peregrina

Good evening!

I am a twenty-five-year-old independent student who has been working full time for the past several years. I just applied to several colleges for fall 2009, and I intend to enroll as a full-time student. Several of the schools to which I have applied are notoriously rigorous, and I have heard that it is difficult to work more than ten hours a week and maintain one's studies at these colleges. Because of this, I am planning to hold only a work-study job.

My FAFSA reflects income from a year of working full-time, but I will lose this income when I (hopefully!) enroll in school in September. Is this a situation that would qualify as a "special circumstance" for a professional judgment review? Does anyone have any experience with circumstances similar to mine? How does one request a professional judgment review? There isn't really any documentation I can provide for this situation. Should I wait until I receive FA offers before appealing them, or should I go ahead and request a review ASAP? If I request a review now, will that change the date that my FA applications were considered "complete" (since I would be submitting this additional information after the FAFSA/Profile deadlines)?

Thanks in advance!

Naturally

I was in a similar boat when I returned to school at 27. I did the FAFSA, but of course it reflected my previous income, not my new, much lower income. Anyway, I scraped by for the first two quarters and then talked to the financial aid office, where they actually retroactively gave me some money for the previous two quarters and also provided money for the next quarter. They looked at my past six months of pay stubs, then had me fill out a form, but I can't remember exactly what it was called. I thiiiink they did require your income to have been "changed" (lowered) for at least six months.

Anyway, my advice would be to definitely talk to the financial aid people at the colleges you are most interested in and explain the situation.

OperaDad

Yes.

Contact the FA office and ask. Some schools (like NYU) say don't tell us until after we give you the award. Other schools take the info at any time. Most schools have a form. Probably on their FA webpage.

Doesn't really need any, other than a statement.

no

Chedva

It may not qualify as a "special circumstance". Just as for parents, colleges expect that individuals working full-time would have saved some of that income for their return to school. However, it never hurts to ask.

OperaDad

Prior savings is taken into account in the asset question. But, it would be unreasonable for a school to expect a full-time student to continue working full-time. Thus his income will drop once he enrolls in school, and it is reasonable for the school to assume that. Unlike parents, who are expected to keep working, regardless of the child's enrollment status.

Chedva

^^ True, but one would assume that they've already taken that into account when calculating the initial financial aid offer for an independent student.

hmom5

I know a couple of students who returned to school full time after working and both had aid determined by the prior year's salary and were expected to have saved money.

courtneyduh

Peregina I know this is a stretch and you may not use this website anymore, but if so can you explain what happened? I am in this exact same situation and have been getting so many different answers from financial aid staff and counselors. One lady told me they would "frown upon" me quitting my job or lowering my hours and another said I can file a "professional judgment", but because of the budget cuts they were unsure of how long it would take to receive an answer or even payment. Any information would be helpful!

Erin's Dad

The last post from the OP was in April 2009. I recommend you start a new thread with your own question.