financial aid

andre1 answers:

Being a legal adult and being an independent student for financial aid are entirely different things. The government requires your parents' income information even if they do not plan to help you. You are considered a dependent student until you are 24, married, have a child, join the army or earn a bachelor's degree.
Scholarships are based on merit, and your parents' income won't have much of an impact on this. Also, you'll never know what types of aid you qualify for until you actually fill it out. You will also be offered student loans no matter what.
It doesn't matter whether you are planning to live with your parents or not. Also, do not search for FAFSA, there are many fake sites out there that will make you pay and they show up at the top of most search engines. The FAFSA is free to fill out and here is the website: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov

andre1 answers:

There is no set income level. There are many many other factors that go into calculating your EFC. Also, FAFSA doesn't completely deny anyone. Everyone qualifies for a federal stafford unsubsidized loan. You will need to fill out the FAFSA to figure out what you qualify for.

andre1 answers:

Take the info about being laid off to your financial aid office at the school. My sister was just starting the process to apply to college when our dad got laid off, and the financial aid office helped come up with some extra funds.

andre1 answers:

FAFSA is just the name of the form, forms cannot respond, the government will respond. Since you have filled this out late in the game it may take longer, usually a week when they are in peek processing, so it may take longer. After that it goes to the school, they will take 4-8 weeks to return an aid award letter to you.

andre1 answers:

In theory, the only thing you need to do in order to obtain Federal Aid is complete the FAFSA with your school's code 6-digit code on it. However, your school can require a number of other items from you before your application is considered complete, as follows:

Make sure that your school doesn't have a separate institutional application. Many schools do have their own form on which they collect supplemental information. If they have one, complete it ASAP for maximum consideration for financial aid.

Many schools now require their students to submit copies of parent [if you are dependent] and student tax returns, W2s included. Some schools require these items from you ONLY IF you are selected for Verification. Check the SAR (Student Aid Report) -- which will be sent to you by FAFSA Central Processing once your form is processed -- to see if you have been selected for Verification (this will appear in the Comments section).

If you're been selected for Verification (or if your school is one of several that verifies ALL applicants), you will also need to complete a Verification Worksheet -- either the standard federal form or a form that the school has created. This form will ask questions about your untaxed income, # in household, # in college, etc.

If this is not your first time in college, you may need to provide your financial aid office with information about your old school. There are a few schools out there that require something they refer to as a "financial aid transcript." On this form, they might ask you for information about scholarships/awards that you received in the past. (Sometimes your current school will confirm this data directly with your old school, so be honest).

If you are a dependent student with siblings in college, your school may actually require you to send a form to your sibling's school for his/her Registrar to certify your sister/brother's enrollment there. (Why do they do this? Because every sibling you have in school lowers your EFC and increases your eligibility for aid.) These types of forms are more rare.

Lastly, if this is your first year in college, make sure your Admissions file is complete. Many aspects of your Fnancial Aid award depend on this. For example, your financial aid cannot be disbursed until your school has confirmed that you have earned a "qualifying degree" (i.e. They must have your final high school transcript that states that you officially graduated before you can get your money).

[See the links below for examples of some of the types of forms mentioned above.]