What is the right thing to do here?

Paying for College
1

My friend is an incoming freshman college student just like myself. On his 2016-2017 FAFSA he somehow managed to file as an INDEPENDENT STUDENT. He has divorced parents and lives with his father. He is not an independent student under the criteria set by the government.

I don’t understand how he managed to claim independence since I’ve heard the criteria for claiming independence is pretty strict.It’s basically a free ticket to an EFC of 0. Even if your parents won’t pay a single penny for college you are still a dependent unless you’re borderline homeless. Somehow, he managed to get by and the school has not asked for any verification of any sort.

So he got through as an independent student so his EFC is basically 0 and he only gave his own tax information to the school. He got a full financial aid package with full pell grant + state grants and stafford loans. He still has a gap left to pay and he needs to find other loans to pay this. Since he is an independent student he cannot get a PLUS loan and therefore his only choice is to go with private loans.

As a long time friend of his since middle school I’ve tried to convince him to go back and file his FAFSA correctly. First off, he’s obviously committing fraud and if he gets caught who knows what the consequences are. Second, private loans from what I’ve heard are frowned upon. They should only be used as a LAST RESORT. PLUS loans offer much better terms plus a fixed interest rate. In short, I would much rather owe $10k to the government rather than $10k to some bank.

I’ve tried telling him straight up that he’s committing fraud and he’s in deep trouble if they find out but I guess the money is just too much for him. I’ve tried telling him that he should avoid private loans since they’re not as great as federal loans.

What am I supposed to do here? He’s basically just ignoring me at this point. What are the potential consequences should he go through with this for the next 3 years of college? Is there anything at all I can tell him to convince him to turn back before it’s too late?

2

About other people’s finances, mind your own business.

3

In my opinion you have stated your case and that’s all you can do. You should either remain friends and just drop it or if you can’t be his friend any longer than say goodbye.

4

Quit bugging him. He’s done with you being his conscience.

Have you never heard of Karma?

5

How do you know he really did this…unless your friend is actually YOU, you really have no way of knowing.

Do high school students really talk about their financial aid forms it’s one another?

6

Thanks for the replies everyone. I thought that as a friend I should just let him know the consequences of what he’s doing and try to convince him to do the right thing since I’ve known him for a long time. I’ll definitely stay out of it here on out though.

@thumper1 He told me but I guess you’re right I can’t see his FAFSA and what he really submitted.

7

This will likely fall apart. He can’t get a private loan w/o cosigners.

PLUS…situations like his are scrutinized. AT some point, it will likely be examined and then he’ll have to pay the money back.

8

And if he can’t pay it back, he will be asked to leave the school. The college will then refuse to release his transcript until the funds are paid back. Then 6 months later he will need to start repaying his student loans. It won’t end well.

Bottom line, you tried your best. Like many teens, he probably feels he knows it all.

9

“Do high school students really talk about their financial aid forms it’s one another?”

YES