<p>My sister filled out the form because she thought with 3 kids in college at the same time she'd qualify for SOME aid. She was wrong & the only thing they were offered is some work study & some unsubsidized loans. She has never filled out the form again, especially since she now only has one in undergrad & one in grad school.</p>
<p>I agree that it makes sense to use the calculators to see whether you're likely to get offered ANYTHING before you decide whether to fill out the paperwork but that's just me. In our case, our expected family contribution exceeds the cost of attendance for both kids, even if S wasn't getting significant merit aid. Not sure what we would be expected to live on, but that isn't the calculator's problem.</p>
<p>D's school did not reguire FASFA, but they strongly recommend filing it "for full range of merit scholarships". One thing to keep in mind that college has more fund available for meirt $$ than freshman offer. If student continues doing really well in college, there is a good chance of receiving additional substantial Merit $$. I am not sure what role FASFA palys in this process. But even though you are upper micddle class with high assets as mentioned in one post above, I know that filing FASFA or other forms that are not required but strongly recommended will increase a chance of getting Merit $$ at some schools. In regard to security, if you have used credit card, applied for a job or college, filing FASFA is not going to make a difference, since the most important piece of information that needs to be the most guarded is Social Security Number. Any organization has IT department. All files are readily available for IT professionals. We hear about all kind of security breaches, but it is just a tip of the iceberg.
Well, at the end it is a family choice and getting scholarship $$ might not be as high priority as for others.</p>
<p>Son's school has three categories of aid: merit only, merit+need, need. The FAFSA is only needed for the need categories as far as I know of. Those that aren't going to get need aren't going to get merit+need.</p>
<p>We filled it out for the Stafford unsubsidized loans. My son will have these loans to help pay for his expensive education, as we have also taken out some loans. Also some states offer a good deal in parent loans that may have better terms than PLUS or HELOCs and they almost always require FAFSA.</p>
<p>Also there are states that have great tuition remission programs up to state tuition such as WV, Georgia, Florida that often require FAFSA to be completed. Those are hard to pass up.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, too, that sometimes colleges change their FA policies. When my S was admitted SCEA last December, he was told that he was ineligible for FA. Then, in February the school made sweeping changes to their FA policy that ended up with an April 1 receipt of an FA award worth half of his total expenses for that very expensive school. </p>
<p>Admittedly, his is a top 5 private with a big endowment, and this kind of thing rarely happens. But it happened in our case. If we had assumed that he could not get aid, and then didn't submit the FAFSA and CSS Profile, he definitely would not have received it when the situation changed.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the very helpful advice/tips/suggestions. I think I'll be thinking about this a little bit longer and do more research. All of you gave me different points of view to think about and specific topics to research.
LongPrime, I wish we were whealthy but we're not. We live in a city with a high cost of living. Your calculations are interesting. My only concern would be if our income will qualify us to get any interest deduction before AGI. We're hit by the AMT, so many deductions are lost. I'll do some research about that and post my findings.
Again, thanks all for the feedback.</p>
<p>My recollection, is that student interest is taken just a few lines down from gross income and before other adjustments to income on the 1040 and before the AMT calculation. </p>
<p>If you throw in credit for 529 contribution (depends on your state) your interest on student loans is potentially further reduced. </p>
<h1>3. take $2000 of the college savings and place into a 529. (Oregon gives a 9% credit, regardless of income), $180 is newly found. Plus you still have your principle.</h1>
<p>Your net interest cost is reduced to $483 or 2.4%.</p>
<p>Caution to you and other readers that my experience 2002-2006 is very much Different from today's banking and lending environment. Please do your due diligence.</p>
<p>CAREFULLY!</p>
<p>Please note that the 2.4% of net loan interest is base on the first year of the loan only. The net interest will/may be higher in succeeding years on that year's borrowing.</p>
<p>LongPrime, life got in the way and couldn't post before. Here is what I found about about 2008, which may be different for 2009. Interest paid on qualified students loans are limited to income limits. Phase out starts at 110k joint filers and ends at 140k.
Yes I agree wtih you things are much much different now, and due diligence is essential.</p>
<p>I just need to clarify my understanding about loans. We don't qualify for need-based financial aid. According to the EFC we could afford to pay for the private college tuition. Of course, we cannot pay that kind of money. We're thinking to get a small amount of loans. My question: do we need to submit FAFSA to apply for loans?
My D father and I are divorced. I'm the custodial parent. Does the father needs to submit a FAFSA application too? thanks a lot for your help.</p>
<p>For federal student loans you do have to file FAFSA. For instance to get an unsubsidized Stafford you must file a FAFSA.</p>
<p>For FAFSA only the custodial parent (and spouse if applicable) files FAFSA. The noncustodial parent does not file FAFSA (but would have to file the non custodial CSS if any of the schools require CSS).</p>
<p>
[quote]
Even if something happens (sickness, loss of a job, etc.) they still count savings/investments/or any liquid assets before they give any aid.
[/quote]
Not necessarily. If there is a major loss of income and the income drops to below $50k in a year then it is possible to qualify for the simplified needs test. With the simplified needs test the assets are not counted at all (for the FAFSA EFC).</p>
<p>We filled out the FAFSA once knowing we would never qualify for aid. Haven't filled it out since. D1 got a work study job sophomore year because no one else applied. We're not filling it out for D2 this year. But we don't take out any loans either.</p>
<p>Thanks swimcatsmom, I have more questions. For the loans, do you ask for the amount of loan you think you need? or do they tell you the amount of loans they can give you based on income/assets ? Yes, the school requires CSS. I'm assuming the dealine for CSS is the same as for FAFSA? thanks a lot.</p>