Can filing FAFSA hurt your admission/aid

[akraz]

Hi All,

I have been thinking about filling out my FAFSA. However, i am not sure what is the Aid criteria for FAFSA. I am currently working in the industry with a descent salary. My tax returns for previous years show good income. Now if I go to graduate school i will be leaving the job and will no longer have that level of income.

Do you know how will this effect mi aid eligibility and what happens if FAFSA guys look at your application and determine that you are not eligible for federal aid. Can this impact your admission decision and/or any aid that university was planning to give to you.

[polarscribe]

Well, if you don't file the FAFSA, you won't be eligible for any federal aid, including student loans. And as many assistantships are funded by federal work-study programs, you may be required to file it in order to receive a departmental assistantship.

[Purled]

The FAFSA is intended to determine the degree of need you will experience for the following school year, termed you Expected Family Contribution (EFC). When you move from a professional to a student income, your need-based aid, specifically your EFC, is affected by the "first year penalty." That is to say, for your first year in grad school, your EFC will be artificially high due to your previous year's tax return.

There's not much that can be done about it; every gets dinged on this the first year. Some people (who wisely plan ahead)(not me)(whoops) either spend the year before they apply working at a low-paying, highly satisfying job (i.e. non-profit sector), or they travel, or whatever - they reduce their income. Other people, well, don't.

Another option might be to sink a lot of your liquid assets into equity - this is handy, especially right now, only if you currently hold a mortgage on your home. Caveat: the FAFSA excludes real estate holdings from its EFC calculus, but the Profile aid application does not. Some schools use only the FAFSA, some require the Profile, as well, especially highly ranked private universities.

There isn't really a way around filing the FAFSA. If you don't, then you'll get whatever money your department offers you, but you'll be ineligible for a host of other funding options. The balance of your tuition will be solely your responsibility. You're much better off filing than not filing. Also remember, departments generally award merit-based funding - they don't take into account whatever the FAFSA determines your EFC to be. Need-based funding, however, is generally based directly on your FAFSA.

Hope that helps.

[chaospaladin]

Hi All,

I have been thinking about filling out my FAFSA. However, i am not sure what is the Aid criteria for FAFSA. I am currently working in the industry with a descent salary. My tax returns for previous years show good income. Now if I go to graduate school i will be leaving the job and will no longer have that level of income.

Do you know how will this effect mi aid eligibility and what happens if FAFSA guys look at your application and determine that you are not eligible for federal aid. Can this impact your admission decision and/or any aid that university was planning to give to you.

If you got accepted into PhD programs with funding, FAFSA isn't really required but it is always good to have a back up.

[natsteel]

If you got accepted into PhD programs with funding, FAFSA isn't really required but it is always good to have a back up.

Filing a FAFSA will not affect admissions decisions in any way. Many programs I applied to required students to fill out the FAFSA even if they were getting University Fellowships or other funding. It won't hurt... you might as well just fill it out.

[jmacnomad]

I'm working full time right now and I have filled out my FAFSA. My EFC was high considering I will be broke next year, but unfortunately that's just how FAFSA operates. Federal Aid seems to treat us all like we have parents that will pay for us and that income is a constant regardless of the fact that we are choosing to take a lower-paying TA/RA job while in grad school. It's a bit messed up.

Edited March 18, 2011 by jmacnomad

[rising_star]

I'm working full time right now and I have filled out my FAFSA. My EFC was high considering I will be broke next year, but unfortunately that's just how FAFSA operates. Federal Aid seems to treat us all like we have parents that will pay for us and that income is a constant regardless of the fact that we are choosing to take a lower-paying TA/RA job while in grad school. It's a bit messed up.

It's not so much that they treat you as if you will have parents that will pay, particularly since you don't even have to provide any information on your parent's income, assets, etc. But, it is based on tax returns. If they didn't base it on something they can verify, they would have no way to prevent abuse of the system.