It is my understanding that the new free tuition plan in NY requires you to apply for Pell and Tap first and only covers the difference of what they do not pay. So my question is: What if you are denied Pell and Tap due to assets? Is there an asset test for the NY tuition scholarship? (Such as the value of your house, liquid savings and non retirement investments)
Also, if there is an asset test, is it different for the parent and the student?
your best bet would be to refer this question to the financial aid department at your school.
Your primary home is not included on your FAFSA. They school will still require your IRS transcript. the threshold is that your household income must be under 100k
remember if your family is self employed, a lot of things that you write off of your taxes are added back into the FAFSA.
What has your SAR determined your household adjusted gross income to be?
line 37 adjusted gross income is about 47500. We have a c corp. our household income is through w2s and 1099s. This is without my sons gross student income of about 9700.
One of your challenges as a business owner is many of the expenses that you are able to write off for tax purposes are added back in on the fafsa and other financial forms.
Have you filed a FAFSA ? what was your EFC
I filed for fall 2017-2018 school year previously and we did great. We were way under the 49999 requirement so they did not ask about assets at all. We have now finally filed our 2016 taxes. So these numbers I am giving you are all from my 2016 tax return and would apply for the following year.
Try running your numbers through the FAFSA4caster, to see how things look.
C Corp assets, income and expenses are separate from this parent’s income. However, the stock is an asset.
There are not even real rules on this NYS tuition thing yet. You’ll have to wait and see.
If you really have sufficient assets/income, remember, it’s not “free”. Taxpayers like me will be paying!
This year’s scholarship is based on 2015 income. Your child’s current financial aid package is based on 2015 income.
Look at it like this, if you were denied TAP and Pell based on assets, it was determined that you had a household income of at least 80k (the max income for TAP). While your house is not calculated, your non-retirement savings and assets are calculated. My recommendation is to contact the financial aid office at your child’s school. If you are eligible, you will have to wait for the application, which comes out next month and apply.
Depending on household size, even if you qualify for simplified asset test with income under $50,000, your son’s income would still be considered for FAFSA EFC and could add a few hundred to the EFC, making it too high for Pell or TAP.
@HRSMom, presumably if they live in NYS, they also pay taxes.
But it sounds like the household income should fall under the $100,000 threshold for the Excelsior scholarship.
All you can do is apply like sybbie said, and see.
HRSMom…
Fully aware taxpayers are the final payers here…
However, don’t be mislead by the idea that because I have a savings that I have sufficient assets/income here. Not that I should have to explain…
I have a 15,000 family medical deductible, no dental, no vision coverage and zero pension. As a business owner our social security will be small. We also still have a mortgage on a small house.
My job went out of business in the recession. My husband lost his job 8yrs ago due to the owner retiring and selling the business to a competitor. We then “against all advice” started our own business IN A RECESSION! (but necessary due to our love of eating and living indoors). Against all odds, it seems like the worse may be behind us and our business is succeeding.
Now amazingly I have recently inherited a small portfolio. I could just sell it and pay the rest of our mortgage, put it in retirements savings, or pay off the student loans my son already has. Then it wouldn’t apply to Fafsa at all. However I can’t risk that due to our position. Perhaps I should just pay for my sons college and accept that I will be in a nursing home when I am older because I have no retirement savings/social security/pension/decent medical insurance.
We work hard, “planned our lives”, have college degrees ourselves and don’t abuse our credit cards.
I don’t want to hurt my sons chances for aid and force a loan if I can be smart about this.
Lets face it the “allowed savings based on age” currently in the Fafsa rules is pitiful.
HRSMom said:
There are not even real rules on this NYS tuition thing yet. You’ll have to wait and see.
If you really have sufficient assets/income, remember, it’s not “free”. Taxpayers like me will be paying!