Need help with FAFSA EFC and whether my sister counts as a dependent

Paying for College
1

I attend a school that “meets full financial need” and I have gotten an EFC estimate from doing the most recent FAFSA. I have a sibling (age 22) in college and she also makes $22,000 a year as a waitress. In previous years, my sibling’s enrollment has cut my EFC in half.

For the most recent tax year (2016), my parents were not able to claim her as a dependent on the tax form because of her $22,000 income. I know that the FAFSA used 2015 income data this year when she was a dependent. I do not know if dependent tax status affects FAFSA EFCs. Do I need to notify my university? Will my EFC double because my sister was not a dependent for taxes in 2016?

2

Your sister is a dependent for federal aid purposes. Your institutional aid may change because the college will want to know how much your parents are paying for her to attend college. She will have a higher EFC because half of her 22k income will be added to her EFC next year if she is still in school

When is your sister expected to graduate.

3

Actually the sister should have about a $6400 income protection allowance plus any fed, state, soc sec taxes paid on her earned income, before the 50% towards EFC applies.

4

My sister is at a local community college right now but my college has been using the halved EFC from the FAFSA regardless of the amount that my parents are paying. She doesn’t qualify for aid but that’s not an issue because my college is a private LAC so it is exponentially more expensive.

I don’t know when she expected to graduate because she is frequently changing her course of study but she should be in college for the next 2 years at least.

5

The year that she turns 24, she will be independent

6

The sister’s EFC may go up, but OP should be fine. The FAFSA doesn’t ask how much the colleges of siblings cost, and you just put down how many are in college (only exception is a service academy - you can’t count that sibling). For OP, she completes her FAFSA with her parents’ income, her income and the fact that there are 2 in college. The sister’s EFC will be VERY different as she’ll have to include her income on her FAFSA, but will still get credit for a sibling in school.

Now your CSS is a different story. It does ask for the amount paid to the other school.