Will Son's Full Ride Jeapordize FA for Twin Daughters?

<p>My twin daughters will be freshmen in college when my son is a senior. Our EFC was too high to get any FA for my son but that turned out OK since he won a full ride. Prior to his getting the full ride, I had assumed that certainly during the one year when all three of my kids will be in college, we will qualify for FA. But, now I am worried that my son's full ride will mean that we will essentially be treated was a family with two kids in college instead of three. However, it seems that FAFSA only asks for the number of family members in college, not what their cost of attendance is. Will we have to disclose to either the govt. or the FA offices at the schools my daughters apply to that my son is going to school for free?</p>

<p>For FAFSA and any federal aid no. The parent part of the EFC will be divided by 3 while you have 3 in school - any student portion will not be. There is no requirement to report how your son's schooling is being paid for. </p>

<p>I don't think FAFSA only schools will ask either as their financial 'need' calculation is based on COA less EFC. Don't know about CSS schools. I think, based on possibly reading something on CC, that they may ask what you are actually paying for other students. but I may be imagining that. -</p>

<p>No, you're right, swimcatsmom. The CSS Profile asks whether there are siblings in college, and what kind of college (publics will be assumed to be less expensive than privates, and that would be reflected in the FA aid calculations), and most pertinantly it asks how much was the parents' contribution to the sibling's education.</p>

<p>My son is at a Profile school, and my daughter is at a local state school. Not only is her tuition much, much lower than his, but she's paying almost all of it, for this quarter at least, out of her own money. So, I'm thinking there will be almost zero effect on our expected contribution from my son's school when they make calculations based on our 2008 income and tax data.</p>

<p>Of course, if the OP is talking about FAFSA only schools, she would likely see the benefit of all three of her kids being in college for that year.</p>

<p>The Profile schools will ask for a Sibling Enrollment Verification Form to be filled out to verify the siblings' enrollment. The one that I am currently looking at asks for 2008-2009 Cost of Attendance. Since this form goes to the registrar of the sibling's college rather than the financial aid office, I would assume that they are referring to the cost of attendance for all students before financial aid.</p>

<p>Typically, forms that go to the Registrar's Office asking for cost of attendance are forwarded to either the FA Office or the Business Office and then sent back to the Registrar's Office for finalization.</p>

<p>One school my ds2 applied to two years ago has a third FA form for us to fill out. In that one, they asked about the finances of ds1. I called to ask why they need that info and they said that they want to make sure that siblings are provided for and they do take that into account. So, if your twin apply to that school, I imagine that the full ride scolarship your s has will have some impact.</p>

<p>In short, it may depend on the school FA policy and how much details they ask.</p>

<p>The CSS Profile asks directly how much money in grants or scholarships a sibling has (FM-130). It also asks how much the parents contributed to the siblings education costs (FM-135).</p>

<p>So the enrollment verification form and what happens to it, and any extra forms that might exist are not so much the issue. The CSS Profile asks point blank. It's up to individual schools that use the Profile to decide what to do with that information, but they will know about it assuming the OP's daughters attend a college that uses the Profile. If they go to a FAFSA-only school, then it won't need to be reported.</p>