<p>I have assets that I use to live off of. They generate under 30k agi, but 43k if you include t/e income. All of this is under the 50k for the simplified formula. So I pay a good amount for my son’s college. After that, my agi and all income will be lower. I will eat more into the principle. I can last 15 years. Then if my pension fund (currently owned by the pbgc) kicks in, I’m okay with a little earnings. Otherwise, I can change my work structure to a non-profit organization and use my remaining assets to buy a facility that I can also live in. non-profits do not pay real estate tax, so my cost of housing is zero, the non-profit work would pay for food and I only need to come up with health care expenses. If your income can’t go up, you can drive your costs down. My analysis shows sufficient margin of safety to pull this off. The pell grants represent the margin of safety that can get my son through nyu. Without them, he will be on edge. Otherwise, going to Illinois would work even if he loses half his credits after a 1 year transfer. Not ideal, but for his purposes better than going to Albany now…</p>
<p>If your assets are earning just under $30K per year, they are very significant. </p>
<p>I’m still not sure how you qualify for filing a 1040A with significant unearned income as noted by you. BUT I’m not a tax expert.</p>
<p>REGARDLESS…NYU CAN ask you for asset verification when it comes to awarding THEIR money. If they see that your assets are as significant as you say they are, they will likely reduce their institutional award.</p>
<p>MY OPINION…I do not think you will get the Pell AND the institutional money also from NYU. They will use your Pell award (if indeed you are eligible for one) to reduce their instititutional aid to you.</p>
<p>I’m a current NYU student with a EFC of - while not quite zero - very little. NYU gives me $25,000 per year for 4 years, which is the maximum need-based CAS scholarship they offer to anybody. (A free ride is possible, but extremely rare - NYU counts me in the top 5 to 8% of my incoming class and neither I nor any of my friends in the same position were granted one of those merit scholarships.) Can’t complain about the $25k, but as the 3rd most expensive school in the nation, it’s worth considering where the other half is supposed to come from before you commit… (For what it’s worth, my experience thus far has made the cost entirely worthwhile!)</p>
<p>1040a allows t/e income on line 8a. I only need the pell grant though. The strategies were helpful.</p>
<p>Thank you Alyxzandra, the feedback helps. I am told you should try to get merit scholarships once you are already in the school. A number of people I know who went to grad school there were able to pull it off. You should ask around.</p>
<p>According to this link you only have a short time to decide:
[Early</a> Decision](<a href=“How to Apply”>How to Apply)</p>
<p>In the second paragraph it says “Again, admitted students will have roughly 2-3 weeks to review their financial aid package before confirming their enrollment at NYU.”</p>
<p>I am assuming your son got in ED1 because the decisions for ED2 don’t come out until after February 15.</p>
<p>I’m confused…
If your son accepts the ED offer he will have to withdraw all other pending applications, including Illinois. Yet you seem to be saying that if he gets a better package from Illinois he will back out of the NYU ED offer. </p>
<p>How will he be able to compare the Illinois package if he withdraws his application?</p>
<p>Basically, NYU has yet to give me a legitimate estimate of financial aid. The ED offer is a contract and generally you can’t enforce a contract with a stipulation of your approving the financial aid if they don’t tell you what the financial aid is. I spoke with an admissions officer who said if we find out later that we cannot afford nyu, they will let us out of the agreement. Since they have yet to complete their side of the agreement (telling me what my financial aid is based upon the way I am actually going to file fafsa - and I already told them what that is), I am under no obligation to withdraw the application from Illinois. If NYU responds to the fafsa application in a way where we cannot afford the school, my son is free to go to Illinois. If they give him the pell grant, he will go to nyu.</p>
<p>Their methodology assumes I will not file a 1040a. I told them I will and they refused to show how the package would look under those circumstances.</p>
<p>You are playing a very dangerous game here. NYU upheld their part of the ED contract by providing an aid award estimate to you. The fact that you don’t agree with it is irrelevant. </p>
<p>If you don’t withdraw the other apps per the contract you may very well find your DS going mo where to school in the Fall. The ED lists are shared. I’ve seen it happen. It will also negatively impact students at DS’s HS in terms of future NYU acceptances. Fact. </p>
<p>You can complain about the NYU fin aid process and methods all you want. The bottom line is it is a private school and they don’t have to give you a dime. No one is entitled to go there. </p>
<p>There are better options. Decline the ED and move on. </p>
<p>This thread should be stickied as a prime example of why ED is a bad idea if you need fin aid.</p>
<p>By their own admission, it is not reflective of how they will provide my financial aid based upon how they were told I would submit fafsa. It is based upon how they would like me to file fafsa irrespective of my actual circumstances. They are not authorized to re-write my fafsa application. I did not know they share information about acceptances with other colleges. If they found his applications, they might be inclined to reject him, but the ethics don’t stand up on their part. If they claim he violated the agreement to another college when in fact they are the ones who are not in compliance and he is rejected on that basis, I would think they are playing a dangerous game as well. I know I am solid on the ethics, but i will need to consider the practicality. And yes, it appears ed is a bad idea for people who need financial aid.</p>
<p>Okay, I am on my lunch break & don’t have time to sift though everything. Steve, here is the deal: If you take ANY deductions on the 2010 1040 that you would not be able to take if you filed a 1040A, you are NOT … I repeat, NOT … eligible to file a 1040A or a 1040EZ. Therefore, you are not a candidate for simplified needs or auto 0 if you do so (meaning, assets are required). How do I know this? I am a financial aid officer (not at NYU). </p>
<p>Should you choose to file the 1040A, that is your choice. In that case, NYU will evaluate your eligibility for FEDERAL aid using the formula that fits (be it simple needs or auto 0). If the EFC is 0 after verification, then you would get the Pell grant. However, the buck stops there … if NYU chooses to use asset info to determine your eligibility for institutional aid, they are absolutely within their rights to do so. Institutions may determine how they wish to distribute their own funds.</p>
<p>I am going to put a caveat here: If you file a 1040A but NYU has information in its files that indicate you are actually required by law to file a 1040, they will request that you submit an amended tax return using the 1040 in order to receive federal aid. I have to do this quite often with students whose parents each file head of household when they are married. This is an incorrect filing status, and it doesn’t matter that the IRS accepted the returns … I have information indicating that they are married & no information to indicate that they meet the regulations for filing head of household. Therefore, the federal financial aid regulations require me to withhold aid until the corrected returns are filed.</p>
<p>Thank you, that is very helpful. If NYU acts as you say, I will get a pell grant and my son will go there. I have asked them if this is what they will do and they refuse to answer.</p>
<p>Again…NYU may give you a PELL but they will likely deduct that amount from any institutional aid they have given you (that portion of your “need” would be satisfied with the Pell).</p>