<p>D got into Northeastern U. A couple of days later Drexel U sent us a letter espousing the virtue of their co-op program, saying that new fed. rules say any money made during co-op does not get counted in FASFA. Does anyone know anything about this?</p>
<p>Work-study income is not counted for FAFSA. I don’t know what Drexel’s coop program is, but would it fall under the same rule?</p>
<p>I don’t believe money earned during a coop term is considered work study. Most coop money is paid by the employer…not the school. Work study money comes from the federal government (in most cases) and is given to the school to pay out. Private companies that hire students do not receive work study money. This is considered income.</p>
<p>Interesting, Thumper. I just looked at the Drexel FA/Co-op page and it only says the co-op income will be excluded when calculating the family’s EFC. They don’t mention it being a FAFSA policy. Maybe they mean that for their internal calculations they’ll exclude it for purposes of determining an institution-specific EFC (as distinct from the actual federal EFC) – it’s kind of hard to tell from the webpage.</p>
<p>[Need-Based</a> Aid | Drexel at Burlington County College](<a href=“http://drexel.edu/bcc/admissions/financing/need-based/]Need-Based”>http://drexel.edu/bcc/admissions/financing/need-based/)</p>
<p>It would be nice if the schools excluded it when they were doing THEIR calculations.</p>
<p>My husband finished his degree as a coop student. He was hired by a private company each term and earned a salary with them. His was taxable income. We didn’t apply for financial aid (to be honest, I don’t think we ever thought of it…).</p>
<p>New regulations allow the exclusion of co-op earnings. It is taxable, of course, just like any other income. The student reports all earnings, but then they report the amount attributed to co-op in the section where things like child support paid, education tax credits, and work study earnings are reported. The effect is that the co-op income is excluded in the formula to compute EFC.</p>
<p>* then they report the amount attributed to co-op in the section where things like child support paid, education tax credits, and work study earnings are reported. The effect is that the co-op income is excluded in the formula to compute EFC.*</p>
<p>so, child support is excluded from the formula to compute EFC? Why is that?<br>
If so, that can mean that a CP can have a very low “income” but be getting mega child support from a wealthy ex and the CP still has a low EFC? That seems odd.</p>
<p>Child support received is not excluded … child support PAID gets excluded from available income, though.</p>
<p>And yes, a person receiving mega child support from an ex CAN still have a very low EFC if he/she qualifies under the auto 0 EFC formula. In that case, the child support received is ignored. Remember, the auto 0 formula is based on AGI.</p>
<p>M2CK, child support received is reported for FAFSA as untaxed income, but is not reported for tax purposes (and child support is not deductible for the NCP). Auto 0 is the only time that income would be excluded for FAFSA, but a low AGI isn’t the only qualifier needed. Auto 0 requires an AGI of $30K or less AND the ability to file 1040A/EZ (if required to file) OR dislocated worker status OR participation in one of the federal means-tested programs. Child support received does count as income for any of the federal means-tested programs (SSI, WIC, TANF, Food Stamps, Reduced School Lunches), so it’s likely the “mega-support” recipient would have to qualify under the tax filing or dislocated worker clauses. Idk how many actually could meet those conditions, but would guess that it’s a very small percentage.</p>
<p>Thanks Kelsmom!! That is good news for the coop students. I wonder how the Profile schools treat this.</p>
<p>I am willing to bet the do the same. It’s the same theory as excluding work study & grants/scholarships that must be reported on tax return … it’s really related to school & the program of studies.</p>
<p>so how does it impact EFC? if they ask me about how much student assets i have in the bank, say I earned 10k from a co-op, would I be expected to contribute 2k just because i have money in the bank?</p>
<p>The law changed when ODS was doing coop’s @ Stevens. The financial aid office removed the coop earnings from the financial aid calculations. His EFC went down.</p>
<p>Susgeek, they backed it off his savings too? I don’t see an exclusion for co-op savings from assets, unless they’re considered student financial aid:</p>
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<p>Since co-op earnings are not technically financial aid, any money in the account as a result of co-op earnings must be reported (of course, if any other aid was received during the term, one could say the money still in the account is attributed to that!). Paying the semester tuition prior to completing the FAFSA is a good way to spend down.</p>
<p>You could also use some of the co-op earnings to pay off any loans you had to take for prior semesters. If you do this before filing the FAFSA, your bank balance would be lower (and you’d be less in debt!)</p>
<p>yes i thought about paying off the loans part, but im thinking about buying a car sometime in march in preparation of my summer internship(very hard without a car on a job, so i kinda need to buy one). I was thinking maybe i can move the money to sibling’s account? and get it when i need it? </p>
<p>im paying 2-3k gap that loans didn’t cover in tuition, and 3k more goes to expensive for next school term, the remainder goes to the purchase of a vehicle. That’s my plan so far.</p>
<p>Moving it to your sibling’s name would be fraud if you are doing it to hide money that belongs to you. Why not buy the car before you file? That would be perfectly legit.</p>
<p>He didn’t have any savings from his earnings, as he had to pay living expenses since he didn’t live at home while he was working.</p>
<p>so bottom line is, co-op earnings impact EFC, if I save the $$?</p>