My daughter will be a full-time student at a four-year college/uni - TBD. Her twin brother is now considering graduating early (she skipped 8th grade so is now a year ahead of him) and enrolling in community college, probably half-time. How many hours does he need to take to be considered “in school” for FAFSA? He also wants to work quite a bit - will his income impact her aid as part of the overall EFC?
You need to contact the college(s) and ask them what they consider full time, and what they consider part time.
For our kids , the one on semesters needed to be enrolled 12 credit hours or more to be considered full time.
It was different for the kid whose school was on quarters.
Keep in mind also, that schools using the CSS Profile might also ask what you are actually paying for the sibling. If it’s nothing or a low number, this might affect them upping your need based aid for the kid at the more costly school.
The brother’s income and assets do not appear on the daughter’s financial aid forms at all.
@thumper1, thank you! His costs would be much lower, as he’d be living at home and attending a local community/state college. My daughter’s guidance counselor suggested that it could drastically cut our EFC, but it sounds like that likely won’t be the case since all the schools she’s considering are CSS schools.
@TrendaLeigh it’s possible your daughter’s costs will be reduced at some CSS Profile schools. At others, maybe not.
@sybbie719 does a good job of explaining this.
For your daughter, are the colleges she is applying to ones that guarantee to meet full need for all accepted students?
If you have two kids enrolled in college, your FAFSA EFC WILL be reduced. But depending on the college your daughter attends, this might or might not result in increased need based financial aid.
Run the net price calculators for your daughter’s application list. Do them with one student and do them with two students enrolled. See what you get.
From the 2020-2021 FAFSA:
*You may include others only if they will attend, at least half-time in 2020-2021, a program that leads to a college degree or certificate. *
The school should be able to tell you how many hours they consider to be “at least half-time.”
This is slightly off topic but one thing you may want to consider is if it might be better for your son to dual enroll at a CC rather than graduate and then head to a CC. It really depends what his goals are and if it might be better to be applying to colleges as a freshman rather than a transfer student. Vs. if he is just going to do a 2 year program and be done. And some states have free/low cost DE for qualified students.
I think the financial implications on your daughter’s EFC could vary widely by institution. Especially with the CSS involved.
OP, there are a lot of variables at play here.
I am presuming you are a family that will be eligible for some need-based FA, because you mentioned the schools she is considering will all be CSS schools.
Generally, your HS GC is right to point out that if you are a family of 4 with 1 in college, the colleges tend to see need as lower, and therefore give less aid, than if you are a family of 4 with 2 in college. So it is worth looking into this.
The way the schools look at family need varies a lot. Some will consider younger siblings in high school and expect families are “still saving” for them as well, but others will want to look at income/assets and treat it all as available for the kid in college.
This goes back a few years, but a friend of DH had two kids, three years apart. When the youngest graduated HS and was not planning to attend college, they found their older child’s FA had dropped by nearly $9,000 per year - for her upcoming senior year, compared to her freshman-junior years. After discussion with the school’s FA dept, they found that if they spent $450 to register and enroll him in two courses in a community college (which was what they needed to be considered half-time), then the family need would be re-calculated, and it turned out her nearly $7,500 of her aid was restored.
Every family’s financial situation is unique, and the schools are all over the map as to how they spread their funds out.
But you will find that, especially at the CSS Profile schools, the Financial Aid office will understand that most families struggle to afford college, and the schools really want to do everything they can to help. They won’t give you financial advice, but they are happy to answer “what if” questions to the best they can.
If you tell them that you want to help advise your younger child on his future path, but you want to think about the impact that his choices have on your daughters - and therefore your entire family’s - financial situation, they will be able to explain how they treat your daughter’s situation.
Then, ask the next school. Don’t necessarily expect them to have the same answer. Some may treat a live-at-home sibling attending a CC differently than they would another school where the second child is also paying for room and board.
As you talk to these schools for your D, be sure to ask about how they treat the sibling status in future years. Since your kids are the same age, but currently a year behind, with everything else being equal, does it make sense for your son to try to “catch up” to her, or is he better off half-time somewhere?
Best of luck to you and your family as you try to navigate this process, where there are still so many unknowns.