Self-employed w/variable income - Should I take their financial aid?

Paying for College
1

<p>My father is self-employed and has an extremely variable income. This year, our income was so low that when my mother filled out the FAFSA, our EFC was $875. I did not leave off any zeroes. Eight hundred and seventy-five dollars. I was floored. I thought my family was well-off.</p>

<p>But, the deal is that business has been so bad for us that we have had to live off our savings for nearly four years. But our savings are nearly depleted, and clearly we can't afford to do this anymore. My father (who's 59, nearing retirement age) is going to have to work really hard and make a lot more money. Of the money he makes, my family is going to need all of the surplus to put in the retirement account. </p>

<p>However, colleges reassess financial aid every year. If they reassessed my EFC to be in excess of $15,000, my family would not be able to afford this. Given just how variable my family's income is (It sometimes exceeds $100k), it would not be out of the question for my family to have their EFC reassessed at full price. Would a college make such a drastic change in financial aid?</p>

<p>I have applied to a few need-only, finance 100% of your family's need colleges and some other expensive schools, and assuming I get into one of them, should I take their financial aid?</p>

2

<p>I don't know much about this, so I can't really help you. But, I do know that even with a high income, if you have nothing in the bank, and close to retirement, you will not be expected to pay the full price. FA takes into account what you have in the bank and age of oldest parent, so you can expect to have a package in upcoming years. I do not know if colleges usually make drastic changes or not.</p>

3

<p>I assume you mean should I take the FA anticipating I may get stung next year.</p>

<p>I would say yes. Even if something should happen next year or the following year, or the year after that; you could still transfer if you found the FA dropped too much. The only numbers you can count on are the numbers in front of you right now. Make a deicision based upon those. There is no guarantee at all that your father is going to turn things around this year.</p>