<p>The FAFSA is primarily used to determine eligibility for federally funded need based aid. This would be the Pell Grant (at your income level, I do not believe you would be eligible for much of the Pell), and the Stafford loans (subsidized if you have financial need at the college). You might also get SEOG but this is determined and awarded by each college. Schools give this to their neediest students sometimes those with $0 EFCs. A family with a $49K per year income would not have a $0 EFC. You might be eligible for work study…and you might be eligible for state grants in your state based on the FAFSA EFC (you would need to check).</p>
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<p>I don’t think your EFC will be $0. Your financial aid award will depend on the policies of the schools to which you are applying. The amount you might receive will vary wildly from school to school depending on the school. FAFSA only schools do not meet full financial need. At many, the federally funded monies are all the schools award. Some schools have state grants they can award. Some have other institutional monies to award students.</p>
<p>There is no way to predict your financial aid award based on the FAFSA EFC alone…because FAFSA only schools do not guarantee to meet full need.</p>
<p>iSenior, that is terrific. At the very least, you will get a $5500 Stafford loan. If you get a summer job, you should be close to covering the costs of attending the school.</p>
<p>Hm, the Stafford Loan has to be paid back when? Wait so everything you get from financial aid has to be paid back? Oh and my dad told me the income is around 36k$ a year. </p>
<p>Also, what is it that you pay to the school? I know tuition and housing/meal. I see the CoA for UF and it says stuff like transportation, and clothing. Do you actually pay that money to the school or its recommended to have a couple of hundred/thousand for those kind of things? Because I don’t really see myself spending thousands for clothes/transportation because I have a car?</p>
<p>Stafford loan payments start 6 months after you graduate (or drop below half-time attendance). There are a variety of repayment option, but the standard term is 10 years. Finaid.org has loan calculators that you can use to see what the payments would be.</p>
<p>Your school will only bill you for things like tuition, fees, room, and board. Some schools allow students to charge their books at the bookstore to their bursar’s account…I don’t recommend doing that without checking prices through online sources first. Transportation, personal expenses, and books are not billed and the amount you actually spend is within your control.</p>
<p>You pay the “billable costs” to the school. These are tuition/fees/room/board typically. Other things that get added into the cost of attendance are transportation, personal expenses, books, etc. Those non-billable costs are NOT billed by the school…and they are a way you can save money…like you said…economize on those things. </p>
<p>Stafford loans are deferred until 6 months after you leave college (either stop going or graduate). Repayment begins then.</p>
<p>Loans have to be repaid. Grants are considered “free money”…and do not need to be paid back. Work Study is money allocated for a job…you work and earn money. It is paid to you to use for college expenses.</p>
<p>I think there are other possibilities for someone to get a simplified Needs test. I am not sure that in our case that was what is was called. The online form just kept asking us questions and we did file 1040A but have an AGI much higher than 50K. We still didn’t need to list our assets and we don’t get anything like free lunches, WIC, or any other federal aid program like that. The program simply asked do we have assets worth more than X and we don’t in the form they are asking (we have potential future assets of a military retirement but that isn’t a set amount and he isn’t retired yet). We also don’t own a home so we had nothing in home equity to report on the Profile either.</p>
<p>MilitaryMom, you didn’t qualify for the Simplified EFC formula. You simply had assets that didn’t exceed your asset protection allowance so they skipped the remaining asset questions.</p>
<p>If my sister has free-lunch this year (she’s in middle school), will that count as having free-lunch for me too? </p>
<p>Btw, I don’t remember if you’ve stated this before but how much is the asset protection thing? I’m worried that the other house is going to screw me over. There’s this one scholarship thing that will pay for almost everything and it is for first-generation college kids with <40k income. The problem is that it says assets have to be less than 35k$. How can I calculate the asset of the home in a simple way?</p>
<p>So do I just check yes when asked if my family has federal means-tested benefits? Do I have to prove it somehow? And when I check yes I won’t have to fill out the assets or is there another step to not reporting assets?</p>
<p>Ah, I see. How can I determine the current market value? Or is that how much the house was when we started paying for it? </p>
<p>Current market value is what your dad thinks that he would be able to sell the house for right now. It has nothing to do with how much you paid for it … although if it’s worth less than the mortgage owed on it, which has been happening to people lately, then the value is 0.</p>
<p>Yes, you just check Yes for means tested benefits. I think that takes you to a page where you click on the type, but I can’t remember for sure. There are some schools that will require documentation, but I wouldn’t worry about that. Chances are, you won’t be asked … but it you are, the middle school can provide it.</p>
<p>Oh, okay thanks. Well does loan modification have to do with anything because I think my dad stopped paying the mortgage and now we have some lawyer or something. So this is how it works then…let’s say someone can sell a house for 200,000 and they’ve only payed 40k so they still owe 160k. The asset value is 40k?</p>
<p>So since I already got accepted to where I want to go, can I fill out the FAFSA and only put that school? Then from there the school will let me know if I have to send in further documentation?</p>
<p>The important thing is not how much the family “still owes,” but what the net gain would be if the family sold the home. So yes, your calculation is correct, but the explanation is just a bit off. No matter … it’s market value-mortgage owed=current worth.</p>
<p>I would suggest sending the FAFSA to any school you <em>might</em> attend, just in case. Your chances of getting decent aid are always better the earlier you apply for aid.</p>
<p>Ah, so what happens when you can only sell the house for less than what you bought it for?</p>
<p>Yea, I have to fill out both FAFSAs, one for 2010-2011 and one for 2011-2012. My parents dont have the 2010 taxes yet so can I fill out the first form with their 2009 taxes and then “guesstimate” the 2011-2012 form with the 2009 taxes as well?</p>
<p>“What happens when you can only sell the house for less than what you bought it for?”</p>
<p>It’s not what you bought the house for that matters-- it’s what your equity is. So if you bought for 200, you owe 198 and the house would sell for 198 or less, you have 0 equity.</p>
<p>If, however, you bought for 200, you owe 180 and the house would sell for 190, you have 10K in home equity. </p>
<p>"then “guesstimate” the 2011-2012 "
Yes, you will guesstimate. Update as soon as you can though because your financial aid will we reworked when you provide real numbers and you want to have accurate numbers to make your decision.</p>
<p>What matters is the mortgage that was borrowed & how much of the mortgage is still owed. It doesn’t really matter what the house cost to begin with. All that matters is how much is owed on that house today. Think of it like this: You want to buy an iphone from a friend. He wants $75 for it, but you only have $25. He says you can have it, but you will need to pay him $50 … $5 a week for 10 weeks (he is nice & isn’t charging interest!). No problem … you work after school at Taco Bell. Now let’s say you lost your job at Taco Bell after you paid $10 of the $50 you owe. You still owe your friend $40, but you don’t have a way to pay. So your brother says he’ll buy the phone from you. If he offers you $50, you come out $10 ahead (although you don’t have a phone anymore). If you offers you $40, you come out even. If he offers you $25, you still owe your friend $15 … but you might decide that’s better than owing your friend $40. You sell the phone to your brother & give your friend the $25 … how you handle the other $15 is another issue. In the end, though, that’s kind of how a house works!</p>
<p>Yes, guesstimate & then update when taxes are done.</p>
<p>Thanks guys and thanks for the analogy kelsmom. </p>
<p>How can my dad determine how much he can sell it for? </p>
<p>Also, after I fill out the FAFSA and list the schools and submit it, what do I do? I keep seeing all these threads on IDOC and sending in documentations so I’m kind of confused.</p>