<p>This is not me but a family member is going through this right now.</p>
<p>My step father was born in 61. He says he remembers going to the post office when he was around 18 and filled out and mailed a card about selective service. After that he moved around a lot and never remembers ever getting a response or card back saying yes he was registered.</p>
<p>Fast forward to now. He is trying to go through the community college so he can take a truck driving course. He will need finaid. He filled out the fafsa but did not have a selective service number. He tried contacting Selective Services but they say there is no record of him in the system.</p>
<p>Is he completely out of luck on getting any Fed aid? Is there some things he might be able to do to help his situation?</p>
<p>A non-registrant may not be denied any benefit if he can "show by a preponderance of evidence" that his failure to register was not knowing and willful. Offer as much evidence supporting your case, and as much detail, as possible.</p>
<p>When you do the FAFSA, do you need a selective service number?? I hope not, because we've never used one and I don't know if DS knows his or not.</p>
<p>I always thought it said you only had to provide the selective service number if you are between the ages of 18 and 25. Once the application knows he is older then 25 I don't think it would even ask for the information.</p>
<p>FAFSA does not ask for a selective service number. It asks (if you are male) if you have registered for the selective service. You have to be able to answer 'yes' whatever your age, in order to be eligible for federal aid.</p>
<p>After I initially read this post I actually went on to the selective serviece system to get my son's number. It had never occurred to me that we should save that info for future use (ie federal employment), but now I have it put away with other important papers</p>
<p>^^I sincerely mean no offense by this jjcddg, but don't you think that your son should be the one going into his selective service records and getting his info for himself? He is obviously 18, and perhaps it is time to let him start to take care of his own paperwork.
Don't flame me please that isn't what I am trying to do, I just see a lot of young people on this site who are being retarded by parental involvement in matters they should handle themselves.</p>
<p>Rockstar is right. There has to come a time when you train your children to handle their own affairs. I cannot tell you how many times I see independent students who have NO CLUE how to complete the FAFSA, that they had undergrad loans, etc. Their parents handled everything. I have to literally hand-hold them through the entire FA process...staying with them page by page, telling them what the answers are.</p>
<p>You do have a point, however most parents are much more likely to have permanent files of original documents such as birth certificates, Social Security Numbers, etc. and access to safe long-term storage (such as a bank safe-deposit box) for these documents. With that in mind, it makes sense that a with-it parent would file a copy of the Selective Service information too.</p>
<p>Thanks happymomof 2- you are right. THe point is, if I didn't realize that he should keep his selective serviced number, how could he have known? It was actually easier for me to take the minute to look it up and print it than it would have been to call him in New Orleans, ask him to do it and send it to me to put with birth certificates, passports etc. </p>
<p>Rockstar - I'm not worried about retarding his development. He's a kid who worked all through high school and managed to balance being a three season athlete with a strong GPA while still paricipating in significant community service activities. He's bought all his own clothes since he was 15. He contributes over 5K a year to his college expenses, he applied to over 40 scholarships (no hand holding) and was awarded three, and that has added and extra 8K towards costs. When he had extra money in his Junior year in high school he asked if he could open a ROth IRA (WE did - I had to show him how him how to fill out the paperwork) He schedules and pays for his own flights to and from New Orleans, and sometimes even arranges his own transportation from the airport. He's also applied for several internships for next summer, on his own, and has told me that if he gets an unpaid one he will work a second job. </p>
<p>My point is, there are some things that it is OK for a parent to do without being a "helicopter mom" I limit my helicoptering to trying to help kids on this site (although swimmcatsmom, thumper, Nikkl and a bunch of others usually beat me to it.)</p>
<p>Nikkil- I fill out the FASFA and Profile, not him. I honestly do not believe that he needs to have access to our financial information. I usually feel sorry for the kids on CC that need to ask so many questions because their parents can't help.</p>
<p>Oops, one other thing I helped him with - selecting colleges to apply to. Both of us knew that finances would play a part...... Finding schools that would meet our need was too important to leave it up to him alone. I was not about to have him demonstrate his "independence" on my dime, nor was I about to have him left with no options that he/we could afford.</p>
<p>THere are times to hold hands and times to let go... each of us finds the balance that works for us.</p>