will a high interest from savings accounts kill my finaid?

Paying for College
1

<p>I submitted my FAFSA on time a while ago. I was then one of the "random" ones selected for verification, so I sent in all my tax return copies. They now sent me a letter saying that I have a high interest on schedule B. Now they want a copy of my bank statements from the time my FAFSA was filed. This will show them EVERYTHING, including the amount of money in my savings accounts.</p>

<p>I had an EFC of 0 because of my very low income, but will my bank statements showing my extremely large amounts of assets kill all my finaid? Are grants based on income level alone (pell grant, cal grant)?</p>

2

<p>Did you report the amount of money in your savings account as an asset on FAFSA? You are required to report it. </p>

<p>The FAFSA EFC is based on income and assets. That is why FAFSA asks you for your income and your assets.</p>

<p>Pell Grant is based on the FAFSA EFC. No clue about Calgrant.</p>

<p>Are you a dependent student? As you have a 0 EFC I assume your parents are low income? If their income is below certain thresholds and they meet other criteria then assets, including yours, are disregarded by the EFC formula.</p>

3

<p>This may sound like a dumb question…but just how high was that interest? I’m assuming you did report that interest income on your taxes. If this is a HUGE amount of interest on a HUGE savings, someone might wonder how you got that much money in the bank on a limited income. I personally think you need to be in the position to explain a large savings of this kinds. Perhaps that will help finaid understand your situation.</p>

4

<p>Cal Grant is also based on income AND assets and the size of the family. Here are this year’s income and asset ceilings: <a href=“http://www.csac.ca.gov/facts/2008-09Income&AssetCeilingTables.pdf[/url]”>http://www.csac.ca.gov/facts/2008-09Income&AssetCeilingTables.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
The bank statements showing your savings balances should be no problem, because you were required to report those amounts on your FAFSA. If you forgot to report your savings account balances, or made an error in reporting the amount, your EFC will be adjusted accordingly. Generally, you are expected to contribute 20% of student-held assets, and 6% of parent-held assets - though your income, parent ages, size of your family, number of children in college, and many other factors go into the formula.</p>