FASFA & WTC Disability

Paying for College
1

My husband receives disability under the WTC Bill. He was FDNY. As disability goes, it is untaxable. We did not hit the system twice by filing for SSDI (some may say foolish). This Bill was established to take care of the acute nature of the illnesses-so as not to get tied up in the normal cogs of the system.

FASFA asked about any other untaxed disability as their form is not designed for this small part of the population. Now the colleges are looking at our Disability as income (!!) and we can’t even show it as an adjusted gross-income (offset by $30+K medical, etc.) There are so many burdens already placed on families who have these injuries. Injuries that were severe enough to qualify for this WTC disability. Now we are wammied even more because our disability is looked upon as income and in its entirety.

Has anyone else encountered this or something similar. Did you have any luck addressing this and if so, how?

Thank you.

2

@kelsmom ??

3

Thumper1, do you think there is anyone here who may have experience dealing directly with FASFA and asking for help with an exception/review? ( I’m not sure how else to phrase that.)

Thank you.

4

I tagged @kelsmom

She is the only one on this forum who I know who might be able to answer your question.

5

Sorry, I missed this.

I am really sorry for your situation. Unfortunately, it’s untaxed income and must be treated as such for FAFSA purposes. There is no appeal at the FAFSA level. You can appeal to each college to see if they will exclude it … they probably won’t, since it would be difficult to justify why this income was excluded, but you never know.

A more likely scenario for getting some adjustment to your EFC is appealing for medical bills.

Contact each school’s financial aid office to talk about your situation. Best to you.