My son is on a full tuition scholarship to our in-state public. Last year we had 2 in school, so even with the scholarship he qualified for a small subsidized federal loan toward room and board, which he took. Now that he is the only one in school, he will not qualify for any federal aid. He just got an email from the FAFSA folks saying that if he is returning to school he must renew his FAFSA. Is this required because he still has a loan outstanding, and does not want to begin repayment on it yet? Or are they just assuming that he will need aid again, and we don’t have to file since he does not?
I will check with the school, but I know he does not need to do FAFSA for his scholarship. I am just wondering if there is some reason he needs to do it because he has a federal loan outstanding.
My guess would be that this simply is standard practice for FAFSA, and has nothing to do with his particular situation. Lots of students aren’t attentive about their paperwork. But to be sure, have him pick up the phone and call his university.
Thanks, we’ll definitely have him check with the school. It looks like a standard form letter from the FAFSA folks to students who filled out a FAFSA last year but did not fill one out this year. But it is very strident, saying he “must” renew it, rather than that he must renew it if he wants to be eligible for additional aid or something like that that I would have expected.