needingmoneysoon

My fiancee and I will be getting married in the middle of Christmas break this year. She's a sophomore and has everything paid for, but I'm a freshman and will need to pay about 7,500 dollars a semester to get everything paid for, including our on-campus apartment. I have a few pressing questions for anyone that may know the answers.


Can I submit a FAFSA in the middle of winter and have it processed for the spring semester?

Since I'll be independent, what sort of aid can I expect to receive from the government? We basically have nothing. We'll both have to work through school.

Is there any chance I'll be able to get some money together through aid by the beginning of the semester? And if not... how long would it take to get a loan?


We were planning on waiting until the end of the spring semester to get married but we know it's happening anyway.. This is just like us..... Now I have to tell my parents this weekend we've decided to do things a bit earlier. We'll make it through..



Any answers would be appreciated... Thanks.

dragonmom

Unfortunately many schools don't have any federal money left to allocate for second semester, but there may be advantages to filing the FAFSA as soon as you are married. You really need to take this up with your school financial aid department ASAP. Go see them tomorrow.

And best wishes to you both! It will be hard, but it can be done. Try to keep your parents on your side. It will make things a lot easier in so many ways.

mom2collegekids

You say that your fiancee has "everything paid for" ? Is that because her family's income is low?

Is your family willing to continue to pay anything for your college after you marry (at least for one more semester)??? Have you asked them? Maybe if you tell them that you won't get F/A until next fall, they'll be generous.

I would think that if you're living together (or going to be in Dec), that your parents would prefer that you get married in Dec rather than June. At this point, why should they object? What's a few months earlier????

Good luck with telling your parents

juillet

1) Yes, you can submit a FAFSA for the current academic year (2009-2010) any time before June 30, 2010. That is the federal deadline for the FAFSA. I accidentally forgot about the FAFSA this year and submitted it in August.

2) If you have an EFC of zero or close to it, you can expect a Pell grant of around $5000 a year. You will likely be eligible for Perkins loans, which are low-interest subsidized loans offered to low-income students with very favorable terms. If not Perkins loans, you will almost definitely be eligible for subsidized Stafford loans with higher rates and less favorable terms, but still vastly better than the majority od educational loans.

3) If you submit your FAFSA after you get married (let's say January 1), it takes about 4 weeks to process. If you make sure that you apply for loans at the same time (in January), you'll probably get the loans disbursed to your school in early to mid-February, and if you're expecting a refund, that will probably come in early to mid February. If you want to use the benefit for school the earlier you get married the better - you can only put yourself down as married on the FAFSA after you are already married. The longer you wait, the longer you can reap those benefits.

4) Schools don't allocate federal money; Pell grants, Perkins loans, and Stafford loans are guaranteed by the federal government through banks. You can just as easily get it through an external lender during the second semester as you can in the first.

swimcatsmom

This is not quite accurate. Perkins loans (and SEOG grants) are what they call campus based aid. This means the school is given a very limited amount of Perkins and SEOG dollars to award and once they have awarded them they do not have any more until the next year. Some schools do not have any Perkins funds at all. The Perkins does not come from banks but from the school. Perkins, SEOG, and WS funds are likely to not be available in the spring as they are all limited funds. This is unlike the Stafford loan which is something all students that file FAFSA are eligible for. Pell grants are federal money awarded by the school and not anything to do with banks but are not limited funding items and you should get what you are eligible based on your EFC. The $5350 maximum is for the year, for Spring semester the max would be $2675.

It will be difficult to come up with $7500 per semester even with full federal aid. Max Pell for a semester is $2675 (if your EFC is 0), Stafford loans are $2750 for a semester ($5500 for a year for a freshman).

OP one thing to watch out for is the effect getting married may have on your girlfriend's aid. If she is getting a lot of aid based on her parent's income then she may be worse off if she gets married. For instance if she qualifies for the automatic 0 EFC (parent income below $30k) then any income she has is not taken into account for the EFC. If she gets married she will not be eligible for the auto 0 EFC so her EFC might go up (if she has income). Just something to be aware of. Also did you already file a FAFSA for the 2009-2010 school year? If so I don't think you can refile.

sk8rmom

Congrats on your upcoming nuptials! Unfortunately, you can't refile FAFSA for the 09/10 aid year. As noted in the FAFSA filing instructions, your status is determined by the information you entered when you originally filed. You'll have to wait til you file for 10/11 to change your status to independent.

You should also visit or call your FA office. Some schools consider a dependent student always a dependent student when determining institutional aid. Hopefully, yours is not one of them.

Completing the FAFSA 08-09

Q. I'm going to get married this summer. How do I answer the question that asks if I am married?
A. You must answer Question 50 based on your marital status on the day you complete and sign your FAFSA. Answer "Yes" if you are married on the day you complete and sign your FAFSA, otherwise, answer "No." If you answer "No" and then marry after you originally file your FAFSA, you cannot change your answer. When you apply in a subsequent year and remain married, you will file as a married student at that time.

owlice

I thought for some schools, the status you have at the beginning of your school career (dependent) carries through for all subsequent years of undergrad. In other words, getting married during college doesn't change one's status to an independent student at some school. Is that not the case? I should think that this is something one would have to look into pretty carefully if one is getting married while in college.

garland

Owlice--that can be the case only for institutional aid. For federal or state aid, schools must follow the FAFSA designation, which often changes during a student's college career.

kelsmom

The OP would actually be eligible for $2675 Pell and $4750 unsub for the semester ... independent freshmen can borrow $9500/year. That adds up to $7425, which is close to what he needs. This is assuming at least 12 credits (Pell prorates at less than 12 credits). AND ... if he qualifies for Academic Competitiveness Grant, that's another $375.

Don't sign that FAFSA until the wedding is over! You can't update marital status.

Even if you have to borrow an alternative loan this year, you may be eligible for additional need based aid next year ... just make sure you apply early & comply with any verification requests immediately. You are taking on a big responsibility - be really careful to keep spending to a minimum. Good luck!

swimcatsmom

^^^ I totally forgot about the Stafford limit being higher for an independent student. I should know that as I am one myself!!

kelsmom

We get so used to freshmen on CC being dependent!