<p>We are finishing up the profile today. My husband and I have provided and will continue to provide financial support to two of his siblings who are unemployed ($ for purchase of chronic medications, occasional $ for food/rent, monthly phone charges, etc). Should we itemize this support in the special circumstances area of the profile?</p>
<p>In addition, son #1 is new college grad with an entry level job in his field. He is not a dependent any longer based on the criterion of us providing > 50% of his support, but he is living at home, eating, using our utilities etc. We are not charging him rent. We are paying his car insurance and some other smaller bills while he gets his feet on the ground financially. He is focusing on saving money and trying to quickly pay off his Stafford loans in anticipation of going to grad school in the next year or so
Again, I would like to communicate this support in the profile. How specific should we get?</p>
<p>We do not expect to get much in the way of financial aid as our EFC is about 46K based on the net price calculator but felt this information was important to communicate in terms of giving the colleges our full financial picture. Thoughts?</p>
<p>You could certainly add thew information.Each college will make their own decision. The support you are giving is discretionary…you are choosing to give it so keep that in mind.</p>
<p>You certainly can put the information about supporting others on your financial aid forms. BUT I’m going to guess that this will be viewed as a choice being made by your family. If the people you are supporting are permanently disabled or something of that sort, MAYBE the schools would consider this. BUT otherwise the schools will likely view this as a choice you are making with regards to your finances…money that could be used to support college costs.</p>
<p>With regard to your college graduate son, I VERY seriously doubt this is going to make a speck of difference with the financial aid folks. MANY college grads are doing just the same thing as your new grad…it does not affect financial aid awards of younger siblings.</p>
<p>There is a section on the Profile that allows you to put additional information. Go ahead and do so. BUT really, I’d be very surprised if you got any special consideration for these things. I could be wrong!!</p>
<p>Are you providing at least 50% of their support? If so, you can include them in your family size. I don’t know if a school will consider the money you pay for them, since it is your choice to pay it … but it never hurts to ask.</p>
<p>*He is not a dependent any longer based on the criterion of us providing > 50% of his support, but he is living at home, eating, using our utilities etc. We are not charging him rent. We are paying his car insurance and some other smaller bills while he gets his feet on the ground financially. He is focusing on saving money and trying to quickly pay off his Stafford loans in anticipation of going to grad school in the next year or so
*</p>
<p>If your older son is working and has a salary of - say $20k+ per year - I don’t know how you can claim that you’re providing enough of his support. I think it will appear to the schools that he’s making enough money and you’re just helping him so he can pay off his student loans and save money. If he were unemployed or making very little, then it would be a different story. </p>
<p>Why would a college give you more of its precious FA money just so your older son can save his earnings and/or pay off his student loans more quickly?</p>
<p>*The support you are giving is discretionary…you are choosing to give it so keep that in mind. *</p>
<p>I agree. You may need to give your relatives a “heads up” that you may not be able to continue helping them out because your younger son’s college expenses will require too much of your money.</p>
<p>Since your son is not paying rent nor many of his own expenses, he may qualify as your dependent <em>for tax purposes</em>, IF he is under 24 and was a full-time student for at least part of 5 months of 2011. I’m not sure how FAFSA’s definition of household member jibes with the IRS definition of a dependent – what I’m quoting here pertains to IRS rules & definitions only. (however, if he’s a dependent for tax purposes, he may very well fit the FAFSA definition of household member - you would have to read the FAFSA instructions carefully and/or call them)</p>
<p>You should carefully read the parts about what constitutes “support” - Worksheet 1, towards the bottom of the page, is particularly helpful.
These things are included in support: fair rental value of furnished lodging, share of utilities, food, medical expenses, transportation expenses (insurance, car expenses, gas - depends on whether he paid for the car or it’s your car), clothing, educational expenses.</p>
<p>It is possible that the son can qualify as a dependent this year if he graduated in June 2011. HOWEVER, having another dependent in the household is a drop in the bucket when the financial aid calculations are done. The OP should run an online calculator using the son as a member of the household, and another NOT using him as a member of the household. You will see that the family contribution does NOT dramatically change. Simply put…you would still have most of the “household” expenses (rent/mortgage, utilities, etc. whether you have one more person living at home…or not).</p>
<p>The thing that makes a difference is having two siblings in college at the same time, but that is not the case for the OP.</p>