Please, please help answer my question! Re: Pell Grant & eligibility

Paying for College
1

<p>I have been thinking and am concerned about my eligibility for a 2008-2009 Pell Grant for this summer and for Fall & Winter.</p>

<p>In 2007, I was single and independent. I was employed but did not make much at all (adjusted gross income was: $6,597). That amount has dwindled all away since. </p>

<h2>I am now married but am unemployed. If my income from 2007 gets combined with his 2007 income (I think it was: "$29,595), it won't reflect my current living scenario in that I don't have much money at all and am unable to pay for school. We share a small amount together. The money that he got goes towards his medical school tuition. So we both are in debt. Having said that, I do not want to take out more loans.</h2>

<p>Update:
My financial advisor said that I could reference my 2008 taxes instead of 2007. However, this is what our joint tax summary looks like for 2008:</p>

<p>Federal AGI: $1,597 (this is my entry)
Wisconsin Additions: 0
Wisconsin Subtractions: $41,653 (his entry)
Wisconsin AGI: -$40, 056 (his entry)
Wisconsin Tax: 0
Wisconsin Tax Payments: $1,171
Wisconsin Refund: $1,171</p>

<p>Also, we do not have any money in savings. </p>

<p>Can anyone please tell me what this means for me and my eligibility for Pell Grant? My parents are not required to contribute because they only made about $14,000 in 2008.</p>

<p>Please, please help me answer this question. I am stressed & am a wreck.</p>

2

<p>I’m a little confused as to why you are referencing the 2007 income. The feds will be looking at your 2008 income for Pell eligibility.</p>

<p>If your 2008 AGI is $1,597, then you’ll certainly be looking at a 0 EFC. This will more than qualify you for a Pell.</p>

3

<p>I am so glad someone answered! I referenced the 2007 because my financial advisor said that my application was selected for verification. & she specifically sent me the verification form for the tax year 2007. I suppose it’s because I am applying for this summer’s aid, which falls under the year 2008-2009? I am not sure.</p>

<p>Do you know how my husband’s entry would effect my eligibility?
Wisconsin Subtractions: $41,653
Wisconsin AGI: -$40, 056</p>

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<p>I can’t speak specifically to Wisconsin state tax AGI since I haven’t worked with any clients in WI. That being said, I would assume that a negative AGI would only help your situation.</p>

5

<p>Thank you so much Scottaa! A feeling of relief came over me! I really hope you’re right. Would it be alright for me to contact you to maybe ask more specific questions?? It would be so helpful!
Are you an advisor as well? Or do you work in the tax related field?</p>

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<p>If the summer aid is based on 2008-2009 FAFSA then you probably have to report the 2007 taxes on 2008-2009 FAFSA and send those to them if they request them for verification. If summer aid is based on 2009-2010 FAFSA then it will be 2008 taxes. Schools choose which method they use for summer aid (part of previous year or part of following year) so you need to check with them as we have no way of knowing. If they have sent verification forms requesting 2007 taxes then it sounds like they want 2007 information.</p>

<p>I don’t understand the tax information you are giving. FAFSA is based on your federal tax returns, not your state returns. The info you are giving sounds like it comes from your state returns?</p>

<p>As you are married you are considered independent for financial aid purposes so your parents information is not reported but you are required to report your own income and your husbands income. Independent students have a little more income protection than dependent students (around $7000 if only one is in college, a little more if both are in college I think). Income over that 50% goes to the EFC. Even though your income is low, combined with your husbands it may make your EFC too high for the Pell. I don’t understand the numbers you are reporting so can’t really say for sure. What is his AGI from the *federal *tax return? That is what is important - not the state return. If the income is $40k then that is too high for the Pell (assuming it is earned income and not scholarships/grants for med school - it seems a high income for a med student?). I don’t understand what the credit you list is but I am assuming it is something related to state taxes in which case it will not help reduce your EFC. Did you do your FAFSA based on a state return?</p>

<p>When you filed FAFSA didn’t you get an EFC? For 2008-2009 the maximum EFC for Pell eligibility was @ 4042. For 2009-2010 the maximum is EFC around 4617.</p>

<p>If your parents income is under $30k for 2007 ($20k for 2008) you are one of the rare instances where being dependent would have been better financial aid wise, as you would probably have an automatic 0 EFC based on that. (my son is in tht situation - he gets an automatic 0 EFC based on our income, but if he were independent his 2008 income, long gone on bills, would give him an EFC too high for the Pell). But if you are married you are not a dependent and have no choice but to report your husbands income on FAFSA.</p>

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<p>I’m guessing, from the way the numbers tally, that your income was the only income for 2007. His deductions were the only deductions. Is that right? Your (joint) federal AGI is what’s used for FAFSA, so if that is right you should both have had a 0 EFC as you were under the $7,000 income protection allowance. I don’t understand what happened to his $29K income though…!</p>

<p>2008 info and tables can be found here, perhaps plugging your numbers into the actual worksheets (marked B) will help clarify how the formulas work for you:
<a href=“http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/111408EFCFormulaGuide0910.pdf[/url]”>http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/111408EFCFormulaGuide0910.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Hi swimcatsmom & skatrmom! I really appreciate both of your time! I am GRATEFUL for people who care to help!</p>

<p>Swimcatsmom, you are right. The numbers that I entered in my thread are from our 2008 State Return. After adding the lines 6-11, the result was “$41,653”. After line 12 was subtracted from line 5 ($1,597 my income), the result was: -$40, 056 Adjust Gross Income. </p>

<p>On HIS 2007 1040 (this is the federal return right?), his total income & AGI was $29,595 on line 22 & 37 when he added line 8a (183), line 13 (25,373) & line 21 (4,039).</p>

<p>When I applied for my 2009-2010, SAR said that my EFC=0 & my Data Release Number (DRN) is: 9544. I was disbursed the aid but here is where I am concerned now!
When I applied for Fall & Winter (2009 - 2010), I did everything right by answering all the questions & even filled out my parents’ tax information. However, it just occurred to me today, that I did not consider inputting whatever money my husband has in his bank account. I just simply entered in “0” as his income because he wasn’t working. I honestly did not know that I had to factor in everything about my husband until today.<br>
Now that I am randomly selected for verification for my Summer (2008 - 2009), will they take away my grant for Fall/Winter 2009-2010??</p>

<p>Of course when I send in the requested documents & fill out the verification forms, I will input everything. But WHAT IF I decide to not complete the Summer (2008-2009) process & just slowly pay for my tuition by working part-time (the session is only about 3 months long anyway & I only have 6 credits)- will this save me from losing my Fall/Winter grant? Since I am already approved for it?? Or will my Fall/Winter grant be flagged anyway for whatever the reasons because I am selected for verification for the year 2008-2009?</p>

<p>Sk8rmom, yes…I was the only one working for the year 2007. However, he had some gift money from his parents and whatever line 13 is on the 2007 1040. That was all a part of his $29 K for the year 2007.</p>

<p>By the way, I was able to get a clearer breakdown of his 2008 income by looking at his FAFSA:
Student’s 2008 Adjusted Gross Income: $1597
Spouse’s 2008 Income Earned from Work: $1597 (same # as above because it’s from me working)
Student’s Total of Cash, Savings, and Checking Accounts: $5,000
Student’s Net Worth of Current Investments: $20,000
Money Received or Paid on Student’s Behalf: $900
All other income questions are: $0</p>

<p>Thanks again to you both for your time!! All I want is to go to school & to better myself for a bright future.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>Were you married in 2007? It’s a little confusing as it sounds like you did not file a joint return for 2007 and it does make a difference since, if you weren’t married, hubby’s info is irrelevant for your 08/09 FAFSA. It also sounds like you may have filed your 2007 FAFSA , which is currently selected for verification, without regard to his income/assets. If you were married during the 2007 tax year, this would be incorrect…if not, there may not be a problem. </p>

<p>Being selected for verification is not unusual, a large number of people are verified every year, and ir involves giving them exactly what they ask for - generally a 1040 with schedules. So, you should start by comparing your 2007 SAR to your 2007 1040 (whichever form you filed with the IRS and used to complete the 08/09 FAFSA). Do they match? If not, the FA folks will make any corrections necessary during the verification process and this will result in a new EFC and adjustment to your aid package. This is fairly routine and doesn’t mean you’ll be verified for 09/10, although it’s possible to be selected every year. Your goal should be to make sure your FAFSA is correct for every aid year, preferably before any aid is distributed!</p>

<p>For assets, if you did not qualify for the “simplified needs” method (see definition in the previous link) you’d want to provide the value as of the day you filed the 08/09 FAFSA…which is probably not the 12/31/07 value. It’s unlikely they’re going to ask for actual bank statements at this point, so don’t panic if you can’t find them. If you have a checking/savings passbook just use that number. Btw, line 13 of 1040 is for reporting capital gains/losses, a sure sign that assets existed at some point during the year, though not necessarily on FAFSA filing day! Remember that married students over 25 do have an asset protection allowance (above which only 20% of the asset value is added to EFC) and money that was received from student aid sources are not considered assets anyway.</p>

<p>For the 09/10 FAFSA, your SAR and your husband’s should look very similar. If you didn’t report his asset info, you should submit a correction and get a new SAR/EFC. It will affect your aid eligibility, unless you can qualify for the simplified needs test which excludes assets.</p>

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<p>Good morning sk8rmom!</p>

<p>To answer your question, I was considered single in 2007 & filed separately. I got married in 2008 and my husband & I filed jointly for the first time. :D</p>

<p>According to the very informative link (THANKS AGAIN BY THE WAY ;]), I am qualified for the simplified EFC because I am eligible for form 1040A or 1040EZ. (Does it matter if my husband isn’t?) & it looks like together, we definitely don’t have $49,999 or more.</p>

<p>“**For the 2009-2010 award year, an independent student qualifies for the simplified EFC
formula if both (1) and (2) below are true:<a href=“1”>/b</a>OR
the student (and the student’s spouse, if any) filed or is eligible to file a 2008 IRS
Form 1040A or 1040EZ (he or she is not required to file a 2008 Form 1040)3
AND
(2) The student’s (and spouse’s) 2008 income is $49,999 or less.
• For tax filers, use the student’s (and spouse’s) adjusted gross income from 2008
Form 1040A or 1040EZ4 to determine if income is $49,999 or less.
• For non-tax filers, use the income shown on the student’s (and spouse’s) 2008
W-2 forms (plus any other earnings from work not included on the W-2s) to
determine if income is $49,999 or less.”</p>

<p>Can you please let me know what “schedules” are? I googled but still don’t know if I already have them in my records or how to obtain them…</p>

<p>When I filed for my fafsa for 2008/2009 & 2009/2010, I made sure I entered everything correctly as I saw it on my 1040 forms. (I do not want to be fined or imprisoned! haha) The only thing is, I did not factor in my husband by bothering to look at his tax & inputting his info. =X </p>

<p>For our 2009/2010, our fafsa looks similar except for the entries for the amount of his money & his parents information…
WHOO HOO HOO! I just checked to see if he filled out my income information besides what I earned for 2008 and it looks like there’s no where on the FAFA forms that asked for that info! It only asked this: “Spouse’s 2008 Income Earned from Work” & he filled it out as “$1597”…which means…I didn’t do anything wrong on my own FAFSA! hahaha I also didn’t enter any #'s from his bank account and just answered the true “0” when asked for his income earned from work! Oh my gosh, I got myself worried over nothing!</p>

<p>Yes, he has some stock from his father so that it could help pay for his tuition/debt/loans. (I really, really, really hope that this won’t effect me and my grant. =\ )</p>

<p>So I hope this is all a good sign that I will be eligible for at least some of the grant. :smiley: I still need to get copies of our signed taxes from the IRS though.</p>

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<p>Actually, please ignore this:

</p>

<p>This would be more true to say:</p>

<p>For our 2009/2010, our fafsa looks similar except for the entries for the amount of his money & his parents information…
After reviewing the 1040 from 2007. It looks like I’ll have to enter in his number from line 13 on my 2008/2009 fafsa form. But my 2009/2010 forms matches our 2008 1040. :]</p>

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<p>By the way, as I am currently unemployed & my husband is a medical student. The only money that we have to use for bills & food is from the gift money that his parents gave us. Which is about $4,000 & I’ve also included that amount as a part of my cash/savings etc. on the FAFSA. When I meet with my advisor to go over everything and she asks how we survive with no income from work…How would I call that gift money? I looked up “untaxable income” but it doesn’t seem to fall under this category. Do I just say: “We live off of our checking/savings account.” ??</p>

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<p>I am confused. If you got married in 2008, parental information is not required for either of you on your FAFSA’s. It might be for his medical school institutional aid though.</p>

<p>Your FAFSA’s should be almost identical since you share income and assets as married people.</p>

<p>Did you not file a joint return for 2008? You keep talking about HIS 1040, etc.</p>

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<p>

All the simplified needs does is exclude assets from the EFC formula. If you have no assets then it does not help you. As an independent student without a dependent other than a spouse you are not eligible for the automatic 0 EFC.</p>

<p>To be honest I am very confused by the information you are providing. In your post #1 you say your husband had income of $27k in 2007 and 2008 income of $41,653. But in other posts you say he has no income. If he did have income in 2007 then it would have to be included on your 2008-2009 FAFSA (depending on when you were married) and if he had income in 2008 it would have to be included on your 2009-2010 FAFSA. If he had no income then it would not be a problem. But I can’t tell exactly what the case is from your posts.</p>

<p>How is he paying for med school? If it is loans and that is what you are living on then those will not impact your EFC.</p>

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<p>I have to get back to work so I can’t read everything here, but I want to point out that if you were married at the time you completed the 2008-09 FAFSA, you DO need to include BOTH of your 2007 tax forms (even though you were not married in 2007). The income will be added together.</p>

<p>Just submit your 2007 taxes & his 2007 taxes - FEDERAL forms, along with your verification worksheet & anything else the aid office requests. The financial aid office will do the rest. You can try to second-guess what will happen, but the only thing that matters is what the aid officer gets when your info is entered into the EFC formula.</p>

<p>Also … your household size & # in college will both be 2.</p>

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<p>

I wondered about that. That kind of sucks!</p>

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<p>That’s because base year income is from the previous year. Married or not, that has to be taken into consideration.</p>

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<p>Hi Cap,</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I filled out the parental section because it was on the FAFSA forms. I filled out everything to the best of my knowledge. I did not know the protocol then when applying as a married woman.</p>

<p>Our FAFSA are almost identical, I now have to correct it to make it absolutely identical after reading all the new information from everyone.</p>

<p>I mentioned his 1040 to paint a clear, big picture. I was also concerned that his info may affect my eligibility.</p>

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<p>Good catch, kelsmom - I assumed she filed her 08/09 Fafsa early in 2008 (ie. maybe pre-marraige) and so his wouldn’t apply. If she actually filed later than that (post-nuptials), I guess I’m wrong!</p>

<p>SCM, as far as I can follow (it’s very confusing to me with multi years, and his/hers info, etc.) his $29K income from 2007 was comprised of $183 interest income, $25,373 capital gains (sale of stock?), and $4039 unspecified other income (line 21, 1040). It doesn’t look like he had any earned income at all for 2007.</p>

<p>Poorstudent,you may not qualify for the Simplied EFC test for 09/10 FAFSA if he had similar items on his 2008 return. You and your spouse BOTH must be eligible to file form 1040A or 1040EZ and he may not be due to the “other income”, which I don’t think is reportable on anything but 1040. You should probably look into this a bit more before getting your hopes up anyway. Here’s a link to the 2008 IRS 1040A Instructions, see page 13 for types of income reportable on 1040A.</p>

<p>Oh, and the term “schedules” refers to the forms attached to your 1040/1040A - like Sched A for Itemized Deductions, B for Interest/Div, D for Capital Gains, etc.</p>

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<p>x-posted with everyone!</p>

<p>I wouldn’t try to do a bunch of corrections now. Do as kelsmom suggested and give the FA folk what they ask for - they know exactly what to do with it and will correct your fafsa for you.</p>

<p>Good luck and please let us know how it turns out!</p>