<p>My son is a high school senior and applying to college now. He has selected a variety of schools including some state schools and some higher priced private colleges to which he has applied.</p>
<p>His father's company changed hands last fall, resulting in a one time cash payment to him. This extra money has boosted our EFC to around 42K. This is way more that we can afford to pay, and we are very worried that this one time event will price our son out of the private colleges to which he has applied. Our EFC will likely be 10-15K lower next year, but we are worried that the schools will not be as generous with aid next year once our son has enrolled.</p>
<p>A few of the schools asked for the profile form, and we explained the situation there. We didn't see any way to explain this on the FAFSA form. WWYD? Should we write letters to the FAFSA-only schools explaining the situation? Is it likely to make a difference, or should son just give up hope of attending a private college and enroll at state U?</p>
<p>TIA,
Willow</p>
<p>Last year when my husband and I converted non-Roth IRAs to Roths, our income and subsequent EFC were abnormally high. I called the Financial Aid office at S1's school (he was already a freshman) and spoke with a counselor about the situation. I'm not sure of a fool-proof approach with an incoming admitted student, but I assume that a letter explaining the one-time occurrence would be appropriate, if you don't feel you can call and speak with a finad counselor directly.</p>
<p>EFC only guarantees subsidized Staffords and Pells. Unless your EFC is below ~$5K, your son is not eligible for the Pell. As a result, you may not be losing out on a whole lot of money anyways. The institutional EFC is more important as colleges will use that figure and you have been able to explain your situation to them on PROFILE. You can also send FA a similar letter for your FAFSA only schools.</p>
<p>However, it is probably not going to make that much difference. School are bombarded right now with enrolled kids whose family cannot make payments. It is a very tough time for fin aid offices at this time, and a situation tha tis not immediate is not like to be addressed with close attention. It can go in your son's file and you can refer to it when the time comes that it is relevant. But things are really tight for alot of people right now.</p>
<p>
[quote]
you may not be losing out on a whole lot of money anyways
[/quote]
I should have added, that my conversation did not result in any change to our financial aid package. Much as cpt says, the one time blip probably won't make much of a difference in your award, but you would be on record with a more accurate picture of the family finances.</p>
<p>I had a similar situation, a lump sum distribution temporarily increased income for the year. Some schools want the explanation (and documentation) right away. Others wanted me to wait until after receiving the Financial Aid Award notice. Contact each financial aid office, and ask them for the procedure to submit additional information.</p>
<p>Some finaid offices will allow you to submit your next years taxes and recalculate.</p>
<p>For example, you have an unusually high 2007 which gives you a high EFC for 2008-09, you file 2008 taxes and provide that return to the finaid dept and they can choose to redo the amounts for the 2008-09 finaid</p>
<p>Don't be surprised, though, if the aid office doesn't make any adjustments. Parent assets are already protected in the EFC formula, so a portion of the payment is protected from the expectation that you will spend it on college costs. The truth is, some of that payment IS available for you to spend on college. You may choose not to do so, but the fact remains that it is available to you.</p>