I may not be searching hard enough, but can’t find a thread discussing NPC results at highly selective schools and filing FAFSA. I have run many NPC and the numbers come out at or above COA at most schools. We are two high ($100k+) W-2 earners and have saved substantial amounts in 529’s for S24 and S26. My question is it worth time and effort to file FAFSA this fall for S24? I never look forward to filling out financial forms…are there high flying schools that require you to file FAFSA as part of the admissions package?
Have not heard of any. However, FAFSA would be required if the student wanted to take a federal direct loan. There are also some colleges which require FAFSA for some of their scholarships (possibly to ensure that a full ride scholarship + any possible Pell grant does not exceed the allowed amount which is the cost of attendance).
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There are also a few schools that give a small scholarship just for filling out the FAFSA.
But you don’t have to fill it out. No one can make you fill out financial aid forms.
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No, FAFSA and CSS are not required if you don’t expect to get any aid and don’t plan to take out federal loans.
The vast majority of schools that provide merit aid, will grant that aid without requiring these forms but I’ve read on these forums that there are a couple of exceptions. If unsure, you can write to the school in advance to confirm.
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Here is an example of a college that offers scholarships with the requirement of completing FAFSA:
https://www.tuskegee.edu/programs-courses/scholarships/freshman-scholarships
H fills it out for all just for the federal loans, but 3 of my kids received Covid aid from their universities just for filling it out (hopefully we can get through the next few years without another pandemic but just in case…)
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If your children won’t be taking out the federal loan and you know you won’t qualify for need based aid - there is no point in filling out the forms.
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I recall reading somewhere, and it maybe or may have not been on CC, that if you do not submit Fafsa when a kid applies as a freshman, then you may not be able to apply for federal assistance down the road if/when your financial situation changes. Is there any truth to this, or am I making this up?
Nope, not true. Federal aid is always available as long as the school participates in federal aid programs & the student meets the federal aid eligibility requirements.
It’s possible that there could be schools that have that rule for awarding their own money.
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If I do not have to submit fafsa or css, then how does a school know what I can or cannot afford to pay? How does a school determine what my EFC or NPC numbers are ? Or does a school simply say- our coa is X, your merit is Y so the cost to you is Z, thank you for applying to our U, we’d love to have your child attend here if you can afford it?
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Sounds like you’re unsure if you qualify for need based aid? If so, then yes you should fill out the FAFSA and CSS because the schools will need them to determine your aid eligibility.
Unless you’re applying to an auto merit school you cannot be sure you’ll receive any merit $$. So, if you don’t qualify for need based aid, the published COA is what you should expect to pay.
You mentioned highly selective schools in your OP. Most of them give no merit aid at all.
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Yup — that’s how it works if you don’t fill out the forms.
Each college has a net price calculator on their website. You can fill out a few of them to get a sense of what you might receive. Each school is different.
I should’ve phrased it ‘highly desirable schools with a historical record of merit aid awards’.
This makes me think if I do not provide fafsa or css, then the school will put the application into the full pay bucket and the kid may lose that already slim chance of receiving merit aid.
I believe FAFSA is also required for any potential work study eligibility. Even if you don’t expect significant aid, it can be an advantage to be a work study student on campus. Many jobs (research and otherwise) are preferentially offered to WS students since they cost the professors/managers 40 cents on the dollar.
Many, if not most, schools are need blind. The admissions office doesn’t know if you have applied for FA or not. Merit aid is usually awarded by the admissions office, not the FA office.
I’m not one who likes to give out personal info like income, obligations, SSN! but I got over it for student aid. If you are both W2 wage earners, the FAFSA is usually not that hard to fill out. Once you do it for Chid#1 for the first year, the remaining years should be easy.
If you might qualify for the financial aid, filling out the FAFSA probably make sense. Work Study funds are need based dependent so if you don’t have need, you won’t qualify for work study funds.
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By definition, merit aid is not need based. So your not filing these forms will have no impact on merit aid (except at those few schools that ask for these forms)
It sounds to me like you’re unsure whether you’re truly full pay or not.
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Of course, but I think it is still worth a try. FAFSA is very little effort. And I’ve known people who think they won’t qualify for aid who end up getting something. And circumstances sometimes change. If TheMobileMinecrafter is applying to ‘high flying’ schools s/he’ll probably need to submit CSS and quite possible institutional-specific stuff as well. I still say it’s worth the effort. NPC can be pretty good but better to go through the institution’s full evaluation to see.
OP stated a double income of $100K+ each. S/he didn’t say $300K+ each. That tells me OP could still be in the ball park depending on the situation. You can still get a Princeton grant if over $200K.
FYI - Only about 100 schools are need-blind so for some schools being full pay can give you an edge in admissions. Here’s one source: Colleges with Need-Blind Admission for U.S. Students. Here’s a NY Times Article on it: Another Admissions Advantage for the Affluent: Just Pay Full Price - The New York Times
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We did not fill out the FAFSA when applying. We did not qualify for aid and did not need loans. My kid received merit offers at a number of schools without it. If shelling out $93,000 per year is not of interest to your family, have a look at Jeffrey Selingo’s book Who Gets in and Why and Ron Lieber’s book The Price You Pay for College. Both have lengthy discussions on the matter and Jeffrey Selingo’s book also comes with a list of colleges that are buyers (offer merit aid) and sellers (don’t offer merit).
In the end, we filed out the FAFSA and sent it to a school she had already been rejected by because the high school counselor literally called, texted, and emailed every day for two weeks as she wanted 100% of the class to complete it. thankfully, it doesn’t take long to complete with the IRS retrieval (maybe 30 minutes). I think Fordham requires it for merit awards. I have heard that the CSS profile is a different beast though.
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