Trying to add the list of colleges in FAFSA for daughter and the complication is overwhelming. One question. it says that though for FEDERAL grant, order in which colleges appears in the list , it does not matter but it may matter for state grants. Now if I further research, seems like each state has its own logic which will define if the order matters or not for them. I did lots of research but one basic question is never asked… which state I am supposed to refer… the state where we live or the state where daughter is applying… so if I live in TX and she applies for UC, are we looking for state aid from Texas or from California?
Non California residents will not receive any type of state aid from the UC’s. Other than Federal aid (if qualified) is the only need aid available to an OOS applicant when applying to the UC’s.
I am not an expert but state aid would be from your home state and most likely can only be used for in-state schools.
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A few states used to have schools that required you to list the school first on FAFSA if you wanted its aid. I believe some Michigan schools were like that and maybe NY? However, I thought they did away with that as now schools can’t see which other schools you listed on your FAFSA.
State schools, like the UC’s, were built using California State taxes and funds. The UC’s and CSU’s are public universities that receive funding from California taxpayers. These universities were created as an affordable option for the education of children of its state’s taxpayers.
California taxes are significantly expensive for its residents.
A Texas resident shouldn’t expect the California taxpayers to fund the education of a non-resident at its impacted public universities.
Well…if she is applying for need based aid in CA, that’s a waste of time except for Pell Grant and Direct Loan eligibility. The CA publics do not give need based aid to OOS students.
@sybbie719 doesnt NY still ask that they be listed first on the FAFSA…but isn’t this also for NY residents?
For NYS Aid, if you are an NYS Resident looking for TAP or Excelsior, you should list an NYS school first on your FAFSA.
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But I thought FAFSA no longer released the list of schools to each school, that each school only sees their own code and thus thinks it is the first (and only) school listed on FAFSA?
That’s true, but many states DO give funds to OOS students, even though those schools were built and funded by its taxpayers. California residents get to benefit from the schools those other state residents built and paid for.
I think the OP is new to CC and just learning about financial aid. California does not give aid to OOS students but some states do. Much of it might be merit aid, but sometimes there is need based aid. It doesn’t hurt to ask questions (to the schools or here on CC).
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TAP, NY State aid is linked to the FAFSA. You cannot apply for TAP unless you have completed a FAFSA. The application will list the first NYS school on your TAP application (you can always go in to update your application once you select a NYS school)
yup… did not any thing about this college application process only few months back and learning and every day get shocked how complicated things are designed here… I am worried about kids who may not have help available. After engineering degree, 20 years IT experience and I am completely aghast to see the the complicated college application process which may only work as a deter for American kids to go to college. Anyway thanks for answer to all the questions… based on the discussion I understand, state aid is relevant only for the resident of that state if they go for a college in the same state. Is that understanding correct? In my original post , CA was only an example, my daughter has applied to colleges in Michigan, NC, NY, AZ and few more and I am figuring out when I refer FAFSA FAQ on how to list colleges… should I use my home state “TX” as reference or the state in which the college belongs. To be more specific , if you refer this site college list in fafsa, for Michigan, it says grant would be given to the first college listed… what does that mean? is it relevant for a Michigan student applying for Miichigan college… or does it apply to Michigan student applying anywhere in us… or any us student applying to Michigan college? Things does not have to be this complicated specially for kids.
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Most states will offer very little financial aid to Out Of State (OOS) students.
The “home” state for your student will almost always be the state where they will graduate high school. Almost every (all?) state(s) designates students as in-state or out-of-state based on the student’s residency. It will be almost impossible to prove your student’s state of residency is different from the state where that child graduates high school. (Of course, if your child is enrolled in a private schools in a state different from where the parents live, that is one exception.)
A few states (or some public colleges in some states) offer significant Merit Aid to students with higher GPAs and/or SAT/ACT scores. Arizona, AL, NM, MS and a few others. Three universities in NC offer lower-than-usual tuition prices for OOS students. Utah allows OOS students to qualify for in-state tuition prices after their first year in college.
Generally speaking, your most inexpensive options will be the public universities in your state of residence. There are some exceptions to this, like PA which has higher-than-usual in-state tuition costs. But as a general rule, if cost is a significant consideration (and it is with the vast majority of families) the search for affordable colleges should begin with in-state public universities. Those in-state publics will be the first Safety (certain admission and best chance for affordability) options for most students.
For a reference point, my S20 (son, graduated HS in 2020) was accepted to a few OOS universities. VA Tech offered a token Financial Aid amount of about $4K, which didn’t alter whether it was affordable/unaffordable for me. U of NM offered so much Merit and Need-Based FinAid that it would have cost the same as sending my son to an in-state public university. U of AZ offered somewhere in the 5-figures which lowers the COA (cost of attendance) to an affordable level for many upper-middle-class families, but it was still not affordable for me.
As a general guide, expect most OOS total COA to be $30K-$50K for many OOS universities.
The forum here will help you decide what your best options are if you provide your students stats, intended major, and yearly budget for college.
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ive not looked at that state list before - and have had 3 in college now. Had no idea that states gave out state aid. I’m not an expert in anyway obviously. I have never heard of anyone getting state aid from a state they are not a resident of; of course some state Schools give aid. (but not the state itself . . . that i’ve ever heard of).
I just looked at michigan, here’s my take: a michigan kid who wants state aid needs to list their michigan school first on the fafsa form, if they change state-shools, let the state know.
My question would be - what constitutes need? what sort of efc does a kid need to get state aid? I have heard our state offers free tuition to in-state kids with an annual income of less than 60K; i guess that’s state aid!. But nothing else. What guidelines does michigan have to get state aid?
I’m not sure that’s true. For undergraduate school…in the vast majority of cases, the state of residency is where the parents reside…
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I should have added to the end of that snip you copied: “… at the time of hs graduation.”
In almost all cases, unless the student is attending a boarding school out of state, the state where the high school is located will be the state of residence for the child/custodial parents.
Yes, there will be a statistically tiny percentage of exceptions, but I’d guess this is true for 99% of non-boarding school hs graduates.
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A couple of other exceptions to the ‘graduate from hs in X state’ rule…
1.Military. Check, as sometimes dependents of military or retired military get instate tuition at state schools.
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Divorced parents. My nephew graduated from hs in Florida but was granted instate tuition rate in Colorado as his father lives in colorado. Father did NOT have to claim him as a dependent, but some states do require that.
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Florida is looking at allowing instate rate if grandparents live in Florida. Not sure if it passed the legislature.
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A few states allow the student to establish residency, including MO and UT.
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Several states have reciprocity agreements that allow instate rates (or close to it) to neighboring states. WI/MN, the Western States have the WUE for approx. 150% of instate tuition. U of Maine allows students to pay their state’s instate tuition (sort of weird as someone from NJ would pay a lot more than someone from Wyoming, and that wyoming hs grad would pay less than someone from MAINE!)
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Thanks for providing some exceptions. These may help some people in those situations.
Regarding military: I’m not sure, but don’t they sort of get in-state tuition almost everywhere?
Yes, but does the NY TAP get a whole list of the FAFSA schools, or does the FAFSA just let NY know that yes, a FAFSA was filed and yes, ABC (NY school) was listed? I thought FAFSA stopped sending the entire list of schools with each report because people were filing a separate FAFSA for all 10 schools to prevent schools from knowing they weren’t listed first, causing FAFSA 10x the work generating all the separate reports.
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No it the NYS school that is in the first slot
You can file for TAP at the same time you finish the FAFSA. When you submit your FAFSA if you have an NYS school in the first slot, you will get a message asking if you want to file for TAP, NYS aid Now. If you respond yes, and it will automatically transfer your information to HESC, with the name of the first school (only one school can fit in the NYS TAP application),
If you don’t file at the same time as the FAFSA you will have to wait a couple of days then go to the NYS website, apply for TAP and wait for the system to link your applications.
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For Michigan, it’s referring to Michigan students who are eligible for a particular Michigan grant. Not every Michigan student is eligible, and no OOS students are eligible. For those who are eligible, the grant is automatically scheduled to be sent to the first school that the student listed; students have to contact the state scholarships & grants office to change the school if they end up choosing to attend a school other than the one they listed first in FAFSA.
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