Major Financial Aid Problem

Parents Forum
1

<p>Financial aid is critical for my college education. My family's financial situation, however, is a little complicated. I'm posting here to seek any advice and if anyone has had any similar situations to deal with.</p>

<p>*I am a senior in HS, permanent resident with a mom who just received citizenship, and resident of Georgia.
*I have a twin brother who is planning on attending college this fall as well (2007-2008).
*My parents are married.
*My father works in Germany; he lives there, pays bills and taxes, and has been doing so for the past four years. In the 1040 form, he has claimed tax exemption of his income (roughly $67,000), but only is able to bring back $2,000 when he comes back to the United States every other month- a total of $12,000 a year.
*My mother works here in the US and has an income of $45,000.
*According to the 1040 Form, the AGI is $43,838.</p>

<p>With this information, we completed the CSS Profile and used College Board's EFC Calculator to calculate an EFC of $10,000 (which we find reasonable with my father's circumstance)-about the amount my parents have saved for my education, thus, the max they can pay.</p>

<p>The horrible news came as I have just completed and submitted my FAFSA application. My EFC is now a surprisingly high $36,709!</p>

<p>What I think went wrong:
We did not know how to include that my father only brings $12,000 back a year and lives separately, so FAFSA did not calculate it correctly. </p>

<p>Because I have already submitted my FAFSA to half of my schools, what should I do? Should I contact the financial aid offices immediately? What should I tell them?
And for the other schools, how should I edit my FAFSA?</p>

<p>Thanks a lot everyone!</p>

2

<p>This is where you contact each FAid office and write a letter detailing these circumstances, with documentation to support it. You can ask for a review of your file due to these unique circumstances, but the schools may expect you & your twin to take out some substantial loans, because your parents do have a pretty high combined income. A lot will depend on the professional judgment that each school decides to exercise with regard to you & your brother.</p>

<p>Good luck! I'm sure other parents who have actually applied for FAid can give you better & more detailed advice.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the advice HImom! I'll try to get the documentation ASAP.</p>

4

<p>I agree with Himom about the need to contact every FAid office. Besides clarifying that your Dad only brings back/sends $12k a year, make sure to note that you have a twin. Even a total AGI of $112k before tax is going to be stretched by two sets of tuition, room and board.
You may also want to note that German taxes are significantly higher than American ones.</p>

5

<p>Good points. I greatly appreciate the help!</p>

6

<p>Income that can be tax exempted because of being earned overseas is not excluded on FAFSA - in fact there is a specific place to add it back onto the FAFSA form. I don't know the tax laws etc and why your Dad can only bring $2000 back. I know my Ds friends Dad is a contractor overseas right now and he has to declare all that income on FAFSA which makes her ineligible for AID. I don't know if you have a special circumstance that would make a difference but try talking to the finaid officers as HImom said. I will be honest and say that I doubt it will make a difference but I may not be completely understanding the situation.</p>

<p>There are several instances of income that is tax exempt but not 'FAFSA' exempt. For instance my husbands SS pension is not taxable but we have to show it on FAFSA and it is used in our EFC calculation.</p>

<p>Having said that the EFC sounds high for just you if there will be 2 in college (unless there are other assets). You did put family of 4 with 2 in college right? That would halve the EFC dividing it between the 2 of you.</p>

7

<p>That's where the mistake was. I put the household size as 3. People told me that since my father lives in Germany, he isn't included. I guess I was wrong =/</p>

<p>Because I have already included this in my FAFSA, is there any way I can edit it before my colleges process it? Can I delete it before the schools download it?</p>

8

<p>The 2 in college would halve it - not the number in family. That would only make a thousand or so difference. Sorry I was not very clear.</p>

9

<p>Yea, I put 2 as the number in college. I still don't understand why it is so high...
And in the other post, by finaid officer do you mean from the colleges? Or someone affiliated with FAFSA?</p>

10

<p>No it means the colleges' financial aid office. You may need to send an amended FAFSA if too much information on the first form is inaccurate or incomplete.</p>

11

<p>If your father's income is counted as family income, I would think that you should have a household of 4. It doesn't make any sense to include his income and exclude his (calculated) expenses. Otherwise, it looks like your mother is making all that income, and that may be why your EFC is so high.</p>