Wait…really? I thought they imported the AGI directly from the IRS. I haven’t filled out the FAFSA yet but it was my understanding that retirement accounts are not considered.
Retirement account balances aren’t considered by FAFSA, but contributions to those accounts in the target year are considered, and added to AGI.
A balance in a qualified retirement account is not reported on FAFSA. The contributions to a qualified retirement account that are not included in taxable income (contributions to a 401(k), 403(b), etc. that are deducted from taxable pay through a cafeteria plan, or contributions to a traditional IRA that are deducted from taxable income on a tax return, for instance) are reported on FAFSA as income for the reporting year. For your D21 who will presumably start college in 2021, the reporting year for her first FAFSA is this year, 2019.
Going back to student income… so if a student does a co-op program and works for 20 weeks, earning, say $15,000, so does $4,500 of that go straight to reducing the amount of financial aid they get from their school for the next year? (I know they get $6000 allowance, and then income is applied at 50%, right? So that would be ($15000 - $6000)/2 = $4500 )
That’s a pretty good reason for colleges to push for co-ops! Also… now that I’m thinking about it… if it’s a 5 year co-op program, I know the total cost of tuition is the same as for 4 years(same total number of quarters spent at school, and you don’t get charged if you’re off on co-op), but if it’s spread out over 5 years, then I’m thinking the total amount of financial aid received will be less, because the EFC is yearly, and if a student is only going to school for half the year because of co-op, then parents “should” be able to afford more of the tuition, and won’t get as much total aid. Does that make sense?
IIRC the co-ops do not effect the aid, at least in Drexel’s case bc I asked them that but the parents income would again in Drexels case , my ds20 aid package was mostly a mixture of grants and merit awards, the awards were set for 4 years, Drexel is on the quarter system, but the merit grants were reviewed each year , I had the same issue with Syracuse with a large merit grant that was only a year by year award and that was a main reason Cuse did not make the final cut. Most schools that I have seen this time around w DS merit awards were set for 4 years buy merit grants were a year to year thing and would be effected by a jump in parents income. How much income do you expect OP to jump up in the next 2 years.
A “merit” award that is affected by a jump in parent income is not a true merit award.
I seem to recall that some colleges (was Grinnell one?) promise to limit yearly COA increases to something like 5%? Does that ring a bell with anyone?
I do know that 2020 has sucked around here in terms of income, and that this year will be used to determine first year college costs for my 2022 HS grad. If our family income goes back up in 2021, it's likely that out the COA will go WAY up, as we are one of those middle class families who seem to be on the bubble when it comes to aid.
COA (Cost of Attendance) is the school’s published sticker price; it is not a different and unique number for each student based on ability to pay. Perhaps you are confusing COA with EFC (Expected Family Contribution)?