<p>A few regular posters are planning to create a FAQ for this forum. Please contribute suggested entries in this thread. We will take them and edit into a composite FAQ.</p>
<p>Ideally an entry will contain a question and answer, but if you just want to suggest a question that's OK too, answers can be added.</p>
<p>Question: Can I be considered an instate resident in a state other than the one where my parents reside if I get a job there and use my aunt’s address in that state?</p>
<p>(lots of variations to this question)</p>
<p>Answer: NO</p>
<p>college board guide to state residency</p>
<p>[Guide</a> to State Residency](<a href=“http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/international/state]Guide”>http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/international/state)</p>
<p>Question: If my EFC is zero does that mean I can go to college for free?</p>
<p>Question: Why isn’t the FAFSA fair (because I am remarried, divorced, single, cohabitating, etc)?</p>
<p>Question: How do I find out what I need to submit to the colleges and the deadlines to apply for financial aid?</p>
<p>Answer: Each college has a financial aid section on their website. Go to that section. If you are an incoming freshman, look for that section. It will tell you everything you need to submit, and the deadlines for submission. It will also give you the school codes for the FAFSA and the Profile (if your school requires it).</p>
<p>Check EACH college website for your schools as these vary wildly from school to school.</p>
<p>Q: What is FAFSA?</p>
<p>A: FAFSA is a form used to file for federal student aid. The name means Free Application for Federal Student Aid. FAFSA is not an aid program, it is just the name of the form.</p>
<p>One of the outputs of the FAFSA is the Estimated Family Contribution, or EFC.</p>
<p>It is necessary to complete the FAFSA to qualify for Federal aid such as Federal Loans and Grants. It is also required by many colleges to qualify for institutional aid, however some colleges use additional or alternative forms/methods.</p>
<p>Q: What is EFC?</p>
<p>A: EFC, Estimated Family Contribution, is an output from the FAFSA. The Difference between college Cost of Attendance (COA) and EFC determines eligibility for Federal Aid, such as Federal Loans and Grants. The EFC may also be used by colleges to determine Financial Need.</p>
<p>Q: What is my Financial Need?</p>
<p>A: For Federal Aid, the student’s Financial Need is determined by subtracting the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) from the college Cost of Attendance (COA). If the COA is $30,000 and the EFC is $5,000, then the Financial Need is $25,000. Many (but not all) colleges use the same formula to determine Financial Need, but most colleges do not promise to meet all need.</p>
<p>My parents are divorced and my dad won’t fill out the Non Custodial Parent info that my school requires for FA consideration. He pays child support and I see him a couple of times per month, but he doesn’t want to pay for college. Can I get a waiver so that I don’t need to use his financial info? If I can get that waiver, then I should get a lot of aid because my mom makes about $40k per year, while my dad makes $150k. </p>
<p>Not likely. Those waivers are typically for cases where the NCP has not been in the child’s life for years, hasn’t paid child support, and (likely) you have no means to contact him. They aren’t intended for parents who just don’t want to pay - otherwise all parents would just opt not to pay.</p>
<p>My parents are divorced. Which parent do I use for my FAFSA?</p>
<p>For FAFSA purposes, you must use the parent with whom you have lived the most in the past 12 months. It doesn’t matter which parent claims you as a dependent for income tax purposes, and it doesn’t matter which parent earns more money. If, however, you have lived with both parents exactly the same number of days in the past 12 months, you will use the parent who provides more support - and that is most likely the parent who earns more.</p>
<p>What if my biological parents never married?</p>
<p>Use the parent with whom you lived the most in the past 12 months. If you live with both, you will use the parent who earns more money. If they never married, indicate that your parent is Single. </p>
<p>I filled out my FAFSA, but I didn’t get any financial aid.</p>
<p>You do not “get” financial aid merely by filling out a FAFSA. Filling out a FAFSA does, however, allow you to find out what types of federal aid you may qualify to receive from colleges. Every student is eligible for at least $5,500 in Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans. This IS financial aid. For many students, this may be the only financial aid for which they qualify. The only way to know for sure what your awards will be at a given school is to send your FAFSA to that school, complete all requirements the school may have for aid recipients, and wait for an award letter.</p>
<p>More later …</p>
<p>Transfer student?
No (of course depending on the particular college). Colleges spend most of their financial aid funding trying to attract the freshman year candidates that they desire.</p>
<p>Waitlisted student?
(I want to buck consensus on this one) You may well get decent financial aid. If you applied for financial aid, colleges know you need help and if they’re going to their wait lists they want to secure a student as soon as possible–they don’t want to have to go to the next tier, etc.</p>
<p>International student?
Only at the most well-endowed, selective colleges. Most colleges reserve financial aid for domestic students.</p>
<p>I think it would also be helpful to outline strategies for dealing with assets such as parent-owned 529s, grandparent-owned 529s, etc.</p>
<p>Q: Can I declare myself an independent student to get more aid? (Because my parents make too much money to get financial aid, etc.)</p>
<p>A: In general, no, it is not possible to declare yourself independent from your parents in order to be eligible for more financial aid. </p>
<p>The specific circumstances where you can be an independent student are given here: [Will</a> I need my parents’ information?](<a href=“http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/help/fftoc02k.htm]Will”>http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/help/fftoc02k.htm)</p>
<p>You must be able to answer YES to one of these questions to be an independent student:
<p></p>
<p>I applied to School X because it has a reputation for giving lots of merit aid, however I didn’t get any. Why.</p>
<p>When people say that School X gives a lot of merit aid, they don’t mean to every student. A school would just lower its tuition if that were the case. Merit scholarships are generally given to those whose test scores are within the top 25% of the school and who also have a strong GPA.</p>
<p>I applied to School X because it has a reputation for giving lots of need-based financial aid, however I didn’t get any. Why?</p>
<p>It may surprise some people, but even the schools that give the best aid (Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc) won’t give you a dime if your family’s income and assets are too high. There are many full pay students attending those schools. </p>
<p>My EFC is 0, yet when I got my FA package from the OOS flagship that accepted me, I only got a $5500 Pell Grant and a $5500 student loan. The cost is over $40k. Why didn’t they give me the money to attend this school? Do they really expect my low income single mom to pay $40k per year? She only earns $20k.</p>
<p>No, the school doesn’t expect your family to pay. They expect that you’re going to either decline or that you have another source of money (Non custodial parent, grandparents, etc).</p>
<p>An OOS public usually doesn’t have the institutional funds to give you the aid that you need. These schools usually expect OOS students to bring in money to the school. If they covered need with aid, they wouldn’t bother to charge the high OOS costs.</p>
<p>What is the cost of attendance?</p>
<p>The cost of attendance it is the total projected amount it will cost to attend that particular school. The first part of the cost of attendance usually lists the tuition, fees and room and board. These costs are paid directly to the college. The other costs listed are usually for books, transportation and personal expenses. This costs vary from student to student.</p>
<p>What is the Net Price Calculator?</p>
<p>The Net Price Calculator is a somewhat new tool that gives you an estimate of what a particular college will cost you. It is best to be as accurate as possible when filling it out so you get an accurate result.</p>
<p>Q: My dream school is Harvard, but I just saw online that it costs nearly $60,000 to go there! This is crazy! How can anyone besides millionaires afford this school?</p>
<p>A: Don’t worry, most low- and middle-income families don’t actually pay the “sticker price” at the most expensive schools. Ivy League universities and similar caliber schools offer very generous financial aid, and guarantee to meet 100% of all financial need. This might not make the school completely affordable, especially in unique situations, but it goes a long way.</p>
<p>Q: I plan to apply for financial aid. Will colleges discriminate against me because I can’t afford to pay?</p>
<p>A: Maybe. Some schools say they are “need-blind” and will not consider your ability to pay in making an admissions decision, while others are “need-aware” and might consider this. The most generous colleges tend to be need-blind, but just because a school is need-blind doesn’t mean they will give you enough financial aid to allow you to go. On the other hand, a need-aware school could still give you a very generous scholarship.</p>
<p>Q: Why do colleges give out financial aid at all? Why don’t they just take rich students and make a lot of money?</p>
<p>A: There are basically two answers to this question. First of all, non-profit colleges don’t exist to make money. They do need money to operate their programs, but they are happy to give out the surplus of their huge endowments to help needy and deserving students get an education.</p>
<p>Second, and more cynically, colleges achieve a lot of institutional goals through financial aid. It allows them to attract top students who might otherwise turn them down for cheaper schools, which increases both their admitted student GPA and test score ranges along with their yield, which helps them rise in the rankings. This is especially true in the case of second- and third-tier schools that offer generous merit aid, in the hopes of poaching students who might otherwise go to a top school.</p>
<p>UGMA and UTMA accounts
The Uniform Gifts and Uniform Transfers to Minors Acts (UGMA and UTMA) allow the establishment of an account for gifts of cash and financial assets for a minor without the expense of creating a trust. Because the minor is the owner of the account, it counts as his asset on the FAFSA, not the asset of the custodian, who is often the parent.</p>
<p>In other words, the UGMA/UTMA will affect the student’s assets in the calculation. 20% of the student’s assets count toward the EFC. However, if the parents qualify for simplified needs or automatic 0 EFC formula, both the parents’ and the student’s assets are ignored when computing the EFC.</p>
<p>Question:</p>
<p>I have an EFC according to the FAFSA of around $80k. I submitted the CSS Profile tonight to my schools. I doubt I’ll get aid. </p>
<p>Was this a mistake in terms of admissions? Is having a need of “0” just like checking that “I do not plan on applying for need-based aid”? It’s a plus if a school is need aware, right?</p>
<p>Peaches,</p>
<p>No this was not a “mistake” in terms of admissions.</p>
<p>A school being need blind is a admissions process. Need blind means that the admitting institution does not consider an applicant’s financial situation when deciding admission. Most schools are need blind to US citizens and US permanent residents.</p>
<p>Meeting demonstrated need is a financial aid process. Any school that does not meet 100% demonstrated need is known to gap. It is up to the family to fill the gap they best way that they can. If your family has an EFC of 80k, in the eyes of the college financial aid office, your family has the income/assets to pay the full freight for you to attend college and you will not require any of the school’s financial resources.</p>
<p>This could be a plus at schools that are need aware or need sensitive especially where a school has at the end of their financial aid budget. When it comes to choosing between 2 similarly qualified applicants, the tip will go to the student who needs less of the school’s financial resources.</p>
<p>How do I determine if a college grant is tuition specific? I would like to apply part of the grant money to room and board so I can claim the American Opportunity Credit.</p>
<p>College recorded three semesters of tuition on 1098t. Am I allowed to keep track of expenses based on Jan 1 throught Dec 31 tax year for the American Opportunity Credit?</p>
<p>Lastly, Can I claim the American Opportunity Credit if 529 dollars were used to pay college the bill?</p>
<p>Why does FAFSA ask for info on cash, savings, and checking? My checking account obviously fluctuates each month based upon the day. If I submit my FAFSA on the first day after I have deposited a paycheck, it is clearly much higher than toward the end of the month.</p>