Lowering EFC with multiple students per family

We have a larger family of 5. Both my wife and oldest son with be in college next fall. Son is going to a major state school and living on campus. But running thru the FASFA estimators, it seems I can lower our EFC from $13K to $8K or lower if a 3rd or 4th family member also attended college next year.

I already have my MBA/CPA but I’d be willing to take a couple additional undergrad credit courses if it mean significantly better financial aid for my wife and son. Possibly, my HS daughter could take some courses as well?

Has anyone done this? Did it result in better financial aid for the expensive student and cover the tuition cost of the additional student(s)?

What are the best online cheap/free schools that would qualify me as “student status” for the FAFSA? I took several credit courses from UNA in 2018 for about $500 per 3 hour course. Anything out there that’s even cheaper? Since I already have my terminal degree I don’t care about the reputation of the program - just that it will qualify me as a 3rd student in the family.

Won’t work. A parent of the student filing the FAFSA cannot be designated on FAFSA as a college student, even if the parent is taking college classes. And, your daughter can only be counted as a college student on FAFSA if she will attend, at least half-time in 2020-2021, a program that leads to a college degree or certificate.

But it will work for my wife’s FAFSA, wont it? Can’t students count their dependents who are students?

Yes, if all the FAFSA conditions are met.

Always count yourself as a college student. Do not include family members who are in U.S. military service academies. Include others only if they will attend, at least half-time in 2020-2021, a program that leads to a college degree or certificate.

If a parent is in a bonafide program , attending, getting the grades, not just picking up enough courses to get a financial aid break, I advise bringing the situation to the financial aid directors of the daughters’ school choices, and ask for a professional judgement. I’ve seen them granted.

I was told by a fin aid director some years ago when FAFSA stopped including parents as other dependents in schools , that the change was made because too many folks took advantage of the situation but that those who are truly in some program should request exception, professional judgement.

Really? Some other parent is going to go to college at least half time as a matriculated student to reduce the college costs for that parent…maybe?

Remember…colleges that don’t meet full need for all might not care one bit about an additional student in college when it comes to awarding need based financial aid. When our second kid enrolled in college, our first kid got $250 more merit aid and no need based aid. His EFC was $22,000 less.

Your college son isn’t going to benefit from any parent enrolling in college. Your wife MIGHT get some additional aid when the son enrolls. No guarantee of that! And no guarantee of additional aid if you enroll.

@ColoradoCPA - I’ve been reading these forums and posts for 5 years or so now, and trust me, I’ve thought of so many ideas, and read about so many posts on how to lower the EFC; but it’s very very very hard unless you just cut your income. Pretty much any loophole has been closed. AND - a lower EFC really means nothing if you are at 95% of the colleges in the US. There’s really only a handful of colleges that will give grants to cover the costs of colleges minus your EFC. But I’ll keep reading; maybe you or someone else will come up with a legal idea to get more financial aid that works!

Obviously, it does not work for all colleges, because most do not meet full need anyways. But for starters you have about half the FAFSA EFC you would have had, if you have two students in college. That can drop you into a level of getting some additional aid at some schools. That can qualify a student for some state and college grants, work study, subsidized interest in part of Direct Loan.

It’s one of those things you have to request from each college as it is a PJ.

@cptofthehouse this poster isn’t talking about another kid in college. He is talking about adding a parent. This will have zero impact on need based aid for the student. Parents in college don’t count one bit on the student fafsa

It will only affect the other parent IF the parent college meets full need. And this second parent would need to be a matriculating student.

Your high school daughter would need to be a degree seeking student. Plus a couple of courses won’t matter. She needs to be enrolled at least half time as a matriculated student to count on her siblings fafsa.

Same with you. Taking a couple of courses won’t matter at all for the college student’s fafsa…or for your spouse. You need to be a matriculates student

A CPA can start moonlighting during tax prep season to pick up extra income. That’s going to be a bigger help in paying college costs (even after-tax) than gyrating your financial aid status since most colleges won’t care at all about what you qualify for beyond Pell-- since they don’t meet full need and can’t afford to give you what you want financially. For the same hours you’d be taking random college classes, you can be generating cash with a MUCH higher rate of return!

Let your HS kid stay a HS kid. It’s just too hard to get a HS kid enrolled as a degree seeking student- while in HS- to legitimately qualify as a college student.

I know. But a professional judgement can be requested when a parent is attending school. I know folks who have gotten them when parent was in what was considered a substantive and serious college program. I know of a current case—mom going to law school. My close friend getting her PhD in Educstion. Both got PJs from their DDs’ school to have that counted as another student in college

Back in early 2000s, parents of students did count as additional family member in college on FAFSA. I was told when the change occurred that it was due to abuse of the provision. That may or may not be true as it is just one fin aid officer who said this and could be just opinion.

But that Professional Judgement can permit inclusion of parent as an additional college student is a fact. It does depend on the Fin Aid Officer , circumstances, and college

The student’s EFC is not effected by by having a parent who is attending college.
However, the parent who is matriculated in a degree program, who has a child also attending college,

This parent is thinking about taking a class or two. Unless he is a matriculated student, this won’t count…at all. And professional judgment won’t make this different.

Please tell when this happened and at what college @cptofthehouse as this is definitely not what happens now.

@kelsmom @BelknapPoint