I was told if high income, then filling out Fafsa may reduce the merit award we’d get. We now have merit award but they are still accepting Fafsa and awarding FA packages in April. Seems like no down side to completing at this point? Am I right? They wouldn’t reduce the merit award so it can only stay same or go up, if I’m understanding correctly.
If it’s a true merit award (meaning, it has no need based component) then filing FAFSA should have no impact.
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Thanks, yes it’s 100% merit - they haven’t received Fafsa or started processing that yet.
another question - do my spouse and I complete the form as parents? Or does student complete it? Or do parents need to create account along with student?
We never filled out FAFSA or CSS, so I’ll defer to others. But my understanding is that both parents and the student each need an account.
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@kelsmom will need to clarify. I know the student needs an account. The rest of this…about the parents, is what i think is the case…If the parents file a joint tax return, I believe only one parent needs an account. If the parents file separate tax returns, both parents need an account.
@MDparent22 do you qualify for need based aid? Many schools do not stack merit and need based awards. This means that your merit aid will actually reduce your financial need…and thus your need based aid award will be less.
If all you are looking for is the federally funded Direct Loan which your student can take, you can actually wait until they choose where they will be matriculating, and submit the FAFSA to that school.
So…what are you hoping to gain by completing the FAFSA now?
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Thanks, I was hoping if there was another pot of money we could qualify for and you needed to have completed Fafsa for that, then it’s there. My child will go to this school regardless - based on the merit received so far. But if they qualify for any additional amount or even unsubsidized loan, we’d obviously take that too.
We’re high income so won’t qualify for federal aid but not sure if institutional grants are more flexible in determining need - especially if there are more high income applicants in the pool. Does that make sense? Next year we’ll have multiple kids in college. Have significant healthcare costs etc
Well…if you don’t have financial need at this college, I believe your student’s Direct Loans will be UNsubsidized.
It doesn’t matter how many high income students are in the applicant pool. It depends on the college policies on awarding need based aid. If you are “high income” it’s very possible you won’t qualify for need based aid through the college. Some colleges do have very generous need based aid even for higher income earners. These are colleges with very deep pockets of money!
Have you run the Net Price Calculator for this college? If so, what did that tell you about your net costs, and potential aid. If you are not divorced, don’t own real estate other than your primary residence, and are not self employed or a business owner, the NPC should be pretty accurate.
Their NPC has been down the whole time - still is. It is UDEL OOS if that helps.
Congratulations on UDel! That’s terrific.
Perhaps this college is waiting for the whole FAFSA update to be completed before they update and make live their NPC.
This is an OOS public university for your student. Congratulations on the merit award. I’m not sure you will see additional money from this public university…but that’s my opinion.
But if you want your student to access the Direct Loan…the FAFSA will be required.
I’m hoping @kelsmom will clarify whether everything else I wrote above is accurate.
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Agreed. Public schools give very little (or zero) aid to OOS students. For a high income family, I’d expect nothing from UDel.
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I agree with the above…no more merit will be forthcoming from UDel after filing FAFSA, but if you want the unsub loan you will have to file FAFSA (the student and one parent need an FSA ID, unless parents are married filing separately, then both need accounts).
Of course it is possible UDel throws more merit at some students as we get closer to decision day, but that will have nothing to do with FAFSA.
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Ok thanks everyone. We’ll work out whether we should pursue unsubsidized loan - in the meantime, what is the deadline for that submission? Sounds like not worth the effort besides the loan. Thank you!
The student needs to complete the FAFSA. In the process, they will need to name a parent. I am assuming in this case that the parents are married. Both the student and the named parent will need a Federal Student Aid account (Federal Student Aid) - you can set that up beforehand. Once the student names the parent on the FAFSA, an email will be sent to the parent, inviting them to complete the parent section. If in that process it is determined that the other parent has to provide information (for example, if filing status is married filing separately), the parent will be asked for contact information for the other parent, who will receive an email to contribute (that parent will also need to have an FSA account in that case).
I have never heard of a school reducing merit due to the student filing for financial aid. There is no reason not to file. That said, if you don’t plan to borrow, there may not be any reason TO file. A public school is unlikely to provide need based aid to an OOS student, particularly one who has already received a merit scholarship. But it won’t hurt to complete the FAFSA & see what happens (just don’t expect anything).
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I don’t think your merit award had anything to do with applying for aid or not.
I filled out the FAFSAs. My kids weren’t involved.
I was also full pay - and received no need based aid, even at the $80K+ one - but I did FAFSA up front as the schools recommend.
If you want to do it (just to see or perhaps you want the loan), go ahead. On the flipside, if you applied to CSS schools and want to measure need, there will be more time in filling that out and expense (you pay to submit) involved.
Best of luck and congrats to the student on a job well done getting a great offer.
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If you are high income and can get a subsidized loan (i.e., no interest while in school), you can invest the $$ earmarked for student’s college, pay off the loan when they graduate, and boost their credit rating substantially.
High income doesn’t usually go with subsidized loans. Subsidized loans are only if you have financial need at a school
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Also note (in case you weren’t aware), that your D will be able to see all your financial details via the FAFSA. This may or may not matter to your family, but thought I’d mention it as it was the #1 reason we chose not to file these forms, given that we knew we didn’t qualify for aid anywhere and didn’t plan to take a loan.
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That is a good point! Just looked and unsub loans are almost 5.5% interest rate and accrue during school. It would have been a decent option for cash flow if the interest rates were still low but that’s not really advantageous. Thank you all!
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One of our kids did subsidized loans for a professional program. We paid the interest annually…meaning WE subsidized that loan.
If it will improve your cash flow and you need that option…the interest on $5500 even at 5.5% for the year isn’t all that much.
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We are middle/upper middle, no FA for us, even with 3 in college at the same time. In order to receive federal loans (every student is eligible for unsubsidized loans $27,000 in total over 4 years) fafsa needs to be completed. Fafsa filing does not effect merit.
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