Big swings in income

Classof2015
Wed, 30 Mar 2011 06:54:58 +0000

D will be at college – somewhere – Sept 2011. She has 2 acceptances, both with preliminary financial awards.

I filed my FAFSA and CSS Profile using actual 2009 numbers (which were low – bad year – me and H are both self-employed) and estimated 2010 numbers (+ 15%). Got my 2010 K1s and 1040s – 2010 was actually much better (didn’t feel that way – probably all that money went to college board and application fees).

My question is: what is the significance of the “base year” (2009) in determining financial aid? Is it given more weight? Or will my estimated financial aid now disappear because 2010 is better? Does financial aid people ever use an average (which makes sense if you’re self-employed because these swings happen often and one year – good or bad – doesn’t necessarily mean every year will be like that).

Any insight would be appreciated.