<p>So, next year will be my second year submitting a FAFSA for financial aid. I'm an undergrad. In my first year applying, I was pretty ignorant and put my dad down as my "FAFSA parent" because he is paying for most of my college, even though I lived with my mom for more days of the year (parents are divorced). My dad makes way more than my mom, so when I realized I could put my mom down as my "FAFSA parent" based on the fact that I lived with her more days, I did so my second year applying for aid. This seemed to have raised a red flag for the financial aid office, which in turn required me to submit some extra forms (e.g.: How much did your non-FAFSA parent contribute to your college expenses in 2011?, etc). </p>
<p>I submitted the forms as honestly and accurately as possible. Then, something I didn't expect happened. The financial aid officer at my U apparently went into my FAFSA account (dot gov account) and changed my EFC from ~3000 to ~10000. Can the school actually change my FAFSA EFC like that?? I thought they could only use supplemental forms to determine things like institutional grants, not Federal grants/loans.</p>
<p>Any feedback from someone with knowledge in this area would be great. I'm still a financial aid newbie and just want to make sure I am doing as best as I can for myself.</p>
<p>Yes, they can - must, actually - make any changes they deem necessary based on the information you have presented on your FAFSA, and coupled with anything they know about you (such as that you used the other parent last year). The truth is, any money contributed to a student from the parent not used on the FAFSA that is not part of a child support agreement is supposed to be reported as untaxed income for the student. I do suggest, though, that you talk to an aid officer (not a peer counselor or a financial aid technician - you want someone who can explain what happened & who can listen to you if you believe they have the story wrong). It is important that you find out what happened and why it was done.</p>
<p>Ah, I see. Thanks, kelsmom. Apparently I was misguided by a financial aid rep at a different school, who told me that I didn’t need to include my dad’s contributions anywhere in my FAFSA. I think I will talk to an aid officer at my current school just to make sure I understand how it was processed. I’m just kind of confused - I wonder if I had never submitted my dad’s information (on my first FAFSA app) in the first place, would my EFC be substantially lower, or would they still have requested extra forms? I suppose it doesn’t really matter at this point, but it’s still a weird aspect of the system and hopefully someone else can learn from my experience.</p>
<p>Your first year EFC might have been lower, but the second year would be higher still be higher (maybe not as high, if the EFC was lower, so your dad contributed less). If you are living at school, it might be a toss up as to who your custodial parent is - since your time at school is a temporary absence from home, but which home? If your mother isn’t contributing much toward your education, I would argue that your father is in fact supporting you, and might be better to list as your custodial parent. The difference between his income and assets might be offset by the treatment of his contributions (not counted as custodial parents, counted at roughly 50% as non-taxable support).</p>
<p>I hope you get a sympathetic aid officer. CTScoutmom has a point, and the aid officer may be able to help you sort this out.</p>