FAFSA or CSS Profile necessary for high EFC? If so, when to file?

thumper1
Fri, 07 Oct 2016 09:57:20 +0000

Others imply that if you may need aid in a future year, like when our 2nd child will be in college at the same time, that you must file for every prior year as well

This is not true. Each of your kids is separate when it comes to the awarding of need based aid. Even if you NEVER apply for kid one, kid two can still apply.

Regarding kid one…there are a handful of schools that do place restrictions on institutional aid funding in subsequent years if you don’t apply as an incoming student. But there aren’t a lot of those. Just check the college websites to see. This is more commonly an issue for international students. But it’s only for institutional aid…federally funded aid is available to you regardless of if you apply freshman year or not (if you are a U.S. citizen or green card holder).

Some schools do require the filing of financial aid application forms for merit aid to be awarded. My kids’ schools had this requirement. So we filed the forms.

You need to clearly look at the filing deadlines for each of your colleges. In my opinion, you want to adhere to those filing dates if you decide to send the FAFSA and Profile. Do NOT wait until acceptance. You never know…your kid could be eligible for something…and if you wait until after acceptances in April, you likely will not have a financial,aid award to see before the May 1 date for choosing a college.