<p>This year is the first year I'm not eligible for Pell grant, I suspect because I got a job (only made $6k this year) and my mom made about $1-2k more annually. I was wondering would it be worth it to apply to need-based scholarships?</p>
<p>Yes, if you need them then you should apply for them</p>
<p>Earning $6k would not take away Pell. Students can earn up to $6k w/o affecting EFC.</p>
<p>Was some of that work-study? </p>
<p>Do you have savings this year? Was any of it from Work Study earnings?</p>
<p>How much Pell did you get last year? IF your mom only earned $1-2k more and you lost Pell, then your Pell award must have been small. </p>
<p>what was your EFC last year and what is it this year?</p>
<p>Mom2college is correct. How much more than $6K did you make? As a dependent, about $6K is allowed before counting your income towards the EFC, and work study proceeds do not count. Make sure you set up an account with your mother primary on it, and put your money there so it is reported as her assets–you can reimburse her for expenses she paid on your behalf, and she can use this as fund to pay for your college, because a parent gets an asset protection allowance and is hit only 5.6% of assets over that whereas you are hit with 20% of assets you have on the day you fill out FAFSA with no allowance.</p>
<p>EVen if you do not meet Pell eligibility, there can be other awards for you, including subsidy of student loans while in school, work study, and possible school funds.</p>
<p>@cptofthehouse: Thanks for the advice. I’ll discuss that with my mom! Unfortunately all my money came from retail jobs, so that may have been why. I made about $6,200.</p>
<p>In any case, my question is: will need-based scholarships even consider me if this is the case? Since the government thinks I can pay for school, will need-based scholarships consider other things like mortgage, bills, gas, etc.? I live with my grandparents + my mom so we are the only two bringing in money/food, will they consider that too?</p>
<p>My EFC is 09746. My Pell Grant last year was a tiny amount, I believe $300? I received a $1k grant from my school, but I have not seen this grant pop up this year on my financial aid page yet so maybe I’m not eligible for it this year. :(</p>
<p>Most aid will be coming from your school and if they do not guarantee to meet need, and few schools do, it’s up in the air how much of it, the school will meet. Unless your school also requires other info your need would be defined as COA (cost of attendance, the official figure the school gives the federal government) minus EFC. So you are several thousand dolllars over the PELL point. </p>
<p>Here is the way it usually works. Most schools, and I am including the absolutely most generous ones who say they guarantee 100% of need, expect a student to pay MORE each year as they move up the ranks. A $1000-2000 increase in what the student is expected to come up with out of pocket is not at all unusual. If you look at the Direct Student Loan amounts, they even reflect that, with an increase from freshman to sophomore year amounts that one can borrow. Of course, the fact that the costs have gone up makes it more expensive as well. That is one reason, out of many, that students who board at school will look for cheaper living situations, rather than living in university housing after freshman year, and buy groceries rather than meals.</p>
<p>So, it would not be at all unusual for a school to decrease what they gave you from the prior year, even with all things being equal. </p>
<p>Where you made your money is immaterial. The formula for student EFC is fixed. I believe it is 50% of income over $6K plus 20% of assets. Simple as that for your part of the EFC. </p>
<p>If your grandparents are considered dependents on your mothers tax returns and so claimed on the FAFSA, she gets a larger asset protection allowance. That’s all additional dependents who are not full time college students will do to the numbers. </p>
<p>Need based scholarships can vary widely. Some will take need into heavy consideration, some only as a factor. Many are merit within need, or need within merit. So it will depend upon the scholarship. I was on a scholarship committee where things were given a numerical weight, and so, yes, need counted. You have need you got an extra point. Need over $X, another point. But points were also given for about a dozen other things, and it was possible and happened all of the time that someone even with NO need got the award since they got more points even without the 2 points allocated for need. We only had discretion over the ties and with 2 points on the assessment scale, I believe. But that was for a particular award from a particular organization. </p>
<p>So your job is not what put you way over since it only counts for about a hundred or so in terms of upping your EFC and you are more than $4K over the PELL threshold.</p>