify before actual submission .</p>
<p>It is a shock for kids to discover how much things costs and how much parents make in income but they need to learn somewhere along the line ...........perhaps a good incentive to do well in college and take the opportunity to become realistic about life and it's cash flows.</p>
<p>Ideally, the info should be shared, and discussed. But there are scenarios where the parent does not feel ready to do this. There are some kids that are on the fringes of reliability. I know one family where there was a bitter divorce in the works, where the mother did not want any info about finances shared with the father, and it would just be too tempting if the girl had such info. Kids do open their mouths inappropriately at times. I remember one young man making remarks about his family's income and financial status that made me cringe, and I am sure his parents would have been even more upset, had they heard him. Sometimes it is better for some kids not to know, especially if there is something in the works, legally or businesswise where it may be essential that the financials be kept private.</p>
<p>I feel lucky for your kid. I had to do the FAFSA and CSS alone (I'm the student). Its not a big deal.</p>
<p>Same here. It was confusing and kind of hard, but I did it on my own. Of course, my mom's financial records aren't as extensive as other people's, but interpreting some of the questions were difficult. I would have been content to have my mother do it for me and not have anything to do with the process except making sure she got the schools right. I do think people should have the right to their PIN, they might even have the legal right to it. But I honestly don't think it's that big a deal as long as they sent it to the correct schools. Then I would be worried.</p>
<p>My son just did a finaid form for a summer program. It was all of 10 questions long. He thought THAT was hard. He's going to LOVE doing the FAFSA this week!!</p>
<p>I completed the CSS and FAFSA for my daughter, a high school senior, but I kept her in the loop by having her give me her financial info and telling her what info parents are required to give and asking her which schools to send the info. Once in college she can play more of a role as there will be only one school on which to focus. I think it's a family project, but that is the ideal situation, and everyone is not that fortunate to have an ideal situation. I think it is a good experience for students to be involved, money is a big part of life and it will help them appreciated both financial aid and whatever amount parents must pay and student obligations for loans and work study.</p>
<p>I was a first generation college student back in the day so I just bugged my mom to complete her taxes as early as possible and I completed the forms myself. I do not remember having to complete the CSS back then, only the FAFSA and it was simple because we were low income.</p>
<p>I prefer to keep my kids in the dark on FAFSA and Profile. For one thing, we have it set up so they get subsidized loans every year, yet we have significant retirement funds put away in tax-advantaged accounts that are out of sight to FAFSA. I would just prefer to avoid the discussion of why they have to take on debt so Mom and Dad can retire sooner. </p>
<p>My answer would be so they have some skin in the game in regards to the cost, duration and utility of their own education, but we get the same effect by having it look like it just has to be that way rather than it is by my design.</p>