<p>no they don't ask for bank statements- but D college every year has required a signed copy of 1040 forms- W-2s and supporting forms for both parents and student</p>
<p>if so, how come everyone is saying that moving assets will get you caught?</p>
<p>schools can require more info that what we have submitted.
[quote]
What information do I need to fill out the FAFSA?
You will need the following materials: your tax return, tax returns for your parents (if you are dependent) or your spouse (if applicable), W-2 forms, business/farm records, bank statement, investment statements, records of untaxed income such as welfare, Social Security, AFDC or ADS and veterans' benefits. It is important to keep all of this information together and available because the Financial Aid Office may request copies for verification
[/quote]
</p>
<p>as you submit signed copies of these forms indicating that they are accurate you risk a great deal if they are not and there are indications that you knew they were not accurate at time of submission</p>
<p>I should have said Ds college doesn't ask for bank statements
but our income and assets are within what would be expected- if someones doesn't seem right- I expect that colleges will ask for more verification</p>
<p>very frightening to fill out financial forms. i feel as if I am going to get my head chopped off if i do something wrong.</p>
<p>btw, did you fill out the profile?</p>
<p>My D applied to 4 public schools which only required FAFSA and their own aid forms ( which we didn't fill out as she wasn't interested in attending) and 1 private school which required the PROFILE every year. ( she is now a senior)
Along with the PROFILE they have their own aid form- yea ;)
The PROFILE is tedious but not that bad- and after submission it gives you a form which more or less coincides with the FAFSA.
I found that it was easier to fill out online, as it gave you idiot prompts in case I missed a line.
Her school requires both the FAFSA and PROFILE to be resubmitted everyyear- but as she also receives over $20,000 in need based grant- I feel it is worth my time :)</p>
<p>It does take a while to get the hang of it. Initially we had some confusion over how her living stipend from Americorp would be viewed- the school changed it on FAFSA but I was fairly certain they had added it into the wrong place, so there was some emails and calls back and forth until it was straightened out. It was a new piece of info and it wasn't any ones fault that they had it wrong- just part of the learning curve.
The school also has adjusted the amount on FAFSA- usually not much of an adjustment- after they recieve our tax info and make corrections. Sometimes it has even been in our favor!
The aid office is usually very helpful, they realize it can be confusing and stressful for families and although they are not usually going to change your EFC they do want the students to attend once admitted</p>
<p>i submitted my profile several days ago with estimates, do i have to update the schools with the new tax return info or can i just do the fafsa with the new tax returns and they will fix the profile numbers from there?</p>
<p>also do colleges start working on the aid package as soon as they get the profile with estimates, or do they wait for the real numbers?</p>
<p>thanks for your help</p>
<p>I forget who asked earlier, but it's absolutely untrue that if you got merit awards, you are required to fill out the FAFSA form. Some schools, though by no means most, require the FAFSA in order to be eligible for the award, and they clearly tell you so in their websites, but if you were in fact already given the award, you don't need to earn it back by filling out FAFSA. </p>
<p>My experience and research and the experience of many other people I know is that most merit awards are not dependent on applying for FA. As always, it's best to double check with the particular schools, but unless they instruct you that you do have to, then you don't.</p>
<p>(And in general, can we pass a law here that everyone gets the name right (FAFSA, not FASFA)? It's not that difficult....)</p>
<p>I would suggest doing the FAFSA with estimated numbers just to get it over with- then correct it when you have final numbers
the schools will probably also have their own forms- and I don't know if they really correct the PROFILE but they do adjust the EFC with updated info
I don't know how they decide packages- if the admission office communicates to aid office or if it is seperate.
I know that for my D- the aid package came with admission offer- sometime in Feb or March for reg decision.
For the public schools, admission came from Jan to March, but aid packages didn't come till later.
We submitted FAFSA early Jan and PROFILE in Nov.</p>
<p>elizabeth2005 "i submitted my profile several days ago with estimates, do i have to update the schools with the new tax return info or can i just do the fafsa with the new tax returns and they will fix the profile numbers from there?</p>
<p>also do colleges start working on the aid package as soon as they get the profile with estimates, or do they wait for the real numbers?</p>
<p>thanks for your help"</p>
<p>How did you submit yours already? I'm pretty sure you can't send it in until the first of January.</p>
<p>So when is the earliest we can submit FAFSA? I think I finally got all numbers down and just would like to get it over with!</p>
<p>Whomever was asking about bank statements....they don't ask for those, but they will see interest declared on your taxes, so they will see the interest earned and extrapolate that you had assets and could certainly ask about further proof, if it seemed necs.</p>
<p>We had one school which used FAFSA plus their own form, including asking about make & model of cars and home equity.</p>
<p>Every one I have spoken to in finaid has been helpful and understands the complexity of the forms and seems willing and ready to help you correct mistakes.</p>
<p>FAFSA can be submitted january 1st PROFILE can be submitted earlier.</p>
<p>"so they will see the interest earned and extrapolate that you had assets and could certainly ask about further proof, if it seemed necs."</p>
<p>how does that work out? can you give an example? e.g. 30 dollars interest on tax form = 33,000 in bank accounts</p>
<p>When the federal government "selects" a Free Application for Student Federal Aid (FAFSA) for verification, you may be asked to provide the source documents you used to complete your FAFSA. This process is called the "verification process." </p>
<p>These documents are as follows: </p>
<ul>
<li>2005-2006 Verification Worksheet (Dependent or Independent) </li>
<li>WorkSheet A B C </li>
<li>Signed copy of your 2004 federal tax forms </li>
<li>Signed copy of your parents' 2004 federal tax forms (Dependent Students Only) </li>
<li>Additional documentation may be required in certain verification cases. </li>
</ul>
<p>Please note the "Additional documentation may be required in certain verification cases" - if a discrepancy is noted between the reported assets and income, it is a given that the additional documentation may include bank statements.</p>
<p>Well I just completed the fafsa form online, and submitted it. Prior to my filling of the fafsa, I did cash out a decent amount of my stocks. I've been investing online since the age of 14, and have done rather well. As a result I've built up a nice amount of money in my portfolio. I did cash it out, and I kept is away from my bank account. I have it within my home (hidden :)). I will reinvest the funds after I've accepted the college, and recieved some funds to pay for college.</p>
<p>So you have a bunch of cash which you are hiding in your home so you can defraud the federal government by concealing assets when you fill out your request for student aid. You're a real smart kid, so you go and announce that you are hiding all this money on a public bulletin board, where you have been posting for a long time and no doubt left all sorts of identifying information. From your profile we all know that you are 18 years old, you live in St. Louis, your date of birth is July 8, 1987, you are an athlete, and you hope to attend IU and major in econ and finance. You'll be really hard for the feds to track down, right? </p>
<p>Good luck in your life. You're going to need it.</p>
<p>First I won't be attending IU, second 7/8/87 is not my birthday, and third I don't live in St. Loius, but rather outside of St. Louis, and the St. Louis metro is rather big, similar to that of Chicago. I do not believe the money removed from my equities is enough to make much of a difference in my EFC. What is wrong with cashing out stock? Every other investor is able to do exactly what I have done. What makes what I'm doing wrong. Perhaps I took it out because I want to buy a car, but I'm currently holding onto the funds because the car I want isn't on sale?</p>
<p>
I guess it is the part about cashing out your stocks and hiding the cash in your house. It was naturally assumed you may have forgotten to include the cash on your fafsa. If that is the case, that was what was "wrong". You can't hide assets that you are the owner of on the day you filed the fafsa.</p>
<p>You are required to report cash on hand as well as other assets on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>How much does cash on hand effect EFC? I do realize where your going with it, and that I do in fact have to report it. But I'm wondering if I would be better off buying that car.</p>