<p>thumper, 45k is what I am calling 'regular income'. The 42k is the lump sum sev after taxes that is sitting in the bank--I mean, *was * sitting in the bank since we are spending it each day. How the sev lump sum is treated by FAOs is what is under discussion. If it is treated the same as regular income, then no FA. On the other hand, if it is looked as an asset in the bank, FA is significantly different. </p>
<p>They have the discretion to treat it either as an asset or as income, from what I hear (but I wonder if that simplified needs test stuff that I copied above plays a rational factor in this decision). If they have such discretion, then what would determine whether they exercise that? How well the college likes the applicant (I mean, the *sup*plicant! is there no end to the begging process here)? Where they are in the process? How well they like you? I wanted to rule out the last as a factor so I was very likable. That is a bit disconcerting.</p>
<p>One thing that is going in this swirl of stuff is that I look at college as one four year thing. FA looks at it as a one year at a time thing (4 things). FA sees one year only. In the short term, the sev is money enough, but would not be wise to commit to something so expensive without knowing how we'll pay for it the next year. But I guess college or the paying for it part, does not seem so wise (ironically). This might explain the rather dismal avg 4 yr grad rates at US colleges, well under 50 pct. It is as if people are making a 4 yr committment, without the ability to pay beyond one year.</p>
<p>I am a computer programmer/analyst in Chicago.</p>
<p>Just a thought...I knew another computer programmer/analyst and it was suggested that he look at jobs in hospital IT departments. Good working conditions, decent enough pay and good benefits.</p>
<p>Good luck to you...I hope this all gets sorted out. And most of all, I hope you find a job soon.</p>
<p>A couple of thoughts:</p>
<p>If your severance is 12 months pay, and if you don't have it yet (maybe you do) could you defer some to 2009 income? To keep things leveled out? Could you defer some to an employer retirement plan- where it does not show in your income?</p>
<p>If it is one year's salary, you are luckier than many, as you do have effectively 12 months buffer to fine a new good job, you can take those marginal jobs along the way, but a FAO is going to assume you will have a new decent job in a year.</p>
<p>We had a self-employer income fluctuation and because it is self-employment, they told us first that they would consider it, but when the awards came out, they told us they could not consider it until the end of the year when they see what actually happened. So, assume you file the 2008-09 FAFSA based on 2007 income, but that income is high. In Feb 2009 you give the FAO your 2008 tax return and they can review and ajust your 2008-09 package.</p>
<p>Been there done that. It was not fun but we did get through it and it all turned out OK in the end. But of course we do not know that while we are going through it. </p>
<p>H lost his job midway (January) through D's senior year in high school, after her apps were all in. He got a cash payment plus 6 months severance (had been with the firm for 17 years). My part-time income was relatively modest.</p>
<p>I can't even now believe we did this, but we supported D in going to her first-choice pricey LAC with zero financial aid. (We did have money put aside for her college expenses, but not enough to get her through four years - perhaps 1 1/2 years). I took on a full-time position that paid less than the cost for a year at her college.</p>
<p>The college told us we would not qualify for aid the first year because H's income for the previous year was high. The next year they told us that they assume that someone who is out of work will eventually get another position at a comparable salary, so no aid granted then either. They suggested we re-mortgage the house to pay the college costs. (Right, after the severance ended, and we were drawing down our long-term savings, we should add to our monthly expenses????) We were told we could ask that our situation be reconsidered if H did not have a job by the middle of D's sophomore year.</p>
<p>H did end up getting another comparable job, but it took 15 months. We did save one semester's expenses by having D do an independent junior year abroad experience during which she got paid instead of a school-sponsored one for which we would have had to pay. </p>
<p>Our experience was not fun or easy but we are very grateful that it worked out. Despite the lack of financial aid, D's college experience was life changing and worth the leap of faith we made in going ahead with the original plans despite the job loss. </p>
<p>Not at all sure I'd have such faith today; I'd probably be more conservative. (D graduated from college in '06 and is happily employed with an excellent job in her field.) </p>
<p>Hope it works out OK for you. Please continue to keep us posted.</p>
<p>thanks for the tips and the sharing of lay-off experiences. It is profitable to listen to others who had similar conditions and how paying for college was impacted.</p>
<p>the severance has been deposited already.</p>
<p>thumper, I thought that hospitals wd be good choice, too. waiting on hearing from one of them. Another possibility is to work for a college! If you can't beat 'em, then work for 'em! And maybe another of our kids can even get a break.</p>
<p>But as another poster suggested, I pretty much need a job at least like the one when I posted the 2007 FA figures in order to pay for college - so it is more than A job., </p>
<p>--wait a minute: how flexible is FA for years 2-4? If I do not get a job that gives money commensurate to the 2007 EFC, will the college FA be adjusted to reflect this new EFC? If it is, there is no guarantee on the composition of the FA? Cd it be all loans, for example? Another poster above said that FAOs assume you will get a job with pay comparable to the one that they gave your initial FA award. What happens if this does not happen? Can they kick the kid out of school ?</p>
<p>I recall during the admissions phase, it was said on a CC thread that a college CAN deny someone for not being able to pay for college. Then the question is after a student has been admitted in yr 1, eg, can they kick out the student afterwards?</p>
<p>Also, fyi, the colleges that I are talking about are around mid 50-60 LAC (usnr), not elites and not stateU's.</p>
<p>JCD-in theory you have the potential to "double dip" for this year. Look at it this way, you have already made your 2007 income (actually more) in just 4 months of 2008. If you secure a job by July you have 6 months additional income. Yes your EFC will be very high for one year and you likely we get no FA, but the bottom line is you will have made more money. If this occurs, I would suggest you bank the remaining unused severance and go back to living on your wages. Getting a job at middle age can be tough, but you have skills that transfer to most industries and live in a good employment area (comparative to other towns).</p>
<p>joecollegedad - </p>
<p>communicate this information directly to the school's financial aid office.
Look on the school's financial aid website for the "appeal process" or call financial aid today!!!</p>
<p>My daughter's school has an appeal process - just for people like you. They may be able to qualify her for more aid this year.</p>
<p>Good luck - sorry about the job loss. btdt.</p>
<p>JustA-thanks, and I have communicated this to two of the top three admitted schools in my daughters list. One said the appeal wd be denied now due to the severance amount. It was further said to try an appeal again in December (assuming we pick this school of course) on the idea that, the FAO said, at that time the severance will have run out (!). I can't wait til the severance runs out; then I can appeal. :) Something does not quite make sense here. When we run out of money and are working at taco bell at 2:30 am, that's when we should do an FA appeal? Harold and Joecollegedad at WhiteCastle.</p>
<p>Pete- yes, that is the upside -IF I can get a job like the old one. </p>
<p>And, One of the things that was just right about the old job was that i cd take the train in and we cd still use our 14 yr old 180k car, a HUGE savings. If I found a job that required a car, that wd be that much more the job would have to have to pay for the overhead of owning and maintaining it in order to get me to the 2007 EFC. Recall that college FA does not take into consideration car expenses.</p>
<p>[ironic aside: On the subject of car, that is one of the ironies of the paying for college process. For my EFC of 20k, it wd be like buying a car 4 years in a row (plus another 8 yrs/ 8 cars in a row for the next two kids). I found this supremely ironic since I cd not buy even one real car, and then I'll have bought 12 of 'em]</p>
<p>scout59 said--</p>
<p>
[quote]
I finally found something in a completely new field paying less than half of what I used to make,
[/quote]
</p>
<p>scout, you said that this would be your 2nd go at FA. Do you think that your FA will be adjusted to reflect the new, lesser income? you can always pm if you want, but it is telling on the whole process, methinks.</p>
<p>Hey, JCD - I sent you a PM!</p>
<p>I am curious, what if the severance occurs before May 1st in a high school senior year? Can schools offer you scenario estimates (if you find a new job, if you don't, if you find one with half the pay... ) to make an informed enrollment decision?</p>
<p>In our experience- the school did not change anything, until the situation had actually changed & they wanted documentation.</p>
<p>If we had, had a year income sitting in the bank, nothing would have changed.
As it was, they wanted not just the pink slip, but the first paycheck indicating layoff & then the first paycheck at the lower pay scale, then they changed the aid package but they did it immediately as soon as they received documentation that a reduction had occurred.</p>
<p>joecollegedad, my efc during the course of my son's college will be more than I have spent on all cars I have owned, plus insurance, maintenance and gas since I got my first car in 1982</p>
<p>1991 honda civic (which I got in 1998) is still kicking....</p>
<p>I think the PROFILE did ask what cars we had, ( but it isn't for the expense but the asset)
at the time we had a 38 year old 1/2 ton pick up ( still have it 6 years later)& a 9 yr old minivan that had gone through three transmissions :p. We finally got rid of the minivan a few years later- freshman year, when we took D to move in, our moonroof didn't close all the way and you had to wear your raincoat with the hood up to not get water down your neck!</p>
<p>at the risk of more digression</p>
<p>jcd said on 4-26</p>
<p>
[quote]
joecollegedad, formerly joemiddleclassdad, can, and will, get two or three more ft min wage jobs....while we are destroying and then rebuilding Bahgdad...but I digress
[/quote]
</p>
<p>then there was the news item 2 days later about the us admin asking for 100 something billion more for rebuilding iraq. It rang a familiar chord, so I thought I'd post it here.</p>
<p>
[quote]
BAGHDAD — As Congress gears up to debate the Bush administration's latest request for an additional $108 billion in war funding for Iraq...
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Iraq:</a> U.S. has no claim to oil boom -- chicagotribune.com</p>
<p>Just think of what even a fraction of all those billions expended thus far could have been used for...for better financial aid for more people, including those advesely affected by the recession, infrastructure improvements for the k-12 schools, and more.</p>
<p>720 MILLION A DAY. it boggles the mind</p>
<p>Facts</a> and Figures : Cost of War: Wage Peace Campaign : AFSC</p>
<p>Calculations for the video and banners</p>
<pre><code>* Health Insurance for an adult costs $4,403 per year. $720 Million could cover 163,525 people.
The average cost of a new elementary school is $8,497,627. $720 Million could pay for 84 brand new schools.
It costs $624 to give a child free school lunches for a year. $720 Million could buy lunch for 1,153,846 kids.
An affordable housing unit costs around $111,061. $720 Million could buy 6,482 homes.
A year of Head Start costs $7550. $720 Million could open 95,364 new slots.
The average cost of renewable electricity for a home is $565/year. $720 Million could pay for 1,274,336 homes to have it.
An average school teacher’s salary is $57,000. $720 Million could put 12, 478 new teachers in the classroom.
The average cost of a four-year state university is $20,628. $720 Million could put 34,904 students through college.
Health insurance for a child costs $1,700 per year. $720 Million could cover 423,529 kids.
Based upon the work of Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and his colleague Linda Bilmes, the per day cost of the Iraq War for the first 4 years has been $720 million.
Per unit costs are based upon research done by the National Priorities Project.
</code></pre>
<p>Frequently Asked Questions (Download the PDF of FAQ)</p>
<p>Q. How did you come up with $720 million for one day of the Iraq war?</p>
<p>The Iraq War supplemental funding bills passed by Congress comes to $410 billion for four years or about $280 million/day. The additional $440 million/day represents the costs already incurred but not yet paid for such as paying the interest on the war debt, caring for the wounded, replenishing military equipment and rebuilding Iraq. These future costs are based upon the work of Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. In a Milken Review update to an article first published in the National Bureau of Economic Research, Stiglitz and Bilmes calculated the costs that have already been incurred and will come due in the future.</p>