I believe you will need to figure out parent earnings for the 2019 calendar year to complete the 2021-2022 FAFSA and Profile. They don’t run on “fiscal year”. The year used here is the tax year which is the calendar year.
@kelsmom is that correct.
These colleges will calculate your financial need based in the financials you put on your financial aid forms. This will be income from 2019, and assets as of the day you file the forms. If your parents have sufficient income and assets on the forms, you will receive less aid than if they don’t.
It sounds like you are hoping that the schools will give you a special circumstance consideration because incomes or something were impacted by Covid. Certainly, you can inquire. But like i said earlier, tens of thousands of families or more have had financial issues related to Covid. Maybe the college will hear your plea and adjust and maybe they won’t. There is no guarantee with these as they are handled on a case by case basis,
If you have really high stats, you might get sufficient merit aid to fund a lot of your costs at Alabama, Arizona, New Mexico where automatic scholarships are given. Depending on your stats, you could end up with out of pocket costs under $20,000 a year. Why aren’t these colleges on your list?