New FAFSA for graduate school or renewal? And getting married before I begin graduate school.

Paying for College
1

Hi there,
I have two main questions.
1.) do I do an entirely new FAFSA for graduate school, or do I renew it?
2.) I am gettin gmarried in March 2016. Should I wait to do my FAFSA after I am married or before? I do not want any issues to arise.

extra question: If I am living with my finace as of January 1 and he is the one working, not I, how sould I enter things on my FAFSA? I want to fill it out concisely and accurately. Prior to this, I was supporting myself with student loans, no help from anyone else.

2

File FAFSA as an independent single if you file before you get married. No problems with that…and don’t include fiance’s income…you’re not married.

You don’t use parent info…only your own.

Be aware that aid for grad school is loans, so it probably won’t make much difference.

3

You file one FAFSA for the award year; for example from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.

No more Pell Grants.

4

Thanks for the help. I really wish I didn’t need loans, but I do to supplement the difference and to survive in an area with few jobs that are feasible while in grad school. To be clear, are there filing deadlines for FAFSA for grad school? And I should just file a renewal, but at at new school correct? What if I’m not working right away or get a job after I file? It’s all based on the day one files correct–finances I mean.

5

What degree is this?

all based on the day you file…and job income will be based on 2015 income.

6

History. I’m just confused about the FAFSA for grad school process. If it’s a renewal only, that seems easy enough.

7

And I did not file this year as I used up my grants and had to pay with credit card for my last 3 classes. So, I won’t be filing until next year for the 2016-2017 aid year.

8

If you didn’t file a FAFSA, how would you do a renewal?

9

I did from 2010-2011 to 2014-2015 years. I used my maximum Pell for the 2014-2015 term, so I had to open a credit card to pay for my last semester. Does that mean I have to do my FAFSA from scratch? Or do I renew?

10

FAFSA isn’t really a renewal. You can import some of the data, but the application is based on the current income and assets and not what you received in a prior year.

When you log on, you can use your email and pin from the prior year. If you did not file for 2015-16, you’ll probably need to get a new ID and password anyway because they changed the system last spring.

11

Right…all that really gets carried over is the demographic information…name, address, etc. You still need to enter all of the current financial information. That is done fresh for each FAFSA form.

What did you think got carried over from year to year? The whole form, and all of the answers? That is not the case.

12

Does FASFA only use prior year tax returns? They won’t use tax returns from two years ago right?

13

Your 2016-2017 FAFSA will be based in the financials from the 2015 income tax returns.

They are in the process of changing the FAFSA availability to earlier…so the following year (for the 2017-2018 school year), it will be available in the early fall of 2016, and will also use the 2015 tax return information.

14

Don’t overlook jobs at your college, teaching assistant and other positions may be available.

15

I’m waiting for my offer packages to come in. I might need loans the first year as I won’t be a resident.

16

When are you starting the program?

Does your fiance already live in that state? If so, then often you’ll gain residency as soon as you marry…look into that.

17

Unfortunately no. We are moving together. We are marrying after March 1, which I know is the deadline for FAFSA priority. Will that cause me to lose out on anything, if I need to take out a loan?

18

If all you need is a Direct Loan, don’t fret about the March 1 deadline.

19

Did you take summer courses in any of the years? You said you filed FAFSA 2010/11 to 2014/15. That’s only five years. I thought Pell was available for up to 6 years or 12 semesters?

20

The Pell Grant cannot be used for Master’s degree programs.