<p>Is there a level of income where one is likley NOT to get FA...I have friends who i thought made some good $$$$ and they have gotten FA(not merit)...We didn't file for FA,as taxes were not ready and when we filled out online Fafsa,it looked grim for FA..Any insight?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I think everyone at least gets the unsubsidized Stafford loan regardless of income. There’s no actual set income cutoff because there’s more things that go into the FAFSA (and even more that go into the CSS) besides income such as assets, the number of children in college, and the cost of attendance at the college in question. You really should try the FAFSA if you need any aid at all; you might not get a Pell grant but you can get relatively favorable student loans and some colleges require the FAFSA for even non-need based merit aid.</p>
<p>The most extreme example I can think of is Princeton, where incomes over $200,000 can qualify for substantial FA. But then again, Princeton is an expensive school with perhaps the most generous need-based FA in the country.</p>
<p>[Princeton</a> University | Who Qualifies for Aid?](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/how_it_works/who_qualifies/]Princeton”>http://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/how_it_works/who_qualifies/)</p>
<p>It is very much school dependent, so check with the individual schools.</p>
<p>The cutoff at Harvard is $180,000 per year, I think Princeton and Yale are similar. The families who earn more than that and receive financial aid have extenuating circumstances, like medical expenses. standrews is right, these schools offer the most generous financial aid in the country. That means if you earn more than $180,000 then even at Harvard you won’t receive any financial aid. The cutoff goes down from there at other schools.</p>
<p>If you thought that you wouldn’t be eligible for need-based assistance based on your income then you are probably right. Maybe your friend doesn’t make as much money as you thought.</p>
<p>Sometimes it can depend of the COA of the school. A student may not get any aid for a school whose COA is - say - $30k, because his family’s EFC is $30k. However, that same student could get $20k in aid at a need-met school that has a COA of $50k.</p>