Newby Parent, question about FAFSA etc

Parent of two current high school juniors and so happy to have found this site! Enjoying the wealth of knowledge.

This is the first question of what I am sure will be many.
We are in the fortunate position of knowing we will not qualify for need-based financial aid. Is it necessary to submit FAFSA anyway? We’d rather not, simply because we prefer not to disclose personal business unnecessarily. But we would if there is a reason to.

Our kids are B+ students from a well ranked high school. No idea how merit aide works or whether they would qualify for any. But is it necessary to complete FAFSA to even be considered? So much has changed since my own college application process 30+ years ago, especially the concept that many offers come with merit discounts. Is this true even for B+ students?

Thanks!

You would have to check individual schools to see if they require the FAFSA to be considered for merit aid. Schools want that FAFSA information for their Institutional Advancement/Development office so they are going to make it seem necessary even if it’s not so you might want to contact the school directly if it seems ambivalent and you think you have a chance for merit aid. Schools value students that can pay their bill easily so they won’t hold it against you in the long run.

@TimeFlies2
We did not apply for financial aid for any school but one. My daughter was given a very large merit award from a school we did not request FA at, but she was told both the FAFSA and CSS profile were required to collect it. So we went ahead and did it. A huge pain, but in the end, a full tuition scholarship was worth it.

If you want/need unsubsidized federal direct loans, FAFSA must be completed (need is not a factor).

As already mentioned, this depends on the school.

It depends on the school. Scores on standardized tests will also be a big factor.

Some schools require FAFSA for merit consideration. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they look at need to decide. Some will, some won’t.

There are schools that have assured merit for stats. Look on their websites.

There are a number of mid-low-level privates that give merit out to virtually every “good student”. Some may say that these are just flattery awards, and they may be, but at least you wouldn’t be paying sticker price.

What types of schools do your kids like? Do they want to attend the same school?

Do you have a “per child” budget?

Do they have likely majors or career goals?

What is your home state?

When you say “B+” student, what is their GPA? 3.5?

Some institutions will not allow a student to apply for need-based aid in future years, no matter how severe the family’s financial reversal, if aid isn’t applied for as a freshman. So if you don’t have all four years of the money needed locked away in a safe place, verify the specific aid policy at the places that end up on your kids’ lists.

^^A student can always file the FAFSA and get federal aid. The school may not give out its own aid, but federal aid is available if the family wants the loans or qualifies for Pell.

This is very true for international students.

@happymomof1

For citizens, however, there are only a very small handful of colleges that have restrictions on applying for aid in subsequent years if you don’t apply as an incoming freshman.

Yes, do check the college policies. The one I can think of offhand is Skidmore…where IIRC, you can’t apply until junior year for institutional aid if you don’t apply as an incoming freshman. Is that still true there.

Hi TimeFlies. Great question. I had the same one. Also in a fortunate position of not needing FA. I did fill out the FAFSA initially because every school was different in terms of whether they required it for merit or not. And yes, it was a pain in the neck and I am still not sure I filled it out properly, to be honest. I also was very worried about my personal info because they leave no stone unturned. They even ask about the type of cars you drive, I think. And then they transfer your prior year tax info. So now, heading into the second semester/year for my child, I asked the school he wound up attending if I needed to fill out FAFSA for his merit-based scholarship to continue. After much back and forth, the answer is no. However, my other child will be going to school in 2020 so I will need to fill it out for him. The pat that stinks is that 2018 (which is when the tax year info would be considered) was a very good year – an anomaly. So it will artificially inflate my cost of attendance. That’s also a good reason to fill out he FAFSA every year since circumstances change. But if I didn’t get any FA with my first child, I certainly won’t with the second. Bottom line: Every school’s policy is different. Some require it and some do not. If your child is applying to a lot of schools, you may want to fill it out. Oh, and PS-- if you do fill it out, don’t be surprised when your cost of attendance is a much higher figure than you may have expected. I don’t understand how they come up with that amount, but it seems like they expect you to liquidate every asset, sell your house and cars and not pay your bills so you can “afford” a private school tuition, sticker price. Yes, I’m very fortunate to not need aid but I also couldn’t outright pay sticker price. Not by a long shot or without selling a kidney!

@WantWhatsBest

The FAFSA does NOT ask for types of cars driven. That is a supplemental question asked by some schools on the Profile.

And it’s prior prior year tax info…so for 2019-2020, it’s the 2017 tax year info.

If 2018 was a great year for you income wise, did you perhaps put aside some of the extra earnings for future college costs?

It sounds like you don’t understand that one of the major components in determining need-based financial aid is the number of children in college. If only having one child attending college doesn’t qualify for need-based aid, having a second child start college will increase the probability that need-based aid will be available for both children.

you don’t understand >>

Many parents are perfectly capable of running the numbers to confirm that there won’t be any money for multiple kids in college. Running NPCs from schools that kids just won’t get in is pointless, 3 kids in state school yields no FA for plenty of families. I suspect plenty of parents understand FA packages result in major gapping, loans, need as defined by the uni vs the family. For many families this is completely straightforward.

Thanks. Yes, I do understand that having another child in school will up my chances of FA. I won’t be getting any FA, even with that. I ran the numbers. I’m confident.

My comment was based primarily on the questions asked and conclusions stated by WantWhatsBest in a different thread. In that thread it was apparent to me that WantWhatsBest is relatively uninformed on the whole FA process (not a knock on WantWhatsBest; we all start there), and in this thread it wasn’t clear to me that WantWhatsBest has a good understanding of the impact that more children in college may have on need-based aid.