<p>I am going into my sophmore year at a Baruch COllege.
My families EFC is 0 and my first year i got full covered on tuition from Tap grant and I also got a check from Pell of around $2400 and another small check in total i got about $6000 in checks afgter my tuition was covered. So i was going to school for free and getting paid.
I will be getting the same thing for my sophmore year Pell will be more.</p>
<p>My question is I got a job in May. I make around $125 every two weeks working two days a week.
So far on my pay stubs it shows i made $1436 before taxes and then after taxes its something around $1300. I want to know if I should continue working and if this income and any further income will effect my financial aid. I am dependent. My family is not doing to well right now. I heard of a protected income and what exactly is that?
I dont think its worth to keep working if I will be losing my Pell grant.
Or I could work up to the protected income limit
I would appreciate any help considering school is starting soon and I want to make a decision whether to work or quit</p>
<p>If your 0 EFC is due to your parents qualifying for the Automatic 0 EFC formula, then you don’t have to worry about your income affecting things. For 2009-10, Auto 0 is for parents who have an AGI of < 30,000 AND either: 1) eligible to file a 1040A or 1040EZ OR 2) someone in the immediate family has received federal means tested benefits within the past 24 months (TANF, WIC, SSI, food stamps, free/reduced lunch) OR 3) dislocated worker/displaced homemaker.</p>
<p>If another formula is used & you have a 0 EFC, your income could affect the formula. The best way to find out is to use an EFC calculator, plug in the numbers from your current FAFSA, and see what effect increased student income might have.</p>
<p>Thanks
I know my families EFC is going to be 0 for the 2010/11 school yr fafsa.
I want to know like what i am making is helping the family. I am not using it on myself just helping the family.
What is protected student income?</p>
<p>Scott is right, it’s $3750 for 09/10, plus allowances for Social Security (7.65%) and a percentage for state taxes (6% for NY). Keep your job, you’re not in danger of hitting any limit this year.</p>
<p>thanks
but for this year i am set already since i didnt make anything in 2008. I filed my Fafsa back in January for this school yr 09/10.
I am worried about my 10/11 school yr since I am going to file my Fafsa in January.
Like What i dont understand is what exactly is the protected student income
is that like income that doesnt count on a fafsa?
like you can make upto lets say $3750 for the 09/10 and it will be the same on your fafsa as if you were not working right?</p>
<p>like this
me making $0 on fafsa = me making $3750 or less on fafsa</p>
<p>You always report your earned income on the FAFSA, or any other reportable income for that matter.</p>
<p>When the system computes your EFC, it will exclude the first $3750 from the equation. Therefore, if you made $0 in income, it’s treated the same as $3750 in income, or anywhere in between. Every additional dollar beyond $3750 is assessed towards your EFC.</p>
<p>thanks scott
this really helped guess im keeping my job since i just read that the protected income for the 10/11 yr is going to be $4500 of income in 09.
Im def not gonna make that much by the end of the yr
this is awesome</p>
<p>how do we show the student protected income on the fafsa? Also I earned $3574 before taxes in NYS. I submitted my fafsa it says estimated EFC = 20. Would appreciate all the help. Do I file my income with my parents or do i do a seperate federal tax return for myself? So confused.</p>
<p>You don’t show anything to show protected income on FAFSA. The protected income is in the EFC formula. Once you submit FAFSA the numbers you provide are run through the formula (you don’t see this) and any allowances are automatically applied. Your income falls under the protected income allowances. You must report it, but it should not impact your EFC. If your EFC has increased from 0 to 20 it will not be because of your earnings. Did something change in your parents income?</p>
<p>Did you have any taxes deducted from your earnings? If so you should file your own tax return in order to get the tax refunded to you. It is not that hard. As your taxes should be fairly simple you can use one of the free file programs linked from the IRS website.</p>
<p>This will link you to a list of several tax programs such as turbotax. They are free if you met the criteria, and will walk you through your return step by step.</p>
<p>okay will try to file my own taxes out of my $3574 income about $500 was taken in taxes off my paycheck. But your saying I file my own taxes right? i have a separate 1040 then my parents? EFC change from 0 to 20 is that a big difference? It said I should expect $5500 in Pell and then to fill out my Tap.</p>
<p>Yes you should file your own tax return separate from your parents. I notice you said in your earlier post that you had Grant money last year. Are you aware that any grant/scholarship (not loans)money in excess of tuition/fees/required books is also taxable income to you and has to be reported on your tax return? The tax program should walk you through how to do it. On FAFSA the taxable part of your scholarships/grants will be reported in with the AGI from your tax return, then you report it in the question asking how much taxable grants.scholarships were included in your AGI. That way it is taken off your available income by the EFC formula and does not affect your EFC.</p>
<p>The 20 EFC is not a big deal as far as the Pell is concerned. Did you get any SEOG though? A lot of schools award SEOG only to students with 0 EFC, so it might be a big deal there. But that 20 is not caused by your income which is well below the protected income amount. It must be caused by some change in your parents income/assets, or your assets if you have any. </p>
<p>If your parents income is below $30,000 and they file a 1040ez or 1040a (rather than a 1040) tax return you would be eligible for the automatic 0. I mention this because an EFC of 20 is very low so I wonder if you would not be eligible.</p>