<p>I am a single mom with 2 in college: one with great need-based aid (no loans), the other attended community college for 2 years and is now at a 4-year where he was substantially gapped (and will take a year longer to graduate). Gapped son just took a ft job against my advice. (I am worried about the effect on his grades.) I suspect this will cause him to lose next year's Pell. How would you handle finances? I receive no money from my ex. This year, son lived at home where I provided room, board, phone and books and he worked part-time for spending $, transportation and insurance. School was paid by Pell and loans which I promised to pay back-- but now that there will be less or no Pell, I think we need to make an adjustment. Would you have him set aside a % of all income for school and, if so, what %? Or would you just say that you will pay a set amount and let him figure out the rest? The truth is we live hand to mouth so my contribution would be in loans. </p>
<p>And will working student's income affect his sibling in college?</p>
<p>Ouch. That seems a poor decision on his part. </p>
<p>My first thought is that HE need to know how this will affect his funding. So my first thought is that in order for you to let him know what you can contribute, he should make you a spreadsheet showing what the real cost for him to go to college will be after next year. He will have to sit down and figure it out, not you, him. Then include his salary to paydown that cost. Then have him assume the loans to pay the deficit.</p>
<p>I don't think you should give him anything further than what you can afford to pay from current income. Otherwise you are shouldering debt, and taking on the burden for his poor or irresponsible decision. And he should not benefit from the extra income until he assumes his school costs and his room and board costs. If he can show you that it wasn't a bad decision, then congratulate him and thank him for taking some burden from you.</p>
<p>^^^Gareat post! I totally agree. If he's working full time, he gets the privilege of paying more for his education. Don't bankrupt yourself because of his poor decision!</p>
<p>While this income will probably affect his Pell eligibility, I have to be the "odd one" here. He got a FULL TIME JOB. Those are hard to come by these days. Good for him. I would explain that there will be a $5000 shortfall for his college expenses next year and ask that he put aside some money for these expenses.</p>
<p>I would have to agree with thumper, a job, shows initiative and responsibility! agree he needs to know how that will change his aid, his job should not cost you more.</p>
<p>It could certainly affect his aid (unless your income is <$30k and you qualify for the automatic 0 EFC in which case his earnings will be ignored in the formula). For 2009-2010 the student income protection is @$3850, it will probably be a little higher next year. In reality it is a little higher because of allowances for FICA, taxes etc. So for simplicities sake say it is $4000. Earnings up to that will not affect the EFC. Earnings over that 50% will go toward the EFC. So if he earns $6000 then the EFC will increase by $1000ish. Additionally 20% of any money in his bank on the day you file FAFSA will go toward the EFC.</p>
<p>Was he offered WS at his school? The benefit of WS earnings is that they do not affect the EFC as they are deducted from income before the formula calculates the EFC. </p>
<p>I would show him the numbers and explain that he needs to save toward any aid that is lost as you cannot afford more than you are contributing.</p>
<p>It should not affect the sibling's aid. Unless of course he ends up dropping out because of the full time job (which my son did first time round) then the parent part of the EFC would no longer be split between the 2 of them.</p>
<p>swim, thanks for breaking down the formula. At least now I know exactly how it will affect aid. </p>
<p>My income is not under $30k and his school didn't offer WS. I tried to explain to him that one semester of having to drop out would cost us 5 months of work; that's without factoring in the EFC effect on his sibling.</p>
<p>Sit down and work out the numbers so you know exactly what the effect of his projected income will be for PELL purposes. Fill out the forms, using the online calculators and show him the numbers.</p>
<p>I have one who wants to sit back and take in the dole right now since he lost his job and is on unemployment. He doesn't understand why we are not delighted with his windfall. So I give your son lots of points for initiative and "go get 'em". Also he just might not be in the mindset to go full time to school right now, and to push it could be a mistake. My son's last job had tuition reimbursement which is a great boon for kids needing to finish school. It might be a wise thing for him to just take one course while he works and keeps his eyes open for a job with such benefits. It will take him longer to finish, but it might be more his pace, though it is not yours.</p>
<p>As long as your son is willing to contribute $ for $ for what you are losing in PELL or other aid $, his initiative is honorable. (Remind him the PELL $ are pre-tax.) Well done Mom! </p>
<p>If the job is related to his career interests and offers tuition reimbursement, as mentioned, it could be a great experience. If it's at Burger King.....why? It's not worth the threat to his degree. College graduates make substantially more over their lifetime, and he needs to stay focused on the ball.</p>
<p>Another contrarian here.... if his job offers medical insurance, enrollment in a company paid for retirement plan, etc. then congratulations are in order.</p>
<p>agree with CPT though- much better for his GPA and his future for him to enroll as a part-time student and finish his degree slowly than for him to risk flunking a class or two out of exhaustion. He should also hightail it down to his HR rep to find out if the company will pay all or part of his remaining tuition and if so, what the conditions are (B or better?) Even if the company does not offer tuition reimbursement as an overall benefit, there may be circumstances where they will off-set part of his college expenses (for example,they may offer a scholarship program for employees children and given his age, he might be eligible)</p>
<p>So you need a little more information before determining that this was a bad move on his part.</p>
<p>Just to clarify some points...The job is unrelated to his major. It's an entry-level office job paying about $100/day in a small, private office. No tuition remission. He does have a matching 401K. Health insurance is a non-issue. </p>
<p>He wants very much to finish school full-time and his studies are reading/ writing intensive. I think he would be fine if either work or school was pt but ft for both is a lot. He couldn't find a part-time office job and was tired of unskilled jobs. </p>
<p>When I originally spoke to him, he dismissed the effects on the Pell grant but he hasn't mentioned putting aside any money to pay for his own college expenses. Based on what I have learned here, I think he needs to put aside a third of the first $15K to cover the loss of Pell.</p>
<p>Is the school he wants to attend private? Because if they should see how you are both willing to make it work, they might close some of that gap. I just think it's absurd to tell a kid NOT to work if you want your grant money. For the same reason, I think unemployment benefits without huge proof that you are at least looking and interviewing, your benefits should be seriously limited.</p>
<p>Other than that, while I think getting a job shows gumption, I also think Brownparent has the write approach to get to the bottom line. Having spent two years at community college has surely saved the family great deal of money and I don't find this kid to be an assuming spendthrift.</p>