<p>I changed it. I was not thinking it was dumb of me I know.</p>
<p>The thing is, the school might not load the updated FAFSA into their system. Even if they do, someone might catch it and take the increase away. Because my school is very large, we aren’t able to keep all student changes from getting into the system. However, as part of my job I monitor for changes made by students that result in changes to their Pell grants. If I see that a student made a change after verification, I will change it back … and if they received a refund due to their change, they have to pay it back.</p>
<p>You should contact your aid office to let them know that you made the update. Provide them with the documentation that supports the change you made. It is always best to be upfront … it will prevent any problems in the future. If they agree with you that it should be changed, they will be able to make sure that it gets done correctly.</p>
<p>How would I prove that? I emailed and told them that there may have been a mistake and explained it.</p>
<p>The thing is I was not trying to cheat anyone, it actually raised my efc.</p>
<p>What change did you make? Just updating the free/reduced lunch question back to yes, right? It might not actually even make any difference, to be honest.</p>
<p>You said that the school updated your FAFSA from yes on free/reduced lunch to no & it changed your EFC. That’s what I am talking about when I say let them know you made the change … if you received free/reduced lunch, you should be able to show them something that proves that you did receive it.</p>
<p>One thing I can tell you is that some schools will automatically reduce EFC to 0 for unemployed parents and some will take into account whatever income was earned prior to the layoff. If your sister’s school reduces to 0 and yours does not, there is nothing that can be done … your school’s policies fit within the allowable guidelines.</p>
<p>As for why your EFC was 0 last year and is higher this year … if you were not verified last year, it is possible that you did not complete your FAFSA properly and you may not actually have had a 0 EFC. It is possible that if you were verified last year, your EFC would have been adjusted to a higher amount. I am not saying that you did this on purpose … it happens a lot, and often it is honest mistakes.</p>
<p>When it asked if I received reduced lunch there was a ‘yes’ and I changed it to ‘no’</p>
<p>I was verified last year also so I am stumped as to why I wouldn’t get the same amount.</p>
<p>My mom was on unemployment for a good amount of last year but has been working for about 6 months or so now. </p>
<p>Would it matter if we she received child support, considering she has not got it from me since I graduated high school but we still had to report it to fafsa.</p>
<p>When you changed the lunch question to no, that raised your EFC? </p>
<p>I am also a bit stumped about why your EFC would be lower last year if your mom made less this year … and if you were verified last year. You can actually go to fafsa.gov and print out your SAR form last year and your SAR for this year. Go through line by line and see what might be really different between the two.</p>
<p>Some schools will take out child support if your mom isn’t getting it anymore, but they don’t have to. It’s worth asking.</p>
<p>Looks like I am going to have to make a call, Thanks your for your help!. I will check out my sars report.</p>
<p>The reduced lunch question didn’t seem to help.</p>