<p>My daughter went ED to Colby. Based on Fafsa the EFC is $1540. Based on the CSS Profile the EFC was revised downward to only $24950. Vastly different need numbers.</p>
<p>I have been disabled for over fifteen years. At one time we would not have expected aid at all. CSS counts assets, even assets used for income. In effect they want both the income and the asset. We have held the assets for so long and frankly have used LOCs on those assets to survive. We are now at the point where selling the assets would result in negative cash as the capital gains would exceed the remaining equity. We have been squeezing the cash flow out of the assets for a long time now, deferred maintenance is going to catch up sometime. If it doesn't for four more years we might not sink.</p>
<p>My question is: What is the gain or benefit to a school to not include any Pell grant in their package when FAFSA shows a $4000 eligiblity.</p>
<p>No benefit at all and I’d guess this is an error. FAFSA is the only EFC qualifier for Pell grants and is used by all schools to determine federal aid. Contact the school about this asap as it’s likely they would also award FSEOG, Perkins loans, and work study based on your low EFC (and ACG, though they would need to verify her final HS transcript).</p>
<p>From your post, it’s not clear how your Profile driven EFC became so large if you have little income. You say that you have little equity in the assets (I assume real estate), and maintenance has been lacking. Did you factor in the LOC debt against the asset and selling costs, including necessary repairs, when you valued your assets? Were your values based on current comparable sales in the area? It’s possible that their value is still quite high, but it doesn’t seem like your FAFSA would be so low in that case, unless Colby assesses a large percentage of asset value each year.</p>
<p>Are you sure your FAFSA was not also adjusted? If they are not including the Pell in your award then there is is a possibility they have made some sort of correction (wrongly or rightly, can’t really tell from your post) to your FAFSA data.</p>
<p>I am a little confused by the assets that the school is using for the CSS “EFC” that are not included in FAFSA. Assets not reportable on FAFSA are the primary home, retirement accounts,and family owned businesses worth under a certain number of employees. In most cases rental properties are reportable assets. If the assets that provide income are rental properties then were they reported on FAFSA? If not then it is possible the school has amended your FAFSA to include them. FAFSA will also count a reportable asset as an asset, and count the income generated by the same asset as income when calculating the EFC.</p>
<p>It is also possible that you incorrectly answered the question on FAFSA about being able to fill out a 1040A/1040EZ. If you said yes, that would have been incorrect, given your investments. If you did say yes, your assets were probably ignored & the Simple Needs Formula was used. When the aid administrator updated your info from Yes to No during verification, your formula would have switched to regular & your assets would be counted in the FAFSA formula, which drives Pell. You would therefore not be Pell eligible.</p>
<p>Look at your SAR. Did you answer the parent tax return question by saying you “could have” filed 1040A/1040EZ?</p>
<p>Kelsmom, is it possible that her income was under the threshold amount and they qualified for SNT by some other means, like an income based federal needs tested program? I don’t think, for example, that reduced school lunch programs require asset info. OP, you should probably log back onto the fafsa website and re-check to see that your EFC is still under the $4617 limit for Pell!</p>
<p>It is definitely possible that they qualify by other means … the reason I asked about the tax form, though, is because the Pell is not in the aid offer. If OP did say Yes instead of No, the means tested benefits question would have been my next step in guiding OP through this. I have discovered that the tax return in the deal-breaker in most cases, so that’s where I begin. That & answering questions about type of degree are the big issues when Pell is not on the award letter.</p>
<p>Thank you all. Sorry to be slow to come back. Self employment drives regular 1040. Yes we would probably qualify under simple income test otherwise.
CSS includes home equity, IRAs ,other real estate including the office building needed for income. You can trace out how FAFSA is calculated, you really can’t trace out a CSS Profile.
To protect home most dept was moved to other real estate long ago. Good plan, but not for CSS. Even with drop in values considered, there is equity, just not cash flow or the means to get at equity. Been bailing this boat for a long time.</p>
<p>Me again after a break. Why the two are so different wasn’t really my point. The biggest asset is the paper gain on a cottage bought in 81. When I became disabled we looked at selling. Then, as now, it was possible to withdraw more equity with a LOC than a sale. The capital gains kill. A sale would be a huge cash outflow not a tuition payment. </p>
<p>The value is in the land, not the building. You can’t rent just the land. Getting the building ready for more than light family use would require a new septic on waterfront clay. Cost would exceed more than 5 years of rent. No help now. LOC payments are interest only with variable rate so discount future payments. A paper asset that only death makes available.</p>
<p>I can see a valid reason for each method of calculating financial ability. Because of our situation we probably are at the extreme ends of possible outcomes.</p>
<p>I do not follow why Pell grant gets lost in the journey. There can’t be any advantage to the school. Am I missing a rule?</p>
<p>The pell might get lost if the school made some sort of adjustment to your FAFSA based on the data you provided. If they perceive that you have made some sort of error on FAFSA they are required to correct it. If such a correction makes your FAFSA EFC over 4617 then you would not be eligible fot the pell. Generally I would expect them to have told you if they adjusted your FAFSA.</p>
<p>If there is no error on FAFSA and the school has not made any sort of correction to FAFSA then you should still get the Pell based on the FAFSA EFC.</p>
<p>1) Did your SAR originally state that “may be eligible for a Pell grant?” If so, you didn’t make any mistakes that would keep you from getting a Pell you should be eligible to receive (sometimes students check off the wrong box & that will happen).</p>
<p>2) Did you state that you were "eligible to file a 1040A/1040EZ when you did the FAFSA? If so, the school’s change could have made you ineligible (unless you checked off that you had federal means tested benefits and/or checked off the dislocated worker box).</p>
<p>3) Did you put the correct AGI on your FAFSA? Double check the figure you put on the FAFSA with the figure on your tax return for AGI. Sometimes people put in the wrong number … like income instead of AGI.</p>
<p>4) Double check the taxes paid that you put on your FAFSA. This is another item that is often overstated … people put in the taxes that were paid, not owed. If you get a refund, the paid amount is NOT the amount withheld during the year … it’s that amount less your refund. Also, self-employment taxes are not included in the taxes paid figure.</p>
<p>Other than that, I don’t know what it might be. This at least gives you a few things to check out prior to talking to the aid office.</p>