<p>Wow asking a kid to delay school a year when the family will have the money to pay seems in a way selfish of the parents. Maybe it’s me but seems priorities are flip flopped.</p>
<p>My daughter works in a fin aid office and their school reassesses every year. Before I made my child who did their best take a gap or deferral if we got an inheritance I would call each schools fin aid office she is applying to and ask directly.</p>
<p>Lots of guessing and jumping the gun of having a student take a year off without all the facts and lots of assumptions.</p>
<p>What kind of money and ec are we talking here? Three times 2000 is very different from three times 15000 or 20000</p>
<p>talking in such vague financial terms and then saying, hey make your kid wait a year is just not fair.</p>
<p>Seahorsesrock, This was very helpful-“their school reassesses every year” The OP never said anything about her child taking a gap year. She has a very different issue but some of the comments made were also pertinent to my family and I wanted to find out about the reassessment issue. </p>
<p>We had a one time backpayment of overtime pay that is counted as income and has pushed us over the limits for some state grants and doubled our EFC from ~6K to ~12K so that is why we are looking at ALL the options available. If we could come up with the 12K through loans or something, I wanted to know if they would adjust the finaid for the following year. My son might be forced to take a gap year and it’s sad but if it allows him to go to a 4 year college at all, it might be worth it.</p>
<p>Although my daughter’s college does not require a CSS form after the first year they do require an annual form which asks similiar questions as the CSS but just not as in depth.
They also have a special circumstances form that can be submitted at any time. They told us that if our income fell 20% we would be considered for an increased award.</p>
<p>What’s confusing is people with different issues posting on one thread and answers being given that can be for either issue. </p>
<p>I saw “gap year, send to Europe” who was that advice for?</p>
<p>To the op, what is the dollar Amount? If say the student takes out a loan and then when more inheritance comes in help pay off? Many kids will not go to college after a gap year or deferment, the numbers support this.</p>
<p>Not sure if this applies, but with a 40,000 income your child would qualify at SOME private schools for a no-loan FA package. You would want to check now to see if your schools reassess this elegibility each year or base eligibility on yr 1 income levels. I think I remember reading on my son’s school website that it used yr1 info. So even if your income drops below the limit in subsequent years, they don’t replace loans with grants even if you now qualify… Check the FA websites and/or call each school.</p>