<p>I have a question about income. How much can a student make (with work-study and summer work) before it impacts a students financial aid package? I heard from some students that $2500 is the maximum amount that colleges consider reasonable for a college student to cover expenses without diminishing current financial aid. </p>
<p>Is is possible to make more money if it can be proven that the money went towards paying for summer class and textbooks, ect (receipts with school related expenses?) or will be used to sustain oneself during the actual school year?</p>
<p>My experience as a college student was that the more that I made, the easier my life was. I also remember that each year, the college expected me to make more during the summer and school year because I would qualify for jobs paying more.</p>
<p>For FAFSA the current amount of a dependant student's income protected in the EFC formula is $3000 (@ $3200 with allowances for FICA/taxes). Anything over that 50% goes to the student EFC.</p>
<p>"Not only that think of the experience you would gain, and don't think you don't learn anything by cashiering at Walmart. "</p>
<p>You are very right. Among jobs I worked were as a cashier and as a clerk in a factory. I learned a lot in all the jobs I had, including the ones that required little education. I always learned some very important things about people, working, business and about myself. Those experiences have helped me throughout my life including in grad school and in professional jobs.</p>
<p>Oh I just noticed the OP asked about WS as well as other income. Federal WS does not impact your financial aid - that is the whole point of it. For instance my D has @ $3000 WS award - on FAFSA the amount she actually earns in a WS job (up to the $3000 - can't go over the award) will be shown as part of her Adjusted Gross Income then deducted on schedule C. So if she earned $3000 WS during the school year she could earn another @ $3200 before it would impact her FAFSA EFC. </p>
<p>In general I agree with Simba and Northstarmom that if you earn more you are still better off. A possible exception to this would be if being eligible for a certain grant might make you eligible for something else. For instance if you are eligible for even a small Pell grant - say $200 - and are in a major that makes you eligible for a SMART grant (based on major & Pell) of $4000 you might not want to earn $500 more income if it was going to put your EFC up by $250 which makes you ineligible for PELL and causes you to lose the SMART grant.</p>
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Well as the saying goes,"It is better to pay taxes than not"
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<p>Agreed. I always remember when my Dad passed away a few years ago my Stepmother (who was executor) was thrilled that there were no death taxes to pay because his estate was below the threshold (which is much lower in the UK than here). I kind of thought it was better to have 60% of something than 100% of nothing.</p>
<p>Thanks for the great advice guys. Yes, swimcatsmom, you were exactly correct. I was mainly concerned that my work-study job would put me over the FAFSA limit and would disqualify me from some of my Pell Grant if I worked to much. </p>
<p>It was not that I was trying to get out of paying taxes, it is just that instead of working over the limit I would have taken a non-paid internship and still have received the experience without the paycheck...:). Since I now know that work-study is not included in a students income I will consider about 6000 (work-study + outside employment) to be pretty reasonable. </p>
<p>Now what if you are still claimed as a dependent by your parents. How much can a student make and still be claimed as a dependent? Do the parents still get a child earned income credit exemption of $1000?</p>
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Do the parents still get a child earned income credit exemption of $1000?
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<p>I think that goes away the year the child turns 17 unless I am confusing it with something else - i am not a tax expert. </p>
<p>Being dependant for FAFSA and dependant for tax are two seperate issues. My son is 20, we do not claim him as a dependant for tax purposes, but he is a dependant for FAFSA. </p>
<p>I think there is a point at which your earnings make you not eligible to be claimed as a deduction on your parents taxes. Try googling for some tax info.</p>
<p>I am having similar issues with my family. My parents don't want me to open my own bank account (and haven't for a while) because they believe it may impact financial aid. However, I'm trying to explain to them that the only money that would go into my bank account would basically be the money that I earn this summer, and that it cannot affect financial aid. Even if I earn slightly more than $3200 this summer, that money will surely be depleted by the time we have to fill out FAFSA again next year. Can somebody confirm that I have a legitimate argument?</p>
<p>It is the assets you have on the day you file FAFSA that are important. For instance if you have $1000 in the bank on Jan 1st but you pay $800 for books/car insurance/whatever on Jan 3rd then file FAFSA Jan 6th it is the $200 you have left that you enter on FAFSA. So yes your argument is perfectly legit.</p>
<p>Your parents concerns are probably because 20% of student assets go to EFC while only 5.6% of parents do. So assets in student name=bad for financial aid. But if you are likely to have spent the money it will not affect you finaid. My kids have had their own bank accounts since they were about 12. By the way when you fill out FAFSA be sure not to include under assets money that is from financial aid:</p>
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43. Total current cash on hand, and savings and checking account balances. Include the balance of your (and your spouse's) savings and checking accounts as of the date the FAFSA is completed. Do not include student financial aid.
<p>If your EFC is really high, high enough to pay for tripples in college then you won't have to worry about your income. You are not going to get any aid period, go ahead and work in the summer. There is a lot of skills to learn at your first summer job. D learned on how to write a resume to market herself, how to shop and select clothes that are appropriated for an interview(not to wear jeans), how to interview(she did not know they have group interviews), what to fill out W-2(what is the witholding number), how to open a checking account so she can have direct deposit(what/where is the ABA number). Lots of marketing and sales skills at work as well as it affirms the fact that she likes working and dealing with people. On top of it, it counts as an EC if she spend more than 10 hours a week. It will definetely helps with winning certain scholarship at my work place that even exceeds her summer wages, ie, they assign extra points for working and volunteering. So in short a lot of extra returns for that minimum wage job.</p>