Some schools even give a bonus for filling out the FAFSA. I don’t know if they get bonus for having more students who complete it, but they seem to feel it is worth $1000/kid to have everyone fill them out. For $1000, I’d fill it out even if it takes some time.
I have one kid who attends a school that requires the FAFSA to get any aid. I have another whose school doesn’t require it, but they assume you will fill it out so don’t award any aid until you do. If you aren’t going to fill it out (and still want merit or state aid) I have to tell them I’m not filing
My kids went to a summer camp that required everyone to fill out the free lunch forms. The woman explained that many more people qualified than thought they would, and thus the camp got more money from the federal food program.
I think the best evidence that the “general consensus” explanation is off base is that many schools do not require completion of the FAFSA. If the consensus was correct more schools would require it.
And for many people, their income/AGI alone precludes them from Pell grants. It really is that simple.
@mom2collegekids I suspect that some people provide very rough estimates when filling out the form. They include a sample of assets but not everything. Will someone call them on it? Seems incredibly unlikely to me. They weren’t getting anything but pure merit aid and/or unsubsidized loans with what they included on their form; had they included everything, the answer would have been the same. Which is the reason I think the box check makes sense. From both the family/student and school perspectives.
Not sure why you feel you have to add this because no one is contesting the way the form works today.
I believe you have misunderstood me. I meant the general consensus of those who have opined here recently seems to be that for those schools that require FAFSA in order for merit aid to be rewarded, the reason is to make sure that no government need-based aid is left on the table. If you have some other idea of why this is done, then please share.
No, it’s not that simple. Income/AGI alone doesn’t tell the whole story.
That would be called fraud, if a FAFSA with “very rough estimates” is actually signed and filed. It’s stupid, and it’s a criminal act with potentially severe consequences. Do people do it? I’m sure they do, but I can’t think of any compelling reason that someone would.