How financial aid works

thumper1
Tue, 07 Sep 2010 21:03:40 +0000

A. You need to check the websites for the schools you are applying to to see what you need to fill out for financial aid applications AND the deadlines. This varies by school.

Almost all schools require the FAFSA. This is used primarily to determine eligibility for federally funded need based aid. With the income and college savings you quoted, the ONLY thing you will be eligible for in terms of federally funded money is an unsubsidized Stafford Loan.

Some schools also require the CSS Profile. This is another financial aid application form. It has a lot of information that the schools use when awarding institutional funds (money from the school, not the government). Again…with a family income in the $300,000 range and a college savings in the amount you quoted, you are very unlikely to receive a penny of institutional funding.

And lastly, some schools have their own financial aid form. This is also used for institutional funding.

Some schools will require signed tax returns, W-2 forms and tax schedules as well.

There is nothing wrong with applying for need based aid. You never know…but with a $300,000 family income and $150,000 in college savings, you probably won’t have any financial need as computed by the colleges.

And lastly…check your schools…some require the filing of their financial aid application forms for the awarding of merit aid as well as need based aid.

With your income, if you really want or need some aid, you might want to look at schools where you could get a merit award and your need is not factored into that decison for merit aid.