<p>I filled out the FAFSA once in 2012, when I only had 1 child in college, plus paid some for my step-child, but never completed it, because we knew we wouldn't get any financial aid. With another kid going this fall, I'm thinking it's worth completing the forms. But I have some very basic questions. For example, do I fill it out once for each child? How do I indicate that we also pay for another child that doesn't live with us, and will that even help our chances of getting financial aid? My husband is still paying child support, even though his daughter is 22, because of extenuating circumstances. I didn't see anyplace to indicate things like this on the form. Is it normal or reasonable to look to colleges for help completing the form? I'd call the school where my son is a sophomore, not where we haven't committed yet. Are there any free or very inexpensive places to get advice on filling out the form? If anyone can point me in the right direction I'd appreciate it. Thanks</p>
<p>You fill it out once for each child. You cannot count a child who has not lived with you at least 51% in the past twelve months, regardless of whether or not you are contributing to college for that child (and by the way, that child is expected to report the amount you paid for him/her for college on his/her FAFSA: “Money received, or paid on your behalf (e.g., bills), not reported elsewhere on this form. This includes money that you received from a parent whose financial information is not reported on this form and that is not part of a legal child support agreement.”) — although I am not sure if that child is in school (if not, you still don’t count her, but the stuff in the " " is not relevant). If your H pays child support, there is a place to report that on the FAFSA. You can ask a college to help you complete the form — I do it (help people fill out the FAFSA) all the time. You can also look for FAFSA Days in your area, or call a local high school to see if they are having a financial aid night soon - usually there is a session for filling out FAFSA, run by a financial aid officer from a local college.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. I am fairly certain we won’t get anything other than the ability for my son to take out a student loan by doing the FAFSA. Based on your input, I do plan to call the college and tell them our rough numbers, just to make sure they agree with our assessment.
One more question… Is the interest rate savings going through the government generally pretty significant, even for relatively “small” loan amounts? (Assume 15K total, for the sake of discussion). We will not qualify for subsidized. </p>
<p>Your son should take advantage of federal loans due to the flexible repayment options. If you can pay the interest on the unsubsidized loans during school, that helps keep his repayment lower.</p>
<p>Thanks again. More paperwork… But I suspected that would be the answer. </p>
<p>Filling out the FAFSA will only get him $5,500 in federal loans. If you need the $15K that you mentioned for his freshman year, you will also need to apply for a Parent Plus loan. The direct loan (the 5.5K) will be in his name only, so you are off the hook for those unless you choose to help him repay them. The PP loan will be in your name and you would be responsible for those. The other option (and most expensive in terms of interest rates most likely) would be to cosign a private loan with him.</p>
<p>“Based on your input, I do plan to call the college and tell them our rough numbers, just to make sure they agree with our assessment.”</p>
<p>What is the NPC on the school’s website telling you? </p>
<p>It can get confusing with combined families. You only fill out FAFSA for the student if you/spouse are the custodial parents BY FAFSA DEFINITION . In other words, if the kid lived with you more than the other parents for the last 12 months. It doesn’t matter who is claimed on taxes, who paid the most, who is named in the divorce documents. If the kid lived with you more than the other parent, you are the one who fills out the FAFSA, not the other parent. And spouses are joined in this undertaking. </p>
<p>However, with some foresight and planning, if both families live close enough and/or if the student is spending close to the same amount of time with both parents, it’s a smart idea that he spends one night more with the parent (and step) that will yield the most money, ie , making less, having less. My friend did that with her spouse. The kids lived with her and her husband and spent maybe weekends and a couple of weeks over the summer with the ex who makes very little money, and lives with his parents–doesn’t even make enough to have his own place. But come junior year, baby, it became a definite advantage for college bound son to spend 3-4 nights a week at grandparent/dad’s place and half the summer there too since Mama and stepdad makes well into 6 figures and Dad makes under $30K. Made about $20-30K a year in aid difference to do that , so, oh yeah, once it gets down to college time, it can make some difference to plan. For PROFILE schools, doesn’t make as much difference as they tend to get everyone’s income and assets, both parents and steps as well. But even then, some schools that use both sets of parents will not hit up the NCPs as hard as they do the CPs. So it still can make a difference to have the CP be the lower income parent. It also makes it more likely to get all federal loans on a subsidized basis.</p>
<p>However, when you fill out the FAFSA for those kids who are living with you the most so that you and spouse ARE the custodial parents, the rule is that when it comes to the question of household size, you can include those other household members for whom you are providing the necessary support but for whom you/step are not the Custodial parents by FAFSA definition . This can lead to a student being counted as belonging to two different households. IRS tax return rules do not allow this double reporting, but FAFSA allows the double dipping… So if you/spouse are non custodial for FAFSA purposes, and there are college aged children of either of you for whole more than half the student’s support is provided, you get to list the student s a member of the household even though student is also listed by the custodial parent. Before you get too excited about this apparent double dipping, let me just tell you that it doesn’t amount to much in terms of getting money, as it only affects the asset protection allowance which is calculated by the age of the older household parent and the number of dependents. So a double counted kid isn’t likely to amount to a hill of beans in terms of additional aid awarded. But, yes, it is a quirk that you can have a kid who you can claim as part of your household on FAFSA when you complete for your other kids for whom you/spouse are FAFSA custodial parents, but you/spouse ARE NOT custodial parents and do not have to fill out FAFSA for that “dependent”.u</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I have what I need for my situation.
We want my son to take the amount he’s allowed to for the next couple of years, thus the 15K, but we can/will cover the rest. The college EFC calculator is hard for the one I want to take the loan, because it’s really designed for freshmen. But if I plug in general numbers it says we get nothing but the loan amount. </p>