<p>This might sound sort of ridiculous, but I'm really trying to save as much money as I can so I figure it's worth looking into.</p>
<p>I live in a zero income household (no contributions from my family towards my education), but I have a sum of money in the bank. This money prevents me from receiving grants, like the pell grant. This is also the money I use to survive (food, housing, etc). and once it runs out, I will be in a more uncomfortable situation. </p>
<p>Is there any way for me to receive a pell grant while retaining this money? I don't mean to come off as greedy or as a thief; I only wish to pursue fair, legal options (if they exist). The sum is between 25-30k, if that helps.</p>
<p>Are you saying that your family has NO INCOME? If so, then if you were to fill out FAFSA, then I think you might have an auto 0 EFC and then your assets won’t count.</p>
<p>You say that your savings has prevented you from getting grants, what is your EFC?</p>
<p>Out of curiousity, how is it that your family has no money, but you have $25k?</p>
<p>I will add some information. Apparently my EFC was 0000 in the last fafsa report. Why I did not get financial aid, I do not know. My mother had handled my FAFSA at the time, and I was never informed by her or the school that I was eligible for Pell grants.</p>
<p>I would expect that I would receive the same EFC in the coming school year (as my mothers income and net worth have both dropped, as have mine) except for one significant change on my end. The sum of money I mentioned above has been transformed into liquid assets now (was “net worth” or “property” before), and based on EFC calculators I have used, this could affect the amount of money I am eligible for. I will see shortly whether or not this affects me or not.</p>
<p>For instance, I just used a calculator that said it could take 20% of my assets in calculating the EFC, despite my parental EFC being 0, putting my total EFC at over 5000. Is this correct?</p>
<p>The new FAFSA formula is on the web now. Google for EFC formula 2014 and you will get the link. Sit down with your mom and go through it together. If you are a dependent and your family qualifies for an automatic 0 EFC, what you have in the bank won’t matter.</p>
<p>As to why your school didn’t award you any Pell money with an EFC of 0, that is something you should get clarified at your own Fin Aid office. Stop by and ask about it today.</p>
<p>You will likely qualify for AUTO 0 EFC because your mom’s income is so low. That means that your assets will not get used at all in the calculation.</p>
<p>It sounds like you had an EFC 0 before, but you had a verification request that was never resolved.</p>
<p>First of all, your household includes your mother, her husband and any dependents living with them, unless you are age 24, have a dependent yourself, married, are a veteran of the armed forces or have a court order severing your ties with your parents. That you moved out and live on your own and don’t get or take a cent from your mother/dad, nor will they help you at all makes no difference for college aid. So unless you are in any of those categories, you are dependent on your family.</p>
<p>If you are independent, you do need to fill out the FAFSa, and see how it comes out. I don’t know off hand how assets will be handled for an independent student. Also how did you get this money? If you got it this year, will you have to report it for tax purposes? Is it something that the FAFSA form covers in terms of income? It didn’t “poof” just appear. It is income and depending on its source, if you go it this year, it may have to be a line item on the FAFSA you will need to fill out available 1/1. If you are filliig out FAFSA forms for this school year already in session, and the money came to you in 2011, you have the same issue. If you got it this year, it won’t be an issue for FAFSA currently being used for the school years running Fall 2012 through the Summer 2013.</p>
<p>So now if you are not independent now or in 2011, again this depends on for what time period you are filing, you need to get your custodial parent’s information. Did your mother fill out a FAFSA this year? Is your information also on it? The FAFSA requires two PINS, one yours and one your parent’s. Sometimes the two parts are done together with both people agreeing on this. If you are talking about the FAFSA that was or is filable in the 2012 calendar year, you need to find out if one was filed and what is on it. All this has to come from the financial officer of your school with whom you have to run all of this info. </p>
<p>IF your custodial parent (the one defined as either the one you spent the most time with, OR the one who makes the most money) has an income that does not make your familiy eligible for the Simplified Needs test, yes, 20% of your money as of the date the FAFSA was filed is added to your student EFC. Your total EFC is equal to your Parent’s EFC plus your student EFC. There is no EFC generated unless BOTH parent and student has their spaces on the form filled in if the student is does not meet independent critera. </p>
<p>So you need to know what is on file for you and if it is correct. If it totally wrong, it has to be corrected and you do that with the financial aid director at your school who is permitted to make those corrections.</p>
<p>Go to [Home</a> - FAFSA on the Web-Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.fafsa.gov%5DHome”>http://www.fafsa.gov). Look at your Student Aid Report. If the EFC is 000, and if there is no notation that you are eligible for a Pell grant, look at the answers to all questions regarding your degree type. Any answers that incorrectly classify you as either having a bachelors degree already or currently pursuing a graduate degree will make you ineligible for Pell. Of course, fixing that by correcting the answers will solve that problem. If your SAR indicates that you are eligible for a Pell grant but you did not get one from the school, here are possible reasons:
You did not register for Selective Service, if you are male. If you are female, you did not indicate gender; therefore, you are required to submit proof of gender to the school in order to satisfy the Selective Service requirement.
Your social security number and/or name do not match what is on file with your school - meaning your financial aid file did not match with a current student. Schools get a ton of FAFSAs for students who never apply or do not complete admissions applications — those FAFSAs that do not match a “good” student file just sit there, waiting for someone to match up with.
You were selected for verification and never completed your verification requirements. In this case, the school cannot award you aid until your verification is complete.</p>
<p>Call the financial aid office and ask what is going on. Only they can really help you.</p>
<p>The other thing that could be an issue is prior school performance. What does your transcript look like? Withdrawn classes, dropped coursed, bad grades could be a reason too.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your help! I have done a lot of research, and I think I may indeed qualify for an auto 0 EFC. I would assume that since I file my new FAFSA in January, any aid I am eligible for would be received starting in Fall 2013? Is a 0 EFC a guarantee for a pell grant, or will I be competing for it? Thanks again!</p>
<p>If you are a dependent student, your assets would not be considered if your parent falls under either the Simplified Needs Test or Auto 0 EFC formulas. If you are an independent student with no dependents other than a spouse, you cannot qualify for Auto 0 … but you can qualify for SNT, which ignores assets. </p>
<p>Pell is an entitlement. Your EFC dictates your award amount.</p>
<p>Did you look at this year’s FAFSA yet? If you should have had a Pell grant & don’t have it, it is NOT too late to get that fixed. Please look at the areas on your FAFSA I asked you to check out.</p>