Parents-question about f. aid after gap year

Parents Forum
1

For those of you that had kids take gap years and who qualify for need-based aid, was the f. aid package after the gap year lower than the one offered before the gap year? If so, what was the justification?

I’m particularly interested in hearing about schools that meet 100% need.

Thank you.

2

Provided the institution’s formula and the total family financial situation have not changed, the aid won’t change.

3

My kid did not take a gap year, but he did attend an institution that genuinely meets need.

FA is based on the FAFSA and CSS every year, and those reflect the finances of the year before. So whether the award goes up or down in a given year is dependent on the finances of the prior year. If your family makes a killing during the gap year, FA will likely go down, and vice versa.

4

SB- isn’t your MIT son going to graduate next year? If so, the formula will likely decrease your aid since your son will start college when you’ve got nobody else in college.

Correct me if I’ve mixed you up with someone else…

5

The reason I’m asking is that a friend whose son took a gap year from a well known college, got basically reamed on the f. aid package. The situation didn’t change except for an increase in EFC by $1000, and the college expected the family to pay $9000 more than they would have had to pay if the child had not taken a gap year.

I don’t want that awful surprise to happen to us if my son should take a gap year. Yes, I know our finances are different, but the fact that hardly anything changed in their case and yet the school radically altered their package has me very worried.

I called our school of choice’s f. aid office, but of course they couldn’t tell me more than the fact that they use the FAFSA and other factors to determine aid.

This year, we are Pell Grant recipients. Next year with only one in college, even with an 8K drop in income, I am not sure if we would be or not. We’d be right on the cusp, and depending on the NPC I use, I get different results.

I did run a NPC using our estimated income with only one in college, and it seems ok-adds about 3.5-4K to what they expect us to pay-which is fine, but I now have to wonder if f. aid offices stick it to gap year students.