Will financial aid for the 2017-2018 school year use the 2015 income tax return?

I read somewhere the the FA rules were changing, and that FA for the 2017 year and beyond will use the tax return from the year before what is currently being used so that it’s easier to send a completed tax return early. I’m unclear as to whether this is just for incoming freshmen or everyone. Does anyone know if this is indeed true, and if so, if it’s true for all years of college? Thanks.

The 2017-2018 FAFSA will use info from the 2015 tax return…so that it is easier to get the FAFSA done earlier (not the tax return). This FAFSA will become available in October of kids senior years in HS instead of January. Moving forward, all the fafsa forms will use prior prior tax year information…

So for 2018-2019 they will use 2016 tax return information.

Yes, this change is for everyone. Starting with the 2017-2018 FAFSA and going forward, information from the prior-prior year tax return will be used (asset information will still be as of the day that FAFSA is completed).

Keep I mind that this is for federal/state aid. When it does to institutional aid schools can and will ask for anything that they want

Most schools that are generous with institutional aid use the CSS/Profile form to allocate that aid, and like FAFSA, Profile is switching to prior-prior year tax information starting with the 2017-2018 academic year. Yes, these schools can ask for anything they want, but I would be surprised if they ask for both prior year and prior-prior year tax information, as this would defeat the purpose of the change and make the reporting requirements even more onerous than they already are.

The change to prior prior reflects the distribution of Federal and state aid. I know last month there was a letter asking if Fin Aid Administrators at FAFSA only schools can do their packages earlier.

Many schools that give institutional aid also do a 2-year look back at income. So while they will look at prior prior I have had a few schools tell my juniors that they wil look at current income especially where there have been fluctuations income. For example ; rising seniors are filing using 2015 income. Parent loses job. Become disabled or dies in 2016, you think that the family us not going to submit 2016 income information?

Thank you. What I’m actually trying to figure out is if I will be reporting income from this year (2016) for the 2017-2018 financial aid year. I have a kid who will be a senior in 2017-2018 and I have the opportunity to take on some extra work this year, but it might not be worth the extra work if it’s going to decrease his aid for his last year. If it’s not, then I’d like to take on the work as we could use the extra money. I hope that makes sense? His school does take the CSS Profile.

You will file the FAFSA that will open October 1, with 2015 income for college 2017-2018. I think the profile is going to be business as usual; you will fill it out with your best guess estimates then send in what the school requires via IDOC or their own process

@sybbie719

I thought the Profile was also going to prior prior starting fall 2016. In other words, the 2017-2018 Profile would be using the 2015 tax information just like the FAFSA.

I wonder how CSS/idoc will shake out for current students, who already have later deadlines than incoming frosh (like end of April in D’s case).

Not necessarily. Schools will set their own deadlines when it comes to their money. Admission dates are not changing so deep pocket schools still have time to gather the information that most reflects the family situation. I am wondering since colleges don’t know how they are using the new sat exam, hoe will they determine merit

No - Profile is also changing to prior-prior year reporting, starting with the 2017-2018 academic year. Profile has asked, and probably will continue to ask, for basic information (AGI) for the year before and estimates for the year after the base year, but this is only to provide a greater context to the family’s overall financial situation. Profile schools will ask for detailed financial information from the prior-prior year, just like FAFSA, and if tax returns are required they will likewise be from the prior-prior year.

All indications are that income earned in 2016 will not be used by FAFSA or Profile to compute a financial aid award for the 2017-2018 academic year.

This change in reporting presents a big problem for my family. The company my husband worked for closed last July, and my husband is still unemployed. Our 2015 return reflects his salary for six months, a small amount of severance pay, and five months of unemployment benefits, so our 2015 return resulted in a 29000 EFC on our FAFSA filing. Although I indicated that we had a displaced worker and emphasized our change in status on the CSS Profile, every school (except for the state university) my son was accepted to expects our family contribution to be $30,000. This is impossible for us, as our income has dropped 60%. And now we have to use the 2015 numbers for another year? The timing could not be worse for us.

You can appeal to the school after you file. You have to use the actual figures on the tax return for the FAFSA filing, and once you get that you can appeal to the financial aid office of the school your child attends. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if there is a way to appeal before he accepts, but you can certainly talk to a financial aid officer about your special situation.

I agree on the terrible timing. My dad lost his job Jan. 2016 … hopefully this will be flexible.

The amount of flexibility depends on the school. Some schools have not been as flexible as others using prior vs. current, so I would not expect those to be any more flexible now that they are using prior prior. The schools that have been flexible in the past will likely continue to be flexible.

@whitespace I am sorry to hear about your father’s job loss. @falkenschloss if your snowflake is applying to Profile schools, have you requested an appointment/conference call with the FA depts. at these schools? At many of the schools we visited - and there were a lot - it seemed more common than not that if the financial situation materially changes, we need to personally speak to someone in the FA office, as it is those situations where they can/will use their discretion. Checking the box is often not enough to get their attention.

@3puppies Yes, I have spoken with FA representatives at several schools and we’ll be meeting with one or two when we make our return visits in April. All of the schools offered very generous merit scholarships, but I don’t expect them to offer substantially more. Fortunately, we have one full tuition offer on the table. We’ll work with what our current circumstances allow. The FAFSA situation is what it is.

Good luck @whitespace ! I hope your dad finds a new job soon.

@falkenschloss Where did you finally decide?

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